the Roam

I woke up at 4:55 a.m. this morning. I had been camped near a pond and the noise of amphibians and some birds woke me. It was light and I thought I might as well head out. So I packed up camp, cleaned up some trash I found around the baseball diamond of the church I camped behind as a sort of thanks and I was off by 6 a.m. The first challenge I faced was the reason I stopped the night before.. Schooley’s Mountain Road. I headed up though, it was very steep and narrow, but at each switch back I stopped for a breather and to take a sip of water. Ever had the urge to drink but that gets in the way of your gasping for air? Its very physically confusing and frustrating that I can’t satisfy both needs at once.

I got to the top feet and followed a road east along the ridge enjoying early morning low temperatures and a beautiful forest full of cute houses. I got off course by going left at this fork in the road instead of right,

because I was distracted by the house.
The mistake was easily rectified later and took me down a very scenic road past a cow pasture.

After getting back on course I came down off the ridge into a valley north of the one I had climbed out of earlier and got on NJ Route 57. 57 is wiiiideeee. The luxurious width and grand shoulders were heaven sent. The road was straight with minimal grades and I made great time, but the road was in the middle of the valley and completely exposed.

Getting on towards midday I began to bake, but my solar charger loved it. Constantly spraying more sunscreen all over myself I made it through… and stopping for subway and a strawberry shake and drinking a gallon of water helped as well.

The woman who took my order at the roadside ice cream/burger/bbq stand looked at me and asked “where ya walking?” I told her and she responded “You’re from New York City?” and I said yes and she turned and went about making my shake. The way she said it though, with a tone of almost annoyance or contempt… I wonder if she is used to a stream of dissatisfied New Yorkers sullying her countryside with their spoiled vision quest escapes from reality.

As I headed down the road westward I saw on the south side an abandoned commercial building on a slope. A retaining wall hid most of the gravel drive and grass behind it from view of the road and it looked like the perfect place to set up a hidden camp for the night, but it was only ~3 p.m. and I wanted to get more miles covered. I went on to Phillipsburg and my dad called. He had looked up a church in the area but they weren’t answering their phones. He’d also called the police to ask about public camping. They pointed me towards another church who I called to no avail. I walked to a Methodist Church and attempted to gain entrance to the office whose sign clearly stated it was open at that hour. The door was locked and the bell was a bare wire connected to a couple pieces of metal. I refrained from putting my finger into the deathtrap. Going to the front of the building I found Pastor Bill’s phone number on the wall. I called pastor Bill.. he did not answer.

The neighborhood was too urban to camp in so I moved on toward Easton as I rang their police department. Their police department phone is just a computer which directed me to call another number… so I called and it was just a phone service, not the police. A non police officer woman told me I should really ask the police myself and the only way to do that was to go to the department in person. So I walked over to the police department which I found was closed. Geez. At this point I’ve walked 30 miles and the Quality Inn sign down the street calls to me, as well as the 60 dollar rate google advertises.

So here I am in a crappy hotel, but it was better than the alternative of walking out of this deep and steep valley to get back into the country where someone might let me camp, or I could find a sneaky place to pitch my tent.

I can’t wait to get into less urban country where this is not a problem :/ I should have taken the first sleeping spot I saw!
That’s what this is about though. Learning lessons, improving character, improving self reliance.