Long day today — about 30 miles, not counting a three-mile detour in search of breakfast. But that only happened on account of I hit the road so early in the morning that nothing was open yet.
The clouds and moon conspired to wake me up at 4 am. All night long, the moon had hidden behind the clouds. Then, rather suddenly, the clouds broke up, the moon shone through, and I awoke thinking it must be daybreak.
I figured it out soon enough, but got up anyway. I was a bit nervous about walking through Syracuse. Cities are sometimes unpredictable. I had no idea what to expect, but I wanted to get through it as fast as possible.
I was also concerned about the weather forecast for all of tonight and most of tomorrow: rain beginning around sunset and not letting up until the following afternoon. I was going to have to pitch a tarp overnight. Trouble is, the woods I’d been passing through just weren’t the right sort for that kind of thing. Too much ground vegetation, not enough dry patches, and the trees were too close together. Even if I found a good spot and got set up before the sky opened up, I’d get dripped on all night and then have to break camp in the rain. Which would be fine, if only there were a nice, dry hotel room waiting for me at the end of tomorrow.
Based on how far I thought I could make it today, the prospect of finding an inn tomorrow evening didn’t look good.
Long story short, I got through Syracuse in record time, but I never did find a campsite. I walked and walked and walked, but the trail seemed to occupy one long, elevated berm surrounded by the canal on one side and a swamp on the other. The few swathes of ground that remained high and dry were carpeted with poison ivy.
it wasn’t my intention to walk all the way to Weedsport. I knew there were hotels here, but I reckoned they were out of reach — until I found myself a mere three miles away.
So here I am in a nice, dry, poison ivy-free hotel room as the rain outside has just begun. My feet are beat, and I’ve still got a whole day’s worth of rain to deal with tomorrow. But I reckon I’ve earned a sleep-in.
We’ll just have to see what the world looks like come checkout time.
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