brink road shelter to secret shelter

it rained a bit last night, so i was happy to be in the shelter. the rain was supposed to stop before we woke, but it was still going. thankfully it had stopped by the time we got on trail.

first order of business was to get into town and resupply. we made it to the road and put our thumbs out. new jersey is less hitch friendly than other places we’ve been, and as usual, everyone in nice cars shot past, not even looking at us. eventually a guy in a truck stopped. rocket had to sit in between two car seats as he had kids (though they weren’t there). he was a grant writer for a local eco focused organization.

he dropped us off at dale’s market, which was a decent place, just not for a hiker resupply. unfortunately it was the only place in town. i tried to pull together 5 days worth of meals, but it was tough. they didn’t have anything i was used to or familiar with. they didn’t even have ramen, though they did have avocados.

from there we again had a relatively lengthy hitch and were picked up by a former AT thru-hiker on his way to hike. back on trail we made good time and topped out at a fire tower. unlike yesterday, the weather was clear, so we went to the top for the view. while we were there the guy we hitched in with showed up.

we continued hiking and had planned on stopping at a shelter for lunch, but at the peak of sunrise mountain discovered a stone pavilion and decided to stop early. mixed up was also there. the three of us took an extended lunch and dried out our socks and shoes from yesterday’s rain.

mixed up took off first as he was meeting some folks further on down the trail. an older hiker named ‘scarecrow’ showed up with his 1 year old black german shepherd named delia. delia instantly decided i was the person she wanted to play with and we were immediately best buds.

from there rocket and i hiked to the high point state park HQ where we ran back into mixed up. on the way though, we ran into a ridge runner who told us that the trail got nice and smooth after high point shelter, and that secret shelter wasn’t to be missed. our plan had been to stop at high point, but it was only another 7 to secret shelter. i wasn’t 100% convinced as i was carrying 5 days of food to rocket’s 2, but when we got to high point i didn’t even hesitate.

the trail was in fact smooth and the miles passed easily. rocket and i chatted (something we don’t usually do while hiking) all about massachusetts, and the wonderful bubble we live in. we talked about food, composting, recycling, washing and reusing plastic bags, and other things that it feels like only people in massachusetts and maybe some parts of vermont care about.

we arrived at secret shelter to find a bevy of hikers sitting on the porch, a handful of tents in a field, and a free donkey named jake munching on grass nearby.

jake is the chillest donkey i’ve ever met. he eats for a while and then comes and stands on the porch hoping that someone will give him some food. apparently he can be a little pushy at times, but he wasn’t with me. he definitely seemed to appreciate all the scritches i gave him. he’d then go and munch some more grass and then walk up and gently put his nose on my leg again, i assume asking for more scritches.

secret shelter also had a plug, so i was able to top up my phone, something i was eager to do as i’m going to be pushing it going 10 days without a recharge. (i’m not currently planning on hitting a hostel between now and when i see magz)

some additional images from today: