Aug 7th, Day Seven

This morning after we descended the hill we had camped upon we soon found ourselves walking through a bird sanctuary area.  There was a lot of open space and wetlands for water fowl.  After that we hiked a lot of lowlands and rolling fields with no serious elevation change. 

Bird sanctuary

The goal had been set to reach the last shelter we would stay at along the Appalachian Trail, which would be a 12.3 mile hike.  It threatened rain all day as we walked through the forests and fields.  Towards the end of the allotted hike there was a drastic climb to reach the plateau that the shelter had been built on.  We reached the shelter easily, and as some sprinkles fell we set up our tent. 

Low lying clouds over rolling fields.

Since it was one week into the trip Miles put the battery back into his phone and turned it on to see if he could reach anyone to let people know we were ok.  When the phone started up we discovered it was only three thirty in the afternoon, and although he could send out some texts, he could not call home like he had wanted to.  This, combined with the thought of hours of wasting daylight sitting around a camp alone, put Miles in the go mode.  He looked at the map and saw that once we broke off of the Appalachian Trail we would be able to camp in a nation forest about five miles in.  The distance was pushing it for the daylight left, especially in rain.  We decided what the hell though YOLO, might as well go for it, and quickly packed out tent back up.  After a half mile we broke off the Appalachian Trail and started hiking the Shawangunk Ridge Trail (SRT).  The trail started as only a minor step down in quality from the AT but after the park area it quickly deteriorated into a deer and bear path.

Black spruce hanging over the boardwalk

Some gorgeous wildflowers.

We clamored along with little to no trail, over bolder fields and through huckleberry and fern brush, as the dark grew closer.  Finally we emerged onto a road that signified soon we would reach the national forest where camping was allowed.  There was one thing we had not really encountered yet this trip though.  We were now hiking on a seldom used trail, and had no idea how hard it was to actually find/make a campsite in a very inhospitable environment of brush, rocks, and shrub trees.  All the hiking we had done so far we were on well used trails where campsites had been created by frequent use.  Now we were on our own in the wild.  After about a mile of searching and seeing nothing even remotely usable we finally spotted a small area that looked like we may be able to clear it out enough to pitch our tent.  It was a great relief, its high stress when dark is about upon you and you have no place to sleep.  We made camp and cooked dinner in the dark.  The nice part was somehow Miles cell phone worked here so he did get to call home and let his parents know he was ok; thus ended week one of the journey. 

Our campsite, we managed to wedge the tent between the rocks and the logs.

Traveled 17.8 miles of trail.