Day 35: Slack-packing the Stairway to Heaven, O+ and the rest of the story, saying good-bye to NJ, and NY kicks butt

Summary
May 30th

NJ RT 94 to NY RT 17a

NOBO mile# 1372.0

Tolmann’s daily mileage 15.1

Tolmann’s total mileage 347.8

When I got up today, I fully intended to throw my pack on and see how close I could get to Wildcat Shelter, 17 miles from RT 94. I was pretty sure that T&H would be aiming for that shelter, so I wanted to make up my lost miles from yesterday. 

Then, at breakfast, I was talking to Pancho, Idgie, and Sandy (our host here at the Warwick Conference Center) about slack packing. That’s where you arrange with a shuttle driver or hostel owner to leave your pack behind, load up a day pack with lunch, snacks, water and rain gear, then hike to a road crossing where they will pick you up and bring you back to spend another night at their establishment. Other types of slack packing include being dropped up-trail and hiking back to the hostel, or having your pack delivered up-trail. 

As I listened to them talk, I started thinking about how many miles I could make today if I slack packed. I even had this fantasy that I could get out beyond Wildcat Shelter, and be slightly ahead of my friends.

So I talked it over with Sandy, and arranged for a pick-up at NY RT 17A.

That was as far north as she was willing to go; although it wasn’t beyond Wildcat, it was just 2 miles south. Also, there was a Creamery right there that I could get a milk shake at when I finished. 

So I packed lunch, snacks, a fleece and my raincoat, as well as a couple of liters of water, and Sandy dropped me at RT 94.

The first challenge of the day was a steep, rocky climb up out of the valley on the “Stairway to Heaven”. Tilly had texted me that it had taken them about an hour to climb the day before. I hoped that I could do it in 45 minutes, unburdened as I was from my pack. While I was climbing, I was passed by a NOBO thru-hiker, who WAS burdened with a pack. It really makes me question my abilities when something like that happens. How fit can I get? It seems, not as fit as other thru-hikers. <sigh>

But I met my goal of climbing the steps in 45 minutes, which I was pretty proud of. Then I got to feel how strong I have become. I was able to kind of half run the parts of the trail that were smoother, less rocky. I was able to take ascents without being forced to plod. And I passed the thru-hiker; in fact, we leapfrogged most of the day. 

So the morning passed in a sort of blur, the constant being a sense of lightness and motion that I have not experienced on the trail since I started in April. It’s obvious why certain hikers are sort of addicted to slack packing. By noon I had covered a third of my daily mileage, arriving at Wawayanda Shelter. It was looking like I might finish by 3:30, and I was excited to contemplate that. 

I had planned on stopping and eating lunch at the shelter, but it was a little too early, and the thru-hiker was already there when I got there. 

So I jumped back on the trail, and by early afternoon had covered 7 miles. I had just crossed Longhouse Drive and spoken with some trail maintainers there, when I saw a couple of guys coming southbound. I heard, “Tolmann?” I looked more closely, and recognized O Positive. “Man, how are you?” I asked. 

Apparently, the Brinks Road Shelter is only 5-10 minutes away from the road,and O+’s friend was able to pick him up there. He brought him to the local ER, where they spent the evening, while O+ got something like 13 stitches. He said that it’s the first time he’s needed stitches. 

But here he was out hiking with his friend, seemingly in good shape. 

So, how cool is it that I get to hear “the rest of the story”? It really seemed to validate my decision to slack pack today. 

2.3 miles beyond Longhouse Drive, I stumbled upon the NJ/NY border. I really wasn’t expecting to cross that today, although I guess I should have been. I had thought I’d reach that milestone tomorrow. But, there it was.

I took some time standing there, trying to wrap my head around finishing my third state. I’m still not sure that I have…

NY is often characterized as having large rocky outcropping that the trail goes up and down. Another term for this is PUD: Pointless Up and Down. That can be frustrating. What is beyond frustrating, and was downright frightening, was these large rocky outcroppings and ledges are slick when wet. While it didn’t rain today, at least not on me, it was damp, and it had rained yesterday, so the ledges were a dangerous place to be. 

 There were also a number of places that required putting away the poles (or throwing them up or down) and using hands to scramble up or lower one down. My progress slowed to a crawl. There was even one place where metal rebar (used to reinforce concrete) was drilled into the stone to create a ladder. 

In the middle of this mess, I found a comfortable, bum-sized depression in a ledge, and I sat down to have lunch. While I sat there a couple of women walked by (I startled the first woman when she suddenly noticed me sitting right in front of her) having been doing trail maintenance. I must have come across 10 or more folks out doing trail maintenance; many thanks to them all for keeping the trail up and usable!!

I have to admit, as the afternoon wore on, I became more and more frustrated by the hoops the trail was forcing me to jump through. At one point I stared in disbelief at a particularly impossible looking puzzle, and I thought, “if I had to do this with my pack on, I’d seriously consider quitting this ill-advised adventure.” Actually, it probably wasn’t that urbane a statement; more like “WTF?!!!!”

It went on and on, for maybe 3-4 miles, but seemingly endlessly. Meanwhile I kept running into my thru-hiker friend. 

Then I heard a commotion up ahead, and pushing on, found Tilly and Hops. Tilly had just taken a scary (but not injurious) tumble. I learned then that Boss and Goddess were just a little ways ahead, and that Goddess had fallen 4 times already. 

It was hard to watch the four of them struggle along under the full weight of their packs as I was slacking along. 

We talked and caught up on happenings and plans, then, knowing their near term objective was the same as mine (the Bellvale Creamery, which was still 3 miles away), I put on speed so I wouldn’t have to call Sandy too late. 

I finally cleared the ledges and started down a more reasonable path. With my mind ahead of me, I lost focus on my feet and the trail, hit a slick leafy spot, and my feet shot out from under me; down I thundered. It was funny falling while just wearing a day pack; it was more like slow motion, and when I hit the ground (in to leaf mould), it seemed impossibly soft and gentle.  

I got up and brushed off and took off down the hill again. 

I found my thru hiker friend one more time, just before reaching 17A. He commented on the difficulty of the afternoon’s hike, and the danger. I was impressed that he felt so similarly to me. 

Then I was on the road and tooling towards the creamery, a milk shake consuming almost all other thought. 

When I got to the ice cream store, there was another hiker sitting in the floor with a mail drop box. He looked up and said, “Are you Tolmann?” I said I was, thinking how odd it was that people seemed to know who I was. “Sandy just left about ten minutes ago” he said. I felt nervous that she had been there waiting for me and had given up. 

But it seems she had given this hiker a ride to the PO, had simply been dropping him back where she had picked him up. I called her and she said she’d be back in 20 minutes to get me. Just enough time to get my milk shake!

As I was finishing up the shake, T&H showed up. The afternoon’s hike had taken it out of them, too, and they were frustrated because the guide book had misinformed them that there would be deli food at the ice cream store.

I ended up leaving them to try to get to the shelter, or stealth camp before that, when Sandy showed up. 

So now I’m showered and fed (pizza), had a conversation with Tofu, a young German guy staying the night tonight. 

Tomorrow it’s back to walking with a full load.