Day 30: Pizza & Pochuck Shelter

Start: Rutherford Shelter (AT mi 1336.1). Stop: Pochuck Mtn Shelter (AT mi 1353.1). Today’s miles: 17 miles. Total AT mileage: 328.4 miles

I slept decently well, minus the whole flat pad thing (it was flat before midnight.. I tried to quietly sneak out of the shelter to pee and then came back in and blew it back up.. and nothing in a shelter is quiet. I feel so bad for being so loud). Also, a whippoorwill decided to go batshit crazy right by the shelter and then right by FarOut and HotSauce’s tent, at both 8pm and apparently 4am-when FarOut actually got out of her tent and tried to scare it off with sticks and whisper yelling. I guess I do sleep some-because I missed all of that (although honestly I wish I would have seen her flipping out at the bird, she’s a sassy one! Hahaha).

We all got up after 7 and ate our breakfasts together. The plan was to hike 11 miles into a town, eat pizza and drink beer, get a quick resupply, and then hike the 6 miles to the next shelter out of town. Cool. In my head, we’d be there by 1 pm-MAX.

Well, the trail had other plans. We left out around 8:30am. We stopped to get snacks and use a real toilet at a state park headquarters with a little hiker store attached. There, while we were sitting around talking, I ordered myself a new pad. Every single air pad has at least 5 bad reviews for air leaking. I’m petrified I will have spent good money on a new pad and still end up in the same predicament. I’ll be so livid! However, I’ll be saving 3 ounces so maybe I’ll appreciate the switch.

From there we leapfrogged each other until we got to a cool tower with an outlook to a big monument across the way. Very pretty site. Actually, so much of today has had pretty views. After being in Pennsylvania where everything kinda looked the same and the views were always meh or non existent, New Jersey has really stepped it up. It feels like at least more than half the time a big climb gives some kind of view. Although, to be fair, it is very irritating to see the road you pass go right around the big mountain you go straight up and then down, just to cross the same dang road again on the other side, with not one view from the top.. which has happened at least once today, if I’m not mentally blocking out all the others.. it’s slightly demoralizing. It’s fine. I’m fine. Lol

Oh-and this morning while we were doing breakfast things, I thought to myself, “I’ve fallen at least once in every state I’ve hiked through. Maybe New Jersey will be my turning point!” I purposefully didn’t mention this out loud, as to not tempt the fate of the trail gods. About 3 miles into today’s hike-I busted it hard. I reopened the almost healed scab on my left knee, and also hit a rock over my right eye, right along my eyebrow. I contemplated not getting up once I did it. No one was around and I knew I was ok, I didn’t lose consciousness or anything. But I was mad. And wanted to pout.. however, falls are apart of it and I’m clumsy as hell so I highly doubt it’ll be my last, so I got up and dusted myself off. Lucky for me a few minutes later Derby came hauling through like a damn train (he’s got some quick feet), and he checked out my eye to make sure it wasn’t cut or anything. After he passed, I checked again with my camera phone lol talk about being vane. Good lord. This is not the place for vanity in the slightest!

FarOut and HotSauce made to town just before Lizard and I did, and we made it just before the rain got heavy.. it didn’t last very long though, luckily. We resupplied, and then got beers, and went to the pizza place down the street a little to eat on their porch. It was incredibly good. I got 2 slices of huge pizza, plus some garlic knots. It was so so worth all the soreness in my knee, shin, face, life hahahah. FarOut and HotSauce got a whole pizza-so I had a piece of that, too.

While we were sitting there, Towely appeared. I swear that man is into magic or something. It’s like he just shows up. Every time I think he’s ahead, he comes walking up behind me.. when I think he’s behind me, I end up walking into him. So strange, but always a happy encounter. Anyway, he decided to stay there in town and the 4 of us started our hike to the shelter.

It was a glorious, mostly flat, gentle 4+ miles though town, swampy bogs that had planks to walk on, dirt paths around a pond.. and then the very last little bit was a treacherous incline on a steep grade with slick leaves, rocks, almost mud from the recent rain. Every bit of my happy go lucky beer buzz was gone, evaporated.. all the nice dried off in town clothes were slap soaked with sweat like I’d just went swimming in the swamp-I probably smell like I did, too.

But, when we got to the top.. it was so worth it! Almost everyone was here! I set up my tent quickly, because space was sparse. Here’s the rundown: tenting is Cholula and Curmudgeon, FarOut and HotSauce, Smiles, DoubleDecker, Push, TownLegs, TBird, Poptart, 2 tents I don’t know, and Finch. Hammocking is Lizard. Sheltering was just Derby and Professor, but since we got here and set up, 3-4 other people appeared and some may be setting up a tent and some might be squeezing in the shelter. It’s a smaller one, but it’s nice.

I’m going to do some reading before falling asleep, mainly to keep myself awake long enough to stretch my shin a bit more. It hurt more today than yesterday, but nothing like the 2 days prior to that. I have compression sleeves coming with my air pad. I hope they help!