Saturday, June 18, 2016
Suffern, NY (USA)
Earlier today, I planned to write all about how the AT can sometimes be very frustrating (climbs over huge rocks when there is a flat way around) but I'm just going to skip to what matters. When I left the trailhead on Orange Turnpike (SOBO) at 0545 this morning, I was confident and excited to be hiking AT for a second day. The weather was marvelous (50s) and I saw through hikers from yesterday (love those quizzical looks). I also made a friend, Ivan from the UK, when I turned around at Lakes Road. But I made several mistakes: didn't eat enough, was still dehydrated from yesterday, hiked farther than I'd planned (meaning I was still out on AT when the temperatures reached the high 80s) and I missed a trail turn (requiring me to bushwhack to find my way home). By the end of my (probably) solo 14 mile day (1200), I needed lots of serious assistance to reach my car. In other words, I was NOT ready and may not even have returned home without the five Trail Angels who stayed with me when I didn't need to be alone, all my new friends from the Tuxedo Volunteer Fire Department and the State Park Rangers who helped me get down from the ridge. Feeling beaten and humbled... At 1430, I was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern in an ambulance (although I felt better already). The hospital staff made me stay there until 1900. All during that time, I had to deal with the disappointment of missing Daniel's wedding reception and not being able to see Brother Jim, as I had planned. I did make some phone calls but really didn't tell almost anyone that I was at the hospital. When they finally released me, I had to take a cab back to my car in Tuxedo (pricy) but was able to hit the road for home around 2000. I used NY-17, I-287 and I-78 and got a gas fillup in Phillipsburg, NJ (2100). Then drove on I-81, I-83, I-695 towards home I-95. I was still on road at midnight. Maybe I still have enough to finish the entire AT, but this was a giant wake up call... AT Today = 6.60 miles / Grand Total AT = 712.86