Day #5 on the Paumanok Path

Rosa and I were up early and on our way to begin the next section of the trail.  By 7:45 am, we had dropped my jeep off at our ending point, had driven to Route 104 and parked at the David A. Sarnoff Preserve lot.  Although we were so thankful it wasn't pouring this morning, the humidity was a bit of a battle for us today.  We actually couldn't decide which scenario was more uncomfortable ~ soaking wet from torrential rain, or soaking wet from sweating in the humidity!

2 1/2 miles in

white blazes can be anywhere!

There was a bit of road walking today, along Route 104, which is a nice break from the dense woods, but it can get tricky, because we need to locate the white blazes to keep us on the trail. Most of the time, the blazes are painted on trees, right along side the road, but sometimes, we need to look outside the trees and find our blazes elsewhere.

We stumbled upon some interesting trees along the way ~ most of the woods we are hiking through are blooming with new growth, green bushes, trees filling in with leaves... so trees like this one definitely stand out.  There were an exceptional amount of fallen trees in our path as well today.  Usually, the fallen trees are along side the trail, or in the immediate woods next to the trail, but today, we must have had to step over at least 10 to get by.  It's okay, because they make for a good rest stop if needed.

   We came upon several deer today, all of which bolted immediately when our footsteps were heard.  I was able to catch one on video before he jumped and ran away.

We also came across across multiple ponds along the way today! Some brought us swarms of mosquitoes dive bombing at our faces, and others brought us a beautiful view.  As we were walking, the view of this beautiful body of water, Owl Pond, came with within a few steps from the trail, so of course, we stopped to enjoy the view.

The water was smooth like glass, and not a mosquito in sight! We were so happy to view this while in the middle of this dense woods. 

selfie at Owl Pond

 Overall, we had a great, productive day ~ we saw some beautiful scenery, the rain held off, and we logged 10.8 miles in on the trail.  The only low for my day is, that on the way home, I must have removed 3 ticks that were crawling on me, and when I got out of the car and began to take me shoes and pack off, I began to see ticks EVERYWHERE. They were in my shoes, socks, pants, and on all three layers of tank tops that I wore.  Most of them were large enough and still crawling, making it easy to remove.  There were, however, many really small ones that I removed as well.  I will continue to spray and hope for the best.  I must say, it has been the only low in this whole experience.

SOME of the ticks I removed from my skin and clothes

Below, you can see our progress on the map from my Endomondo app.  It was a long, exhausting, but very rewarding day for us both!

Until Next Time,

Rosa & The Thruhiker's Wife