After a much needed rest we set off from Cuddebackville at 3pm. We followed the towpath from the museum and checked in on Neversink Kate who appears to be grounded due to a recent lowering of the water level in the canal. We crossed the 209 to pick up the canal and see it tip into Comfort’s Basin.

The road becomes a dirt track and then lifts up to meet with the level of the towpath. The towpath is navigable but becomes brushy in areas. At Pierson’s Bridge (49.58) the canal has been washed away and a stream descends into the valley across the site of the canal a long way below the canal’s elevation. We pushed on. We could hear the traffic on 209 more clearly now which indicated to us that we were nearing Port Orange (48.90). We were chased through the woods at this point by seemingly rabid dogs for about 100 yards.

After stopping for dinner at Westbrookville we picked up the trail through the woods bordering Basherkill Lake which is about 4 miles long. We find a fawn and it tries to hobble off into the undergrowth. It made a beautiful change to the huge quantity of dead animals we have seen on this trip.

By the time we reached Haven Road it was nearly 9pm and when we broke out of the forest we were face to face with a sky that threatened the end of the world. Suddenly it was as if a dam had opened over us as almost solid sheets of rain flooded from the sky, drenching everything within seconds. Lightening and thunder started and then increased in intensity and there was a feeling of being very small underneath this biblical storm.

After 20 minutes the storm intensified and lying in our soaking hammocks, a pool of water collecting under us we decided to make a run for the nearest dry place, a porch we had passed in an empty building called Moose Lodge some way back. We packed up everything and dived out of the woods for safety and here we are for the rest of what is going to be a long, cold, wet night.