Day #4 on the Paumanok Path...

After taking a weekend off from our adventure, Rosa and I were anxious to get back on the trail and walk, getting us closer to our goal of reaching the Montauk Lighthouse.  We both had a lot of commitments going on over the weekend, so we agreed Saturday morning was the only window of time we would both have to get our mileage in.  Unfortunately, our only window of time was right smack dab in the middle of the torrential rain storm we had.  Boy, was it tempting to just skip it and stay dry, but no, we decided to go for it!

Scarecrow dropped us off where we left off on Route 51, chuckling as we got out of the jeep in the pouring rain.  He told us later that he knew what we were in for with the rain, and half expected a call from us for a pick up, but was really proud when we didn't give up.

 From the time we stepped out of the jeep, until we were picked up by Mike 3 hours later, it poured steadily.  We walked in inches of muddy water, with pine needles, leaves and some sticks and branches mixed in.  Thankfully, we were not cold, but just soaking wet!



We were able to still see some turtle friends along our path as well.

We were able to see some interesting landscape in this portion of the woods ~ there were many trees twisted and distorted like this one, and after reading my trail book, they were called pygmy trees, and were compared to bonsai trees for the way they were growing in the forest.

Not much of anything else happened, other than walking against some muddy streams that were in our path, and trying very hard to keep our electronics dry.  We weren't successful there, as both of our phones stopped working at some point during the 7 miles we accomplished.  Unfortunately, my phone did not capture the whole hike for the day, so our map is incomplete.  The camera, however, is waterproof, so we continued to attempt some photography during our saturated trip.

 In spite of our phones dying from being soaked, we were able to keep track of our mileage, and completed 7 in total.  As we approached the road, hearing cars go by on Route 104, we saw Mike's truck, and were happy and relieved our hiking was over for the day.  You could ring out our pants, backpacks, and shirts! Mike immediately handed us dry towels, which was welcomed and appreciated.  As we got into the truck, the sun came out! We laughed about the timing of it, but we remain so proud of ourselves for braving the weather for 3+ hours and getting our hiking in.  I've NEVER voluntarily spent time out in rain like that, for the amount of time that we did, but we survived, and I am hoping that was the worst of the weather we will see for the duration of our travels.

 So, 35 miles down, 90 left.  We will resume next week, and tackle the next portion of the trail, heading past the fork and onto the southern portion of the trail.  Below, you can see the map of where we began, and unfortunately my phone died before we stopped, so I drew in the rest of our journey.  All of our stats are off, including the mileage.

Until Next time,

Rosa & The Thruhiker's Wife