Section 8 Complete!

Ward called home last Sunday from near Windale, NY to talk and to wish mom a happy Mother's Day.  He spent the previous night in a nearby shelter then caught a train into New York City.  Matt also went into the city to stay with friends.  Ward spent part of the day there, then took the train back to the trail area where he found a hotel to enjoy some solitary down time.

Beth and I were astonished that he ate at a Subway in NYC, but understood when he explained the need to save cash.  Interestingly, another jacket ($$$$ . . . even on sale . . . at least in my opinion) arrived in the mail from REI a couple of days after we spoke.  This one looks like a modern-day version of a jacket Sir Edmund Hillary would have worn, and is apparently for next year at school.  Winters are hell in Raleigh.  No $ for good food, but plenty for the right gear.  We each have our own priorities.

He's still working on gear swap outs.  We shipped his old gas stove to him, along with a few other items, and he will send a shipment home, along with a memory card of pictures.  Let's hope he includes people and places in some of these.

He hasn't seen interesting wildlife, but sees 10 - 15 black and water snakes a day - none of the poisonous variety so far.  One day he was trying to refill his water bottles and everywhere he stopped he found a snake.  He finally gave up and moved on without refilling.

We knew he would finish Section 8 on Monday morning, and confirmed this later by tracking him through the Spot, and through a text message exchange.  By the time of this writing (Wednesday night) he is through Connecticut and 7 or 8 miles into Massachusetts.  He mentioned on the phone that the terrain is becoming more varied after the relative flatness of New Jersey and New York.  I can see from the map of his trek that he climbed a small- to medium-sized mountain today.

Here are the stats since Springer Mountain, GA through Section 8:

Total miles hiked - 1,446.9
Days on trail - 96 total - 13 zeros = 86 hiking days.
Average daily miles - 15.1 including zeros, 17.4 excluding zeros

He should finish Section 9, covering CT and MA by early next week.

End