Day 102
We were so ready to stay at the Murray Property forever, but we had a destination today - Vernon, NJ for a hostel with laundry and showers included in your donation! We left the Murray property just before 8 and walked the easy 0.8 miles to Unionville, NY. We found a grocery store that was open with real coffee and decently-priced snack food, so we stopped there for a bit. Ran into Leggs and Trekking Pole there also. The three of us then headed down to the Wallkill Game Preserve for a hot walk around it in the blazing sun (see video from my last post). After that, we began our climb up Pochunk Mountain (which is an Indian word for “out of the way place”) and then took a lunch break before descending down onto the 0.8-mile long boardwalk, again in the blazing afternoon sun! We then crossed through a large field/swamp and then made it to NJ-94, our road into Vernon. If we went 0.1 miles west, we would be at Heaven Hill Farms, a magical place to say the least! We went in and saw a selection of ice cream, italian ice, fresh fruits, and juice drinks. We paid for our stuff an sat outside with Rocket, Skinny Rambo, and their friend. Sunkist and Roller also showed up and we all hung out under some umbrellas at picnic tables. We decided to try and hitch the 2.5 miles into Vernon and got picked up immediately by Anita. She tools us to the hostel and dropped us off. We got hot showers and started laundry before heading to A&P to resupply. On the way back to the hostel I must have forgotten how to walk in civilization because I tripped on the sidewalk and skinned up my hands and tore up my watch. Thankfully, I didn’t break anything and we headed back to the hostel for a good nights’ rest. The photo is of the long boardwalk just before Vernon, NJ. Tomorrow - New York!