Day 122
Location: Wiley Shelter, NY
Miles hiked today: 26.6
Miles from Springer: 1,441
Miles to Katahdin: 735.2
Elevation: 740′
Today was a very long, crazy day. we are trying to make it to Kent, CT before 12:30 tomorrow when the post office closes, because both Y2K and I have packages to pick up. That is about 40 miles away from where we started this morning, so we did most of that today and need to get up early to do the rest tomorrow. It is going to be very close.
We stopped at the last deli in New York this morning. Very soon there will not be a deli to stop at every day, and we will have to carry more food.
We made pretty good time through the day, and planned to stop at Nuclear Lake for a siesta. Nuclear Lake is the site of an old nuclear research facility, which was removed in 1972. Supposedly, experts have tested the area extensively for radiation and have deemed it safe. That sounded good enough for me, so I decided to go for a swim. It really is a beautiful place, and the best swimming hole on the trail so far. There is a beautiful lawn on one end, with a big rock you can jump off of and into the water. I suppose I’ll find out later when I start glowing in the dark whether the experts were right or not.
Pushing on, we stopped at the Dover Oak for dinner. The Dover Oak is the largest oak tree on the trail, something like 18 feet around. We were eating and relaxing when a guy parked his car nearby and started talking to us. His name is Sasquatch, and he’s a trail maintainer and a really cool guy. It was about to get dark and we still had many miles to go, and he had good news that the terrain was actually favorable ahead. Just before he left, he asked us our names, and I told him Powder River.
“You’re a long ways from the Powder River,” he said. “I know, I’m from Wyoming.” At this he brightened. “What part?” “Sheridan,” I said. Still another eyebrow went up. “What part?” He asked again. “Rice Avenue,” I said. “I used to live up on Highland.” he said.
At this, we commenced naming names of people the other might know, and there were actually several people we both knew. What a small world this trail is! Only on the A.T. can you sit down to dinner under a giant oak tree and meet people from your home town.
It was already getting dark when we set off through the fields and woods. Before long, we came to the Appalachian Trail train platform, which is the only train stop anywhere on the A.T., and it will take you right in to New York City. The train only stops there once a week at 4 p.m. however, so it is not so much useful as it is just kinda neat. It almost feels like a secret train platform in the woods, and the tain that would stop there wouldn’t be Amtrak at all, but perhaps the Hogwart Express. As we stood there, a train came. I was writing a note for the bulletin board at the time, which has a glass door to prevent all the notes from flying away. The train of course did not stop, but honked at us as it flew by at 50 or more mph. The gale the train created was unbelievable, and it was all I could do to reach over to close the glass door to the bulletin board. I was too late, as in the wake of the train was an even stronger wind, which ripped several bits of paper off the bulletin board and scattered them into the woods. I looked over to see that Y2K was wearing one of these sheets of paper, which had plastered itself over his face.
We still had a long ways to go. We went through fields by moonlight, and woods by headlamp. However, my headlamp failed so I was left using a tiny keychain light for the remainder of the hike. We got to the shelter at about 11:30, and I was asleep by midnight. We still needed to wake up at dawn in the morning if we hoped to make the post office.
