Day #26-The long green tunnel; Miles hiked: 19.4

Today was spent in what I was taught by a trail friend to call the long green tunnel–20 miles over thickly forested mountains. This can wear on the morale, and today was certainly one of those days. However, while every day on the trail has its challenges, it also has its sweet moments.

This morning my friend Killjoy and I destroyed breakfast platters and grilled cheese at the Appalachian Deli. One of the highlights of hiking through New York is what hikers call deli-hopping. If you hike 15-20 miles a day, you can hit one of these establishments essentially for every lunch. I was too distracted by the food to take pictures.

After the deli was a long 15 miles where I saw only one other hiker and no views. With the heat back, it was a bit of a rough time, but I made it through!This evening Killjoy, Roo, Naps, and I have crashed at a state park with a beach.I’ve bonded a lot with this group over the past few days and look forward to getting to know them better and sharing my ministry. For now, we’ve decided to cowboy camp outside the state park bath house. Oh, and I can’t believe it but I hit mile 400 today!