12 May.

12 May.
A chilly, grey day. I was the first up and had a frosted blueberry pop tart for breakfast, already reduced to crumbs in my pack.

I decided to hike to Mashipacong shelter, a little over 12 miles.

Not terribly exciting. There were some good viewpoints (pictured). I ran into a group of ten or so day hikers who asked me a number of questions about my thruhike, then I dropped down to a road crossing near Branchville NJ. A passerby in a car pulled over to ask if I needed a ride or a soda, but I declined. Another hiker took him up on his offer and climbed in.

It started to rain steadily, so I changed into my poncho but still got a bit wet and cold. But a climb back up after the road crossing warmed me up. I noticed another hiker at a parking area but did not stop - I later discovered it was Traveller dumping his trash in a receptacle there, something I should have done.

Wildfire and his friend passed me. Not long after, I passed them at Culver fire tower (pictured) enjoying the view (pictures). They passed me again, but I was surprised when they arrived at the Sunrise Mountain pavilion (pictured) while I was taking a rare lunch break. They had stopped off trail at the Gren Anderson shelter for a break and I had gotten ahead of them again.

As I approached the Mashipacong shelter, I was initially dismayed to see others there, but it turned out to be Wildfire and friend, Old'n'Slow (how did he get ahead of me?), and a man who turned out to be a caretaker for the shelters and most likely the man who offered me a ride near Branchville. He had separately helped Shirtless and Old'n'Slow get food, then given Old'n'Slow a ride to this shelter (aka yellowblazing).

Wildfire went on to the next shelter (Rutherford) with his friend. Traveller and Shirtless later joined us at Mashipacong for the evening while it rained, though Traveller opted to camp (pictured).

We discussed the hike ahead, and I found out about a "secret shelter" 12 miles north, a private cabin with power and water that the owner lets AT hikers use. We decided to try for it.

Old'n'Slow had a sub for dinner that he bought while in town. I sure could use some of that pizza now!