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The Piseco Post Office. The site of my first mail drop
re-supply.
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8/23/02
9:16 am - Piseco Post Office: Sitting at
the Piseco PO right now. It doesn't open till 9:45 so I have some
time to kill. Had a great night of sleep last night. Really
helped with the sore shoulders and back, Feet still pretty beat up
though. Hot showers were key!, and as a bonus I bypassed the rain.
Today is gorgeous. A man from Yonkers named Wilson, who was also
at the motel last night, drove me to the trail head this morning.
Now I have about 12 miles till the next lean-to. I am going to
pick the food from this mail drop sparingly to keep the weight of my
pack down. Last night my parents drove the distance I had
hiked in about a half hour. Want to talk about discouraging?
They seemed nervous about the trip and my condition. I hope I
didn't give them the impression I was next to death out here. I
tend to bitch and moan and complain when I am uncomfortable and I
probably over did it to them. I've got 25 more minutes to kill
now...
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One's mind does a lot of thinking, a lot of day dreaming while on
the trail. For the most part I find this rather enjoyable and
productive (the idea for this website came during one of these times) - but unfortunately, on occasion, a song will happen to sneak
its way into your repetitive consciousness - and welcome or not, once it
is there, it is hard to expel. Being only four days into the trip
I guess I was a little bit more susceptible to the last song I had heard
on the radio. Ughh, and of course that just happened to be that
damn song by Avril Lavigne - 'Complicated' - NOT the song you want to be
repeating to yourself for 4 days, trust me on that. It took some will power and
concentration (not too mention a few "oh God, for the love of all that
is good, please save me from this song!!" yells) to clear my mind of that tune!
| 4:05 pm - Spruce Lake: Just arrived at the lean-to.
haven't had a chance to check things out yet. After picking up my mail drop
I headed trail ward. Hard to tell, even at this point, how my new boots
will feel, but so far so good. And the lighter pack feels amazing. Boy what a
difference. My rejuvenated back and shoulders are very grateful.
About a half mile down the road from the post office I saw a young girl chase her dog for
about a block or two - not sure why, but this really struck me as a
picture perfect small town Adirondack scene.
The hike
was nice, deep forests on a cool day. I encountered a nice couple on
their way out and we had a quick chat about Spruce Lake and the lean-tos
there - they talked about the beautiful loons on the lake. I've
never seen a loon so I look forward to it.
A few turns later I notice three guys going in the opposite direction
of me. They all have rejected, beat looks on their faces and it
hits me... these are the three fellows from Albany that I have been
following in the register. I stop to yield the trail to them and the lead
hiker looks up and states 'Goin home, tried the NP and failed'.
They stopped and talked and they wished me luck after explaining that the blisters
and aches were too much for them and they didn't realize how hard it would be.
In a weird sort of way this elevated my spirits. I mean hey, the
trail isn't beating up on just me!
I plan on going for a swim now.
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Spruce Lake
| 6:00 pm: This is it. This is what it is all
about. I am truly overwhelmed and I will look back through the
discomfort and say it was worth every second because of this
moment right here.
I am sure I am going to have a terrible time describing the scene I
have before me and the feeling it evokes in me... but it is one of
absolute beauty - in so far as I can even understand what absolute beauty is.
This experience is overwhelming and consuming me. Majestic and surreal.
Utterly alone on this lake, sitting on the shore, eyes straining, half closed, as the sun reflects up at
me. Lazy, dreamlike. Dragonflies, peaceful and graceful, float up and down the waterline. At
times I am convinced they are butterflies bobbing in and out of the rocks. They pass me by on their endless
search - I am not what they are after. My skin starts to chill as the water from my swim begins to dry. And then I hear
them. The loons. Fantastic! Emotional singers, calling
to one another across the lake. Imagine separated
lovers, trying desperately to reassure one another that they are near by.
Their calls echo off the surrounding mountains. This moment is
beautiful and it has captured everything inside of me. If there is a
way to put this into words, I am not the poet to do so.
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Sounds
(Click on file to download it and listen)
Photographs
(Click on thumbnail to view a larger picture)
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| The Piseco Post Office Flag |
The Loons of Spruce Lake |
A shot of the shore |
Spruce Lake lean-to #2 |
The lean-to from the Lake |
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