Grateful for the St. Thomas Episcopal Church Hostel

Thanks to Anne, as usual, for keeping my blog current.  I just arrived into the town of Vernon, NJ this afternoon.  My intent was to get here early enough to watch the U.S. - Belgium world cup game.  As it turned out, I arrived at the hostel at about 4:00, but knew I needed a shower before watching a game with anyone else.  It was a hot day... and I was totally wet with sweat when a nice young man named James picked me up at the trailhead and brought me to the hostel.  It took me a while to find the open door since there was no one on site.  But talk about luxurious!  Not only was I able to shower... there was a washer and dryer for my clothes too!
After a shower and getting a load of wash in the washer, I walked down to the Vernon Inn and Pub to watch the second half of the game.  That was the place that James recommended to watch the game.  I had some great grub and chatted with a local who had spent time in South Carolina as a youth.  (It is a small world.)
The day was a beautiful one, and in the morning we walked through several sun-dotted meadows with the hills and trees in the distance.

Parade of cows along the trail

  It was hot, as I mentioned, so some of the mountains - like the Pochucks - slowed me down more than I expected.  The end of the day involved walking over suspension footbridges that went through swampy meadows. It was a neat ending to the day... seeing many orioles (I think) sitting at the top of the swamp reeds.

boardwalk over swampy marshland

My body today told me that I am due for a short mileage day.  I've developed some blisters on the left foot again... and I just felt tired going over the hills today.  I am thinking that tomorrow I will sleep in and maybe just get a half day's worth of hiking in.  I might even get some Epsom salts at the local Rite-Aid and soak my feet before going out.
At any rate, I am nearly through the AT portion that runs through New Jersey.  I have enjoyed this run a lot.  New Jersey seems to have the largest concentration of bears so far.  I was excited about the GoPro shot I captured of a mama bear, as Anne said.  Her little one had just walked ahead, seen me, and run off in fear.  I was hoping that the mama would not smell "fear" from little one and then look at me.  As it turns out, she never looked at me.  I was glad about that... I was only about 30 feet away.  One of the other hikers - Heartwood - told me that she was stalked by an aggressive male bear in Pennsylvania.  I'd just as soon avoid that type of an encounter.  All of us have seen plenty of bears in NJ.
While I am at it, let me summarize my thoughts on Pennsylvania's portion of the AT.  It is known as hot, lacking water, and rocky to the point of driving one crazy.  (With rocks of course that are sharp and protrude from the ground at weird angles.)  The time I spend in the state, we had beautiful weather, and most of the "somewhat unreliable" springs were running from recent rains.  The ridges in Pennsylvania are wide enough that one can find camping spots very regularly along the trail, even if many are not listed in our guide.  I used several of those, and they were beautiful.

High Point, New Jersey

  So, rocky it is... but so are many other parts of the trail.  I felt like Pennsylvania's AT was a blessing this year.  Sure, I saw a couple of rattlesnakes (and they did have the effect of getting my adrenaline flowing as they coiled and rattled) but hey, we are out here among other things to experience nature.