Last night was definitely one of the most sleepless I've ever had, and every other hiker had the same experience. I was bit up all night long, particularly my feet. The rain jacket seemed to keep them away from my upper body, but made my night was a hot sweaty mess, and my feet were still completely drained.
I got moving around 8am, and as soon as I started walking I was able to escape the main cluster of mosquitos that had made their home around our camp. The humidity was awful though, and I soaked through my clothes within 30 minutes. The first water I came to, a stunning little waterfall, I soaked my head in along with my buff that I used to keep cool. The trail continued the trend of going steeply up, and then steeply down, always unnecessarily.
At the 5 mile point I met back up with Railsplitter, who was as beat as I was. The mix of rough terrain, no sleep, and humidity had made us feel weak, so we decided to split a room in Tuxedo NY to clean up and cool down.
I kept hiking, leaving Railsplitter at the road. It was another 5 miles to the highway we needed, and then 2 miles along the road to the hotel. Shortly after climbing away, it began to pour. It took almost 3 weeks, but I finally had a use for my Frogg Togg rain jacket. It kept me dry and cool, as advertised, and even helped with the post rain mosquitos.
I made a scary slippery descent down to the highway, still feeling good but eager for a shower. I texted Railsplitter that I was heading into town and began my walk. Unfortunately hitch hiking is illegal in NY, so there'd be no simple ride into town. The road also had almost no shoulder, and cars driving by hugged the line. It seemed rather strange to see a single car coming toward me on a two-lane highway for about a mile, and when it reaches me the driver decides to drive as close to me as possible. With a whole other lane available it might be nice to avoid the frightened hiker hugging the wall, but what do I know.
Right before the hotel was a gas station, so I stopped in for lunch and was surprised to see Whitespear picking up some beer. He's staying at the hotel too apparently. The gas station had a grill with large menu, so I got a double cheeseburger with fries and went outside to a picnic table to relax and air out my soaked feet.
Railsplitter caught up and got his own meal.
There was of course an insanely steep mountain driveway up to the hotel, but with a shower in sight I hardly noticed. They gave us a dirty room, since they were still cleaning, but we didn't care at this point.
The night should hold all the joys of town. Shower and laundry, electricity and tv, beer and lazy friends. Eventually we'll meet up with Whitespear for a few drinks by the gazebo overlooking the mountains, and probably order some pizza. The days are rough, but the nights always hold some silver lining.
