Day 86 - Hudson River (July 3)

I did an incredibly long 28 miles today to get into the West Point area. I caught up to Filadefia by late morning. The terrain was incredibly difficult especially in the morning.

The trail went straight up and over every single outcropping. The morning was filled with plenty of scrambles and actual rock climbing. There was one section where we had to take our packs off and rock climb about 7 or 8 feet. I passed the packs up to Filedelphia before starting my climb.

It was hot today, and I drank about 7 or 8 liters of water. This is more than I drank during the heat wave.

I spent last night at the Wildcat shelter. There was someone tenting who did not come out of his tent even once. He was in his tent at 3:30 PM when I arrived, and he was still there at 6:00 AM when I left. A couple other people arrive at dark when I was already in my tent. I did not meet them.

I briefly met an old lady named Baggins. Filadelphia camped with her last night. He said he met her two years ago. She spends as much time on the trail as a thru hiker, but only goes about 5 miles a day. She is so small that she wears children's clothes.

I lost even more weight. I look like a heroin addict from the waist up. I'm feeling really good, but I think I'm going to need to zero for a day or two soon so I can put on some weight.

I'm staying with Filadelphia tonight at the Econo Lodge near West Point. I'm almost at the 1,400 mile mark.