7/22/99: Wilcat Shelter   Miles Today : 17.4 Miles to Katahdin : 808.3

Today was a typical start to a town day. We all woke up late, slothed around for a while and ate a greasy breakfast. Today's options for food was a couple of ham, egg and cheese sandwiches, yum yum. I got back to the hostel, packed and out of town by the early hour of 9:30!

Being that the town was 3 miles away from the trail, that meant hitching back out and, oh yea, hitchhiking is illegal in New Jersey. I don't mean to go on a rant here, but who the hell is New Jersey to tell me that I can't ask for a ride? I mean, sure, hitchhiking can be dangerous, but after all it is my decision to take that risk, being either the hitcher or the driver. Has everyone forgotten that the point of law is to PROTECT my rights, not to take them away? Laws like this are of the "protect people from themselves" variety, and have no place in this country in my opinion. ( OK, I am done ). Well, no worries, I got a ride on my first try! It was a local guy who has hiked this area often. He told me that the part I was about to hike was the first section of the trail constructed specifically for the AT. Cool.

Well, just as I was finishing the climb up onto the ridge, it started to rain. It never poured today, but the rain fell steady for several hours. Normally, this would not be a big deal but most of the hike today involved climbing over rock formations and then back down into the woods. These rock scrambles became very difficult with the rain.

Around 1:00 or so, I crossed the state line and entered New York. I am done with NJ... thanks for the great views and good trails. Just an hour later, I took a serious fall on the wet rocks, so that turned into an extended lunch break. Of course, that is when the rain really decided to come falling down! No complaints from me, though. The springs and rivers have been so dry lately that every drop is a welcome sight.

Well, that's about all the excitement for today. I saw a bunch of deer and a few wild turkeys on the trail too. About 2 miles before the shelter I took a break and Colorado finally caught up to me. We got here to find, just like the last few nights, Eric and Holly hanging out. Once again, they hiked around 12 miles and took a 6 hour lunch break. They were just getting ready to leave when we got there... at 5:30.

Also showing up here tonight is DB, Peach Buzz, Pending, 2 southbounders and the Amish dude. We actually asked him about his backround and yes, he is Amish. He is from State College, PA and his church consists of about 100 people. We gave him a new trail name today, TAD ( The Amish Dude ), and he liked it.

That's about all to report for today. Tomorrow with be a 20+ mile day and the hills will once again start up. By the time we get to Mass, I expect my mileage to slow down once again. Red Sox lost again today, here comes the slide.

-Chomp

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