To Katahdin: 833.3
We got an early start out of the shelter this morning, we were all eager to get into town and actually have a few hours to relax. The last few days have not had much downtime at the end of the day. Even the last few stops in towns have been pretty much nonstop going between food, resupply, etc. Just two days ago we started New Jersey, today we entered New York. We crossed back and forth across the border several times throughout the day, once again ending the day in New Jersey, but for the last time. Sometime around 10 am we went in for a quick visit to Unionville, NY – Miranda was picking up new socks at the post office and we stopped in at the general store where we were treated to another day of freshly grilled breakfast sandwiches and coffee.
The rocks started to decrease in frequency today, they were still there in places, but there were several awesome miles of rock free trails. In their place the hills and bigger climbs started to return. There were some really nice sections of trail today though, boardwalks in places where the trail followed the path of a stream, or through a swampy field of cattails. Toward the end of the day there was an especially nice one, probably about a mile long and six feet wide. The cloudy skies created a kind of eerie atmosphere but the scenery was spectacular. We also spent a couple of miles walking around a good portion of something called the Wallkill Preserve. It was all flat and wrapped around huge grassy fields with ponds in the middle. Lots of geese and several smaller birds were flying about and landing in the water.
We made into Vernon, had dinner at Burger King and made it to the local church hostel. Starting to become a fan of these. There’s not a real bed, but that’s become less of an issue. Instead they’re really cheap – usually just a small donation is requested – and there’s a shower, laundry, a TV to watch a movie, a computer, etc. We got a couple days worth of food at the grocery store and then came back to the hostel to watch “The Other Guys” with Will Ferrel and Mark Wahlburg.