Aug 2nd, Bivouac, east of Walton, NY

Aug 2 bivouac,

The hills today were very steep both up and down. I found myself thinking about how I would set up and write my journal-blog when I get back to Wis. I came up with a title:
The Old Man and the Trail A Solitary Journey of Renewal
It occurred to me today, that for days and hours on end the only sounds I have heard are the wind, the birds, and my feet and poles striking the ground, with an occasional airplane frying overhead. I am figuring that I can complete the hike over the next 8 days. After coming down a very very long and steep hill, I started looking for a place to camp. What I found was an area that was restricted on one side of the road and limited to certain activities on the other side of the road. I went up the road and knocked on the doors of 3 houses to ask if there were any clearly signed public land nearby. No one answered the doors, so I hiked back down the road and started walking back into the less restricted area. There was a large creek about 100 yards back in the brush and weeds and on the other side of the creek; there was a high bluff. I saw a deer trail going through the weeds and then could see their trail going up the bluff. I found a rock crossing of the creek and followed the deer trail up a very steep embankment. At the top was a perfect location for a bivouac where I set up camp. When I explored the area, I found an old farm trail and an old farm dump with an old rusted car body and an old farm plow. The side of the embankment had clearly been a farm dump of trash at one time. I have seen places like this in Wis. while hunting. Lots of old bottles, pans, kitchen and house hold items thrown over the side of a hill. There was a nice breeze going through the trees and my clothes dried fairly fast. I fell asleep with the sounds of cars on the road, jet liners overhead, and the stream at the bottom of the bluff. Aug 3 Walton, NY, Walton Motel (Dorrie, the owner) The map today showed FLT as nothing but road walk. It was a hot walk with some long steep hills. The last 5 miles were mostly down hill. I did 12 miles in 5 hours. I ran out of water about 4 miles from town. I attempted to hitchhike into town but could not get a ride. I was really dehydrated when I came to the edge of town, where lo-and-behold, there was a Subway. Ice water plus a Tuna Sub (I could only eat half of it). My food box had arrived at the motel. I took it to my room, got cleaned up, and then Dorrie drove me into town so that I could do some email work at the library. Again worked on the maps and distances as well as made decisions about food i.e. should I go to the grocery store and get more "just in case" food. (I deiced that I had enough food). I have been in a number of Verizon dead zones. ( I later learned that the dead zones included other service providers than Verizon) I began to recognize a growing fear. When I was planning the hike, I had the AT experience to draw upon. There on the AT, one was rarely alone on the trail or at the shelters. Here I am always alone, which means that if something were to happen to me, it was very unlikely that someone would come along to help me. Thus, my backup safety plan was my cell phone. In the western part of NY, I got Verizon service connections all the time, but here on the eastern side of the Finger Lakes Trail there are deep valleys, few towns, and apparently few telephone towers.