We left the shelter as the rain was beginning yet again. It wasn’t more than a sprinkle yet one of the other hikers turned around to come back to the shelter minutes after leaving. We left early and hiked quickly attempting to get to Native Landscapes before 5:00. It’s basically a garden nursery that’s right along the trail and listed as a place that allows camping and sells some small snacks and drinks.
We ended up making it there pretty much right at 5:00. They were closing up and the woman told us where they allowed camping and let us buy a couple drinks before she left. We checked out the “campsites” and they were basically non existent. It was a narrow strip of mud, uneven and too wet. There were no trees even suitable for Landon or Miranda’s hammocks. We tried to call a nearby hotel but they were booked. We decided to go eat and decide what to do. Just up the road was Tony’s Deli, an awesome place that felt like a real NYC deli. We all had great sandwiches and decided to go back to Native Landscapes. They had a little gazebo in the section where they actually kept plants, we decided to use it like a shelter and just put sleeping bags in the gazebo. We set up but quickly realized one big problem – there were swarms of mosquitos. We ended up having to setup my tent inside the gazebo and all three of us slept in my two person tent. That wasn’t even the worst part though. This place was about 30 yards from a railroad on one side and 30 yards from a semi-busy road on the other. The railroad was run by the NYC metro and there were two-car trains running by what seemed like every 20 to 30 minutes.