Day 109 - 18th July - Unionville - Wawayanda Shelter - 16.6 miles

Bill who is in his 80s, cooks us an early breakfast at the mayors house, and we are walking back on the trail by 7.30am.

There is a steep climb up Pochuck Mt, a circuit of a swamp, now a wildlife refuge managed by the Federal Govt. In the 1700s it was drained by Polish farmers to grow onions. Now wetlands and full of birds and bird watchers.

We follow a very long boardwalk over the swamp and reach the main road going to Vernon. Red Lobster's parents have set up a trail magic outpost here - they have driven all the way from Boston to see her and we appreciate their efforts with cold drinks, fresh fruit and snacks. We also walk 100 metres to the icecream shop and eat icecreams and rest in the shade until later in the day and we head off about 3 pm to climb the 1000' to the top of Wawayand Mt. It takes us an hour, and then we have a series of bumps the Wawayand shelter. '7' is already there. Sourdough and Masterchief arrive later.

We camp near the shelter and meet a section hiker who is a grade 8 science teacher - he has no trail name as he has only been hiking a few days. He is later christened 'Itinerary' because he has a very detailed program of dates and distances for where he is meant to be. All the thru hikers got that out their system 100 days ago, so his planning and conscientious stands out amongst us. The water source is 0.4 miles from the shelter - what a trudge.