Monday May 20, 24.6mi/39.6km

Bear Mountain Bridge (1406.2) to RPH Shelter (1430.8) (NY)

Kelsey and Pete dropped us off at the trailhead at 7am, on their way to work. I even remembered to get a photo, which is impressive for so early in the morning.

Bob and I climbed up the hill, and it was a warm and extremely humid morning. Even the rocks were slippery from the condensation. There were also a few swampy areas, which usually have these nice boardwalks.

And because this is NY, there were also deli and sandwich shops along the way!

I got a breakfast bagel. The bagels on this section of trail have been spectacular. So much better than the bagels on the other trails! We got back on the trail, and there was a random shrine nearby.

Most of the day was quite uneventful, and in a green tunnel.

There was a mile of trail that utilized an old mining road, and it had some impressive stonework.

We passed by Canopus Lake, and it had a nice swimming beach, but it wasn’t open yet for the season.

There was one mountain today, Shenandoah mountain. It had nice views, but I didn’t linger since those dark clouds in the photo were making rumbly noises.

I scurried down the mountain, and got back into the trees just as a quick 5-minute rainshower hit. An hour later, I was at the shelter, and I setup for the evening.

Bob arrived 30 minutes later, and also a section hiker arrived too. We discussed ordering pizza (there is a road nearby), but decided we had to eat our backpacking food, so we would have less to carry tomorrow. NY is great with all these food options!

Sunday May 19, 16.2/26.1km

Fingerboard Shelter (1390.1) to Bear Mountain Bridge (1406.2)

After a nice quiet night of sleep, with no bear visits whatsoever, we hit the trail. This section of trail is quite nice, and it looks like trail crews have recently been working on it.

Bob and I stopped at a shelter for a mid-morning break, and I found this neat game inside. The game was an AT-themed board game, and had some very specific trail details!

As we hiked closer to the Hudson River, there were occasionally some views of it thru the trees.

And I could see the upcoming objective, Bear Mountain.

The climb up Bear mountain was easy, as the trail was built for the dayhike crowd, so it was nice stone stairs and smooth trail. It even had a bench along the way!

It also had some danger noodles along the way too…

And at the top of the mountain, there was a bike race going on! It must be a weekend. The race volunteers gave me some fruit, Gatorade, and a bagel too.

There was a tower at the summit, so of course I climbed the tower.

It had some better views from above the trees.

The walk down the mountain was simple, on a huge path that was as wide as a driveway. Hundreds of day hikers were coming up the hill. There were some views on the way down, and a park at the bottom.

And the park had a playground. Ruben needs to hike the AT, haha.

And an ice cream vending machine?!? What a time to be alive.

The final part of the day’s trail had a zoo! It was a free zoo, and it just walked right thru for almost a mile.

Bears!

I left the zoo, and crossed the Bear Mountain Bridge over to Hudson River.

My cousin Kelsey was waiting for us on the other side, with a few surprises.. her dad and her brother (my uncle and my cousin) were there too! We drove back to the house, and had a nice visit with Kelsey and Pete the rest of the afternoon and evening. We had a barbecue, campfire, and some Game of Thrones viewing. Amazing day!

Saturday May 18, 19.2mi/30.9km

Cascade Brook campsite (1370.9) to Fingerboard Shelter (1390.1) (NY)

I woke up to a dry tent, the rain had stopped during the night and it was a sunny morning. I was excited to be meeting some friends for breakfast, so I got moving quickly. Lots of views from the ridge this morning!

Bob caught up to me just before the road crossing, and we met my friend Justin, who picked us up and drove us to town. Justin is a friend from an outdoor education program we both volunteer in, Winter Mountaineering School. We had breakfast with Justin and Amber, and their adorable 4-year old daughter. I forgot to get photos, d’oh!

A couple of hours later, we were back on the trail, and Bob was immensely enjoying his new shoes he picked up at the post office!

Most of the day was on high ridges, with cool slab walkways. I think this is near Cat Rocks viewpoint.

There was a short descent to a stream, and Fitzgerald Falls. A group of kids were going for a swim when we arrived.

There was a short but steep climb, with stair that just kept going up. It felt like the Mordor scene from LOTR.

Eventually, we got to Mombasha high point. Sadly, it was freshly graffitti’d, presumably by a local high school kid asking a girl to prom, since the summit rock said “prom?” and there were hearts painted for over a mile. I hope s/he comes back to clean it up!

Then, the scenery improved with many small lakes and ponds.

I was excited to be meeting another friend today, Smokey! We hiked most of the CDT together in 2016, and our trail family had a great dynamic that made it my favorite trail so far. We met at a roadside, and Smokey and his girlfriend Sarah brought drinks and snacks!

It was great catching up and seeing them, and after a couple of hours we all had to depart. The walk over the thruway was jarringly loud.

The trail immediately entered Harriman state park, and there was a neat feature called the “Lemon squeezer”. I barely fit thru, and I’m a small person!

There was also a junction with the Long Path, a 300(?)-mile trail from the George Washington Bridge in New York City, to Albany.

Bob and I arrived at the Fingerboard Shelter, which is known for bear activity. There was a local man from Brooklyn camped there too, and he had some nice candle lanterns set up.

Hopefully no bears come around tonight! It’s also a full moon, so if there are bears, we will easily see them…

Friday May 17, 25.8mi/41.5km

Secret Shelter NJ (1345.1) to Cascade Brook campsite NY (1370.9)

It was a surprisingly scenic day, with plenty of vistas, and a nice smooth trail so it was possible to look at them! New Jersey seems to be a wet state, so of course the day started out with a boardwalk section.

And then the trail followed an old railroad grade for a mile, and these are always nice and flat and well-drained.

Then, we hiked thru a field, and the path was even wide enough to not get wet from the morning dew. So different from the Te Araroa or CDT!

There was even a mile of roadwalking today, the longest section yet on this trail. We needed to cross the Wallkill River, and so the trail uses the existing nearby road bridge. I had been to this river many times in NY, I had no idea it extended so far upstream into NJ!

Later in the morning, we came into the Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge. There were miles of marshes, fish, turtles, birds, and ornithology geeks! 🙂

The walk thru the Wildlife Refuge was on a nice stopbank, so we were nice and dry the whole time. And as soon as we left there, we were back on a boardwalk.

A few miles later, we came to the Pochuck boardwalk, the longest one on the AT, about a mile long. So cool!

Just before lunch, we crossed a farm field with… cows! Hi cows!

Bob and I stopped for lunch at a farm market. Cider donuts, iced tea, and ice cream made a well-balanced meal! There was an hour of light rain that started when we arrived, perfect timing. There was a big uphill climb after lunch, and soon it was hot and sunny again. The whole afternoon was pretty much on high ridges with nice smooth slabs of rock.

And then we crossed into New York! New Jersey, done!

Shortly after that, the trail reaches Prospect Rock, the highest point of the NY section of the AT.

There were some steep rocky parts to navigate, which was pretty fun. There was even a ladder in a short section of cliff!

I got to my planned camp spot at 6:30pm, and quickly setup, since I heard thunder in the distance. At 7pm, it started raining… hard. Perfect!

Thursday May 16, 24.9mi/40.1km

Brink Road Shelter (1320.2) to Secret Shelter (1345.1) (NJ)

New Jersey is interesting. I’ve read in the guidebook that it was swampy, and on that front it didn’t disappoint. Bogs everywhere. Good morning, mud!

Most of the day was on the same ridge as yesterday, with fine views on both sides.

The views were made more accessible by another fire tower. This one is on Mt. Culver.

And even better, the rocks in the trail seem to be dwindling!

When I got to another bump on the ridge, it was called Sunrise Mountain, and had a cool pavilion with benches to sit and watch the views.

What a fascinating sign. Ha!

I stopped for lunch at a shelter, which was unoccupied except for the large black ratsnake…who didn’t want company. So I sat outside in the hot sun.

Bob caught up, and another hiker named Three Mile joined us for lunch. The hike after lunch was steep downhill, and many trees were used as handholds.

In the afternoon, I stopped at the High Point state park office, where they give thru hikers a free soda pop. Barqs root beer is always a good choice!

And they even let thru hikers throw out their rubbish… but only thrus, haha.

Another highlight of today was hiking to the highest point in NJ, which is not so creatively names High Point. It’s only 1800ft tall, and is accessible by car, but has a cool obelisk in top.

Good views from the base of the tower.

The last few miles of the day we dropped off of the ridge one last time, and walked thru some farmland.

Which of course was even more muddy and had many bogs.

The destination for the evening was Secret Shelter, a cabin on private property owned by a former thru-hiker. It had water, a privy, electricity, and even a surprise burro!

Watching the sunset over the farm fields. And the burro.

Three-Mile arrived after we finished dinner, and young couple arrived too and setup their tent. We sat and talked and entertained ourselves watching the Burro, who was not shy around hikers!

Wednesday May 15, 24.8mi/39.9km

Delaware Water Gap PA (1295.4) to Brink Road Shelter NJ (1320.2)

Today we were leaving Pennsylvania, and I’ve never been so excited to be going to New Jersey! Bob and I left the church basement hostel at 8:30am, and walked out of town on a massive freeway bridge for interstate 80.

Halfway across the bridge, we entered New Jersey!

On the other side of the Delaware River, the trail promptly re-climb the same ridge, called Kittatinny mountain on this side. It followed a nice stream most of the way up.

At the top of the climb was a peaceful spot called sunfish pond. It was huge! Especially with all the recent rains.

This little guy was making his way to the pond when we saw him. I’m not sure what kind of turtle/tortoise it is.

It was a nice ridgewalk all morning, with frequent views to both the east and west.

Bob is usually in the lead. He walks fast!

We stopped for lunch at the AMC Mohican center, a lodge with a Cafe and gear shop. I had plenty of food, so I only bought an ice cream and an iced tea.

After a nice lunch of the usual cheese and salami wrap, we reconnected back to the AT. The connector trail had a less than appealing name.

And there was plenty of swamp…

Back up on the ridge, I had good views again most of the afternoon. We even stopped by a firetower for a long break.

While taking our break, I had a friend message me about carpooling down to Trail Days this weekend. It is a big annual hiker event in Damascus VA, about 900 trail miles south of here. Its a long drive, so it would mean being away from the trail for at least 5 days, so I would lose the nice group that I’m hiking with now. So I declined – I’ll have to go next year though!

The rest of the day was uneventful – walking on rocks, including some cool big slabby ones.

There was a pond called “Little Crater Lake” but it looked pretty stagnant and un-clear, very opposite from the real Crater Lake on the PCT in Oregon.

We got to the shelter pretty late in the day, after 6:30pm. A nice couple showed up an hour later and we had dinner together, then early to bed!

Tuesday May 14, 15.5mi/24.9km

Wind Gap (1279.9) to Delaware Water Gap (1295.4) (PA)

What a great night to be indoors! It rained off & on thru the night, and it was still so cold when we left the motel at 8:30am.

The rain had stopped, but the rocks continued today.

There was another knife edge section, which took forever on the slippery slabs of rock. At least this one had a neat view of the undercast valley.

At the end of today’s hike, the ridge we were following ended at the Delaware river. There were cool views of the Delaware Water Gap, with the river and freeway way below.

I descended 1000ft/300m to the river valley, and entered a whole new world with lush plants, ponds, and warm temperatures.

There is a church in town that allows hikers to stay in their basement, so I went there. It was simple but clean – a room with eight bunks, a shower, a toilet, and a sitting room.

Bob and I dropped off our packs, and walked around town to get food. After a first meal at the local bistro, we stopped by a bakery.

Everything looked so good, it was hard to choose.

So I got a pie AND ice cream. Why choose?

We did a quick resupply shopping trip, to get us thru the next four days into New Jersey and New York. Goodbye Pennsylvania!

Monday May 13, 21.3mi/34.3km

Outerbridge shelter (1258.6) to Wind Gap (1279.9) (PA)

The weather forecast improved slightly, with rain starting at noon, so I got an early start to get as many miles in before then. The trail descended down to Lehigh Gap, and I could see the re-climb on the other side.

Crossing the Lehigh river was on a nice bridge, separated from the scary traffic. Everyone here drives like they’re on the phone!

The re-climb up the other side of the gap was quite steep and exposed. There was even a short section with some easy rock climbing moves- a foot jam, a stem up a corner, and a mantle up onto a ledge!

After 1000ft/300m of going up, there was one last good view back to where I had just been. And then the fog moved in.

The trail was a cruise for a couple of miles down an old road, since it had been rerouted. (The original trail runs thru a superfund site, the result of zinc processing at a former factory in the valley below.)

The rest of the day was up on a ridge, on rocky trail in the fog. It was Cold again, so just a few photos.

I took a break at the only shelter I passed by today, to get out of the rain while I ate. It said “happiness here”, it was right!

Bob and I arrived to Wind Gap at 4pm, and it was still raining, cold, and foggy. So we went to the Gateway motel. It was warm and dry… and that’s about all the nice things I can say about it. 🙂

I ordered pizza for dinner, and we sat and enjoyed the warmth and dried out, while watching bad movies!

Sunday May 12, 16.8mi/27.3km

Allentown Shelter (1241.8) to Outerbridge shelter (1258.6) (PA)

It rained all night, and was still raining when I woke up. So, I checked the weather, hoping it would be stopping soon. Nope!

So, Bob and I packed up, (rain) suited up, and headed out into a steady rain. The trail was quite wet.

I didn’t take many photos today, since it was cold, only 45F/7C, so my hands didn’t have much dexterity.

When I got to a feature called the “knife edge”, it was worrisome. I had hiked here years ago on a dry day, and the shoes just grip the slanty slabs of rock. Well, wet slabs don’t have much grip, so… I took my time. And used my hands.

The trail stayed rocky for a couple of miles, which was really slow with the wet rocks.

Around noon, I got to a viewpoint called Bake Oven Knob. I had also hiked here years ago, and the view wasn’t as nice today. Both because of the fog, and all the new graffiti. Sad.

After Bake Oven knob, the trail smoothed out, and it was a nice couple hours of trail to the shelter.

I arrived at 3:45pm, to find Bob had just arrived before me. It was very early in the day, but it had rained all day, so we called it quits and crawled in our sleeping bags. It was so nice to finally be warm and dry!

On a sad note, there were a couple of AT hikers who were attacked on the trail, down in southern Virginia. I’m safe and sound 800mi/1300km away, and authorities have arrested the suspect. Links:

Washington Post

Roanoke Times

ABC News

Saturday May 11, 21.9mi/35.2km

Hamburg (1219.9) to Allentown Shelter (1241.8) (PA)

I stayed up way too late watching TV, and dragged myself out of bed for the hotel’s breakfast. Bob and I walked over to the Cabelas store, to get a shuttle ride back to the trail. We got dropped off at 10:30am, and immediately there was a huge climb.

Once we got to the top, the trail was surprisingly quite nice, and not at all rocky.

I stopped at a nice lookout point called Pulpit rock, and enjoyed the beautiful day and warm sunshine. And so did about 40 other day hikers.

Surprisingly, just two miles later, there was another view point, the Pinnacle.

And all these large predatory birds (hawks?) were circling above. So cool!

From there, it was an easy 5 miles of hiking on an old dirt road. No rocks again! A great surprise. And there were even a couple more smaller viewpoints.

The last couple of miles had some small rocks, with some sections of smooth trail.

Bob and I cruised into camp at the shelter at 7pm, much later than usual but we had a very late start. There were two other hikers there, a couple of guys from PA doing a long weekend out. They were talking about doing the Mid-state trail, a 525km trail thru Pennsylvania, from Maryland to New York. Sounds enticing!

Rain is coming tonight and all day tomorrow… bleh.