Miles Today: 19.3
Mile Marker: 1,422.6
I took my time leaving town this morning. The trail runs through a zoo before crossing the Hudson, but the zoo doesn't open until 10:00 A.M. I could have taken a bypass around the zoo and started earlier, but it was neat to be able to walk through. It is designed as a trailside zoo and is populated with local flora and fauna. Most all of it I have already seen hiking the trail. Thankfully I haven't seen any coyotes, but I have heard them.
The rest of the day was about grinding out as many miles as I could before dark. I knew I was going to have to night hike a bit to meet my goal, but I wanted to minimize the time I had to do it. Around 1:00 the trail walks right in front of a gas station with a deli. No way I'm passing that up. I got a hero, an Arizona iced tea, and a Monster. I also filled up on water from their spigot because the water in NY has been terrible.
Around 7:00 I heard someone yelling at me as I crossed a field. It was Pumba who was camped with First Aid and Hawaii. I walked over and hung out for a bit. Hawaii pointed out there was a spigot on a nearby building, so I filled up again. Thankfully I did because all of the other natural water sources were stagnant and gross.
The last hour of the day I was hiking with my headlamp. Absolutely terrible idea this time of year without bug spray. Everything with wings was flocking to the light, and the mosquitoes were destroying me. Finally around 9:30 I found a spot to settle in. I wanted to go further, but I couldn't take the bugs anymore.