Make it count: Day #99 - AT Hike

Friday, June 19 - Day #99 - AT Hike

Miles Hiked Today - 23.7
Total Miles Hiked on AT - 1376.7/2,193 (62.78%)

Pochuck Mtn Shelter (1353) to Wildcat Shelter (1176.7) - tent at Wildcat Shelter

Total ascent - 3,935’
Total descent - 3,774’

Total States Completed - 8/14

**No Rain - Really muggy and humid today. Expecting rain tomorrow- hopefully will cool things down

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Tough day out there today. 23.7 miles, one huge 1,200’ climb (hardest climb in the past 3 weeks), and several miles of technical boulder climbing. The high temperature was mid 80’s - but it felt much, much warmer. It was muggy and humid from the start of the hike at 5:45am. My shirt was drenched with sweat before 7am. I drank as much water as possible - but I still ended up getting over heated with about 8.5 miles to go. This really scared me today. I was feeling sick to my stomach, my hands were all clammy. You don’t want to start puking or stop sweating (bad things can happen with these symptoms). I sat down in the shade to cool down. Caruso luckily showed about 20 minutes later. He gave me an electrolyte mix for my water. After drinking this - I started to feel better. I think I was on point with my water - but my electrolytes were lacking. The heat is such a difficult element to handle - it’s not always about pure temperatures - it’s the heat index and humidity that can sap you quickly. (At least that’s the case for me).

A couple other things to deal with today - bears and mosquitoes/gnats. The area we’re hiking in now has one of the largest bear populations on the entire AT. Caruso saw 2 bear today about 10 yards off trail. I didn’t see any - fortunately. As the temps rise - the annoying bugs are beginning to show their presence. I knew it was coming. It’s just miserable to hike with mosquitoes flying around your head non-stop. I tried wearing my headnet - but I think that contributed to me getting overheated.

Long day out there. We’ve been following a pretty solid schedule to get on trail by 6am. Today - we only finished the hike at 8pm. That’s a LONG day. We did treat ourselves with an ice cream with 2.5 miles to go which took some time. The ice cream stop was great - trying to boost moral a little bit after a super difficult day.

It’s late - 10pm - I need to get some sleep. To properly welcome the state of New York - here’s Mr Frank Sinatra:

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“Start spreading the news, I’m leaving today
I want to be a part of it
New York, New York

Those vagabond shoes, are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it
New York, New York

I wanna wake up in a city that doesn’t sleep
And find I’m king of the hill, top of the heap

Those little town blues, are melting away
I’ll make a brand new start of it in old New York

If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere
It’s up to you New York, New York

New York, New York
I want to wake up in a city that never sleeps
And find I’m hey number one, top of the list
King of the hill, hey number one

These little town blues, are melting away
And I’m gonna make a brand new start of it in old New York

And if I can make it there, I’m gonna make it anywhere
It’s up to you New York, New York”

New York, New York — Frank Sinatra

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Goodnight from New York!! Here’s to a nice bounce back day tomorrow.