Rain overnight and a couple of leaks in the shelter roof, but I slept reasonably well and even stayed in past dawn since we expected a short hiking day under six miles to the secret shelter, and heard even that was fairly easy.
It turned out to be a bit more difficult with some climbs and slippery rocks and muddy sections (pictured). I also spotted several small orange salamanders on the trail (pictured). We ran into a hiker heading south with the trail name Radar, and I commented that he did resemble Radar O'Reilly from the M*A*S*H TV series. He said he got the nickname earlier and adopted it as his trail name.
Radar stayed at the secret shelter the previous night with Traveller, Red Squirrel and Shirtless, and agreed that the cabin would be tight fit for more. Traveller and Shirtless were going into Unionville NY for resupply, breakfast and lunch, so we might meet them if we also went into town.
Eventually we reached pastures that we heard were on the way to the shelter (pictures).
Neither Old'n'Slow nor I knew exactly where the secret shelter was, but I had some general directions from Shirtless and Old'n'Slow had info from the Guthook phone app for the AT, so we started looking as we got closer. At a gravel road crossing, I spotted the "Well Water" directional sign that Shirtless told me about, so we followed the road and found Jim Murray's property with a sign welcoming use by AT hikers!
There is a small cabin (pictures) with only a small table, so we picked spots on the floor for our sleeping gear. Old'n'Slow tried the well water spigot and said it tasted great. I found the power outlet inside and started charging my phone, which was nearly dead.
Since it was only 10:30am, we decided to walk about two miles into Unionville to have lunch and resupply but leave our packs behind.
We found the AT very muddy in spots, so left the trail and walked into town along Unionville Road. We passed several nice houses (pictures), though some needed paint and repair. We reached town at 11:30am, so we went to Annabel's Pizza and Italian Restaurant for lunch. We each had three slices - I had BBQ, Taco (with lots of veggies), and Hawaiian, and we split a large bottle of Pepsi. I was stuffed!
We next stopped at Horler's General Store (pictured), which had a good selection of hiker staples. I picked up enough to last several days, including cereal bars, Sour Patch Kids, Gummi Bears and M&M Peanuts. I added a turkey sub from their deli counter to have for dinner.
While Old'n'Slow had some ice cream on the porch, I walked to the Wits End Tavern to look for Shirtless and Traveller, but no luck.
Now carrying a bag of groceries, Old'n'Slow and I road walked back to the cabin. By this time, the sun had emerged and it was getting warm walking.
At the cabin, I decided it was a good opportunity to use the outdoor shower, but found it only gurgled with no flow, so I used the bottled soap and water I carried in to wash up.
Then we discovered that the well water spigot was no longer working, either. We hoped pressure would return, but it hasn't. Dory (a woman who Red Squirrel knew, and whose log entries I had followed) and another thru hiker Boombox arrived.
Boombox tried the spigot and checked the well, but eventually called the property owner and left a message. He later decided to walk into Unionville with Dory for food and refill everyone's water bottles while there!
I ate half of my turkey sub with Crystal Lite lemonade I had in my enhanced water bottle, and was surprised that I had room after the pizza. It was great, but I kept the remaining half for breakfast.
Two other NJ section hikers stopped by for water but left without.
We hope the well water issue is resolved soon, as the water refill options north are slim.
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