Thursday, July 5, 2012

July 5

Today was hottt. Started off the day walking around the catskill national wildlife refuge. This was followed by a mile long walk on an elevated boardwalk through a swamp. The humidity was stifling. It reminded me of summer soccer practices on over- watered grass.Not to say these areas aren't pretty, but sightseeing is a little different than hiking.

After a leisurely lunch which included bananas topped with honey, I sat on a rock next to a spring and made good progress in Lord of the Flies. About getting up time I hear some rustling... Out of I guess the deeper woods comes five bears - a momma and four balls of fur. They were no bigger than cats. That is except the momma. She kept leading the cubs my way, and I started banging on the rock lightly to let her know I was up there. We locked eyes, I told her she had cute babies, and she altered course. Kind of an awesome but unnerving moment.

After pushing past Wayawanda Park, I officially crossed out of Jersey for the last time. It's New York for me for a bit. I'm camped about 0.5 miles past the border. I had planned to camp right at the border but it happened to be a crest line. There are beautiful purple colored rocks splashed with lichen all around. It almost looks martian.

All in all, pretty decent day. Chipping away at the mileage that's left.

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