New York State of Mind

Much is the same with trail life; we get up, hike, eat, hike more, eat more, put up a tent, and sleep. What is different is the vast array of scenery that we see. We live in a beautiful country, a country which we never realized was so massive and breathtaking.

Dang Pennsylvania Why You So Rocky?

Last we left off we were in Duncannon PA where we had barley scrapped the new off PA. The warnings of the rocks being bad having not yet been realized. That changed and changed quickly. What was one lush farmland turned to what we can only be described as a lunar landscape. Rocks to the left of us, rocks to the right of us, rocks above us, and rocks below us.  The rocks ate our shoes as if they hadn’t eaten in years.

Bye PA – Hello NJ

There was much rejoicing when we stepped across the PA/NJ border.  The simplistic thought that once we were out of PA the rocks would magically vanish was not realized and NJ turned into PA II the Reckoning. However, all those negative thoughts quickly vanished with our second bear sighting.  From what we have heard a lot of hikers go through there whole hiking lives without seeing a single bear, how fortunate are we <?>

 

More Rock Than Roll

The NJ portion of the AT is a mere 72.2 miles. Complete with boardwalks through bogs and swamps there are also bridges that we had to take a step back from and marvel at how all the pieces to build such a feat of engineering could have been transported to literally the middle of nowhere and constructed with enough overbuild to last a few lifetimes. However, NJ did not get the memo that rocks are supposed to stop in PA.

 

New York, New York

We say goodbye to NJ and hello to NY atop a 1400-foot ridge.  The irony of doing what seems like more rock climbing than hiking has not been lost of us. However, it was all worth it when we made it to the top of Black Mountain looked East and saw Oz. No wait, that is Manhattan.

 

Future Plans

Its hot and dry. Water is scarce, water weights 2.2 pounds per liter. Due to creeks being dry and the sure thing of water being everywhere like it was in GA and NC, we are now forced to carry two liters of water and filling up those containers every chance we get. While 4.4 pounds may not sound like a lot, it is. This extra weight has made us reevaluate what we really need to carry. This applies to not just things like rain jackets (Who needs one in the summer?) but even food. Some of those nonfoods have sent back to Yolo’s daughter Anna to hold for us until we are blessed with the cooler days of Fall. Dehydration has sent many hikers to the Urgent Care, it can really sneak up on you.

We will slowly make it through NY. Due to the heat and lack of water our daily mileage average has taken a hit. However, we will persevere, make it through the never-ending hills of New York and come out the other side in CT; where along the way we will cross the Hudson River and walk through a zoo.

Random Pictures