We woke up this morning in the luxury of a $50 a night roadside motel. We headed off down Center Street which intersects with Berme Road and this is where we picked up the canal again. It moves through the town almost unseen because it sits about 15 feet below the level of the road. At the site of lock 27 we stopped to help a guy named Bud. His car had broken down and we lent him our cell to call his wife for help. In return he gave us some advice to avoid Copperhead snakes if we see them basking in the sun on the road. Port Benjamin (24.32) is the next locality and we passed by lock 26 here.

The heat was increasing now as we approached midday and we slowed our pace as we continued on the Berme Road into Port Hyxson where there is a dry dock as well as lock 25 (22.98).

After a beautiful section of the canal, shaded by the forests and relatively cool in the heat of the day, we came into Kerhonkson (20.63). It is a very small town with an incredible old bridge which crosses Rondout Creek.
After some confusion about which direction to go in we asked a local woman to direct us to the towpath. The canal was filled with water and all sorts of wildlife had made it their home. There were frogs, turtles, birds and thousands of insects. The path ran uninterrupted for 4.5 miles to Accord and we trudged along making good time. At about 5pm we reached the town of Accord (16.07). We headed straight for the deli. The canal disappears into the woods.
After taking a wrong turn on the advice of a local who swore it was the right way to go the canal slid off into the undergrowth where we could not follow, taking its secrets from this area with it.

It was 7pm now and though it wasn’t late we were suddenly tired. It was probably the realization that we had walked half a mile only to have to turn back to pick up Main street Our plan was to continue for 3 more miles and sleep wherever we found ourselves. This was because we wanted to give ourselves a head start on what we believed would be the final day tomorrow.

A second attempt to avoid the road and hook up with the elusive canal beckoned. It was getting dark and the canal and towpath have been filled in as they approach the Eastern side of the fields so we decided after some argument to retrace our steps for the second time that evening. We didn’t know which road we were on, we were disorientated and we were extremely tired. On top of all this we had no idea where we would sleep. After a frantic search we found a gap in a hedge by the roadside and found ourselves at the top of an open field on a hill looking out over the nearby mountains. It is only now that we wish we had taken the offer of bed and board from a kind stranger a few miles back. Why did we refuse?

It is a beautiful sight. This is where we are now. We are sleeping in the open, under the stars, on the damp ground amid the strangest noises coming from the woods, it is an eerie place. There are fireworks going off over the crest of the hills for 4th of July