Lets Recap the Past Few Hundred Miles

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of high miles, cold temperatures, increasing precipitation and relentless winds.

After taking Veteran’s Day weekend off, Riley and I hit the trail with complete abandon.

*Shout out my incredible  boyfriend who came all the way from NC to spend the freezing weekend with us!

For over the past week we have hiked no less than 21 miles each day, some days upwards of 25 miles. Thankfully, the end of New England, New York and New Jersey have been incredibly gracious in terms of easy terrain and holding off on arctic weather as we hastily head further south.

Each day offered new and exciting landscapes. From gently sloping pastures to rolling hills (trying their best to be called mountains) topped with breath taking views of the surrounding country side (and city!), the past few hundred miles have ceased to amaze.

Every morning I woke up knowing that we wouldn’t have a lot of elevation change (hardly any at all really), but since we were covering so much ground we would see the landscape changing right before our very eyes.

And change it’s surely has!! Each time we came face to face with a vertical mountain side covered in jumbles of broken rocks and roots I expected the trail to venture straight up it. Instead, since we are no longer in the sadistic state of Maine, the trail kindly bypassed the treacherous, painstaking, and mind boggling difficult option and took us on a leisurely tour around the mountain.

Take note Maine! Not everything has to be the most death defying option.

Everyday is easier than the last, but each day brings it’s own challenges to the table. The elevation changes have become significantly less and with that comes easier ascents/descents making travel time much quicker. On the other hand, dense leaf litter hides pesky rocks and once it rains the trail becomes a slip and slide sans the good time.

The trail is by no means “easy,” but it is much less daunting now than it was a month ago. A lot has changed not only terrain wise, but also how Riley and I handle ourselves. We’re quicker in the mornings packing up and heading out (largely because it’s too cold to sit around and take our time), and we’re able to hike longer distances between breaks. Together this gives us more time to hike a higher number of miles during the short daylight hours we have.

Today we crossed the New Jersey/Pennsylvania border. In just over a week we’ll be half way through with this trek. But right now, we are doing what we came here to do. Hike.