Miles: 1423.1 | An early, sweaty push leads to an emotional reunion with my parents near Canopus Lake—brief but grounding. Town chores feel easier with help: showers, laundry, resupply, BBQ, coffee, and a surprising sense of home in a Hannaford grocery store. The day ends with gratitude, renewed perspective, and a generous stay at Parakeet’s house, sleeping indoors and reflecting on family, support, and how much I’ve changed.
We woke up early to go meet my parents at a road crossing near Canopus Lake. The inside of the tent was soaked with condensation. Camping on a grassy field in humid weather was cause for horrible condensation gathering. We tried to shake out the tent as best we could but we had to get moving.
I was excited to see my parents! We left camp by 6am to meet my parents 9 miles away at 11am. It seemed like enough time to me. Both of us were tired and we hiked slowly. My mom called me around 10:45 to tell me they had arrived at NY 301, the road I was meeting them at. I was still two miles away! I got a move on and left Miles behind. I told him to take his time catching up and I would wait at the road with my parents so that they wouldn't just be sitting and waiting.
When I arrived they weren't there! I'd walked 4mph for two miles! Turns out they were parked down the street. Thankfully, they didn't make me walk to them, they drove to me. When they pulled up and got out, my Mom immediately remarked on how awful I smelled. It had been 7 days since my last shower and, in the summer heat, it was very apparent to the naked nose.
We stood by outside the car and chatted while we waited for Miles. I filtered some water while we talked. The heat was really getting to me. When Miles got to the road we packed our stuff into my parents' station wagon and headed toward Pawling, the closest trail town. On our way into town, I texted Parakeet (the hiker we met on Bear Mountain a couple of days before) to see if the offer to stay at her place that night still stood. She replied yes and we planned to stay with her that night. We had originally wanted to get into town and continue down trail the same day, but we were exhausted and the heat was brutal. We also realized that by the time our chores in town were done it would be a late return to the trail.
Mom and Dad took us to Native Landscapes, a landscaping business located right on trail that offers showers and mail drops, first. Miles and I got showers and picked up some packages from his Mom: my new sleeping bag and some food for Miles. While Miles was showering I ran into Snow Angel outside! We hadn't seen her since High Point State Park. She was getting off trail today to go into New York City and explore. We offered to take her into town to the laundromat.
After dinner, Miles did the laundry at the laundromat while Mom, Dad, and I went to the grocery store to pick up our resupply. The grocery store in town was Hannaford! The same as our local grocery store. It was the first time I'd seen a grocery store chain that exists at home.
Once showers, packages, and the laundromat were finished Mom, Dad, Miles, and I went to a great Barbeque place. We got way too much food. We had hiker hunger but this pile of meet and veggies was huge! We ended up packing some of it out!
It felt good to be in the North. Ever since Warwick I had started feeling more at home on trail. Mom, Dad, and I brought the groceries back to the laundromat where Miles and I took off all of the packaging and packed it all into our bags. While the laundry finished, we went and got coffee and milkshakes up the street at a cafe.
We packed up our packs after and got back into the station wagon. Mom and Dad drove us to Parakeet's house in the next town. I said goodbye to them. I was sad to see them go. The visit felt so short and I still felt pangs of homesickness just about every day.
They had noticed my improvements though. Marked changes they said. It felt good to see my parents notice change in me. I was happy to see them and I just wanted to go home with them but I knew I just had to keep going on trail.
My parents got in the car and left to drive the five hours back home. I was so thankful for them. They'd been helping me fund part of my thru-hike, they drove all the way out here in one day to spend four hours with me, they mailed me things when I needed them (shoes, food, gear, etc.), they even sent me little motivational cards along the way.
I really have great parents and it saddens me a little bit to realize that I took them for granted all this time. I always loved them, but until my life on trail I don't think I truly appreciated all that they did for me, all that it took to get me this far in life, and how much they really cared about me. Better late than never, I hope.
I resolved to be a better kid and housemate when I get home. I knew I was going to be living with them when I got back and I decided to commit myself to doing more chores, being more polite and grateful, helping them any way that I had time to.
We hung out with Parakeet and her Dad at their house for the evening. Miles set up his tent in the yard and Parakeet let me sleep in her sister's room in the house. We talked about how her and my sister went to JWU. It's a small world!
Later we chatted about trail life and how much she said she missed it. She had started thru-hiking in 2016 but had to get off trail before she could complete her thru-hike due to some circumstances that she needed to be home for.
We related to a lot of things on trail and we talked about post-trail depression. We went to bed late after I finished a blog post. I slept soundly in a real bed for the night.