Photo Album #1 | Photo Album #2
Sun 13
⁃ Camp at Cesar Brook Campsite
Got stung my a yellow jacket twice. Ouch.
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The campsite has one of those wonderful open box privies. If by wonderful I meant 360 views, zero privacy, and all the mosquitoes. Thankfully I didn’t have to use it.
Mon 14
⁃ Camp at Mount Algo Shelter
So many cute dogs today, including KitKat, who I got a few pictures of while chatting with their owners.
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Helped move a baby mouse off trail. Smh, I didn’t take a picture of it with my camera until I got him to move into the grass (so probably no good picture of him).
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Lots of road walking today. Not helped by the detour due to a detour due to Macedonia Brook. If I did it again, I’d skip the detour and cross the sketchy bridge/ford the calf deep stream or follow the AT and then take a road down from the ridge line, that way I still get some of the views. Idk, I was concerned with making it into town in time to get my new pack, so avoiding possibly having to backtrack was kinda important.
At least I walked the full detour, unlike some people (cough Doolittle cough).
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Oh my gosh. My new pack, The Bridge by Nashville Packs, is absurdly tiny! Its rated internal volume is 17-20 L (my old bag was ~40 L) But all my gear (and 2-3 days of food) still fits comfortably inside, with even a bit of extra room at the top. I’m finally employing something close to the stacking arrangement Poet had suggested (it didn’t work well in the ohm, but works pretty well in the bridge). The best arrangement I’ve come up with thus far is this: have the dry bag with my sleeping bag (and pillow) at the bottom of the pack, towards my back. Roll my sleeping pad and place it away from my back sort of on top of the sleeping bag. Then, place my bear bag on top, vertical against my back. With the extra space between the bear bag and the outer side of the bag, shove my orange misc bag, my sweater, and my raincoat. Finally, place my camera dry bag on top and roll down the pack top. Like the old pack, stick two water bottles in a side pocket, tent and ground cloth in the back, and water filter and TP in the other side pocket; if I’m stashing my poles, do it point up, with the grips in the side pocket, and the poles behind the stretch cord. The Inreach fits pretty well in the topmost stretchy pocket on the straps (so it can’t bounce around and hit me in the face while running any more). I’m not fully happy with how it’s packed yet (the main issue is the side against my back isn’t flat), so I need to deal with that eventually while also fiddling with the straps, figuring out how best to use the pockets, and mounting the capture clip (for my camera).
Usefully, I found out the frame in my old pack can be broken into three pieces, meaning I don’t need an absurdly massive box just to ship an empty pack. Still, amusingly the box is about the same size as my new bag full of stuff.
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I stopped at the grocery store after I finished at the post office, and picked up a half gallon of ice cream (it was less than half as expensive as a pint of Ben and Jerry’s), a small jar of peanut butter, and a Diet Coke for Doolittle.
I finished almost the entire tub of ice cream (save for ~1.5 c). If not for doolittle giving me some rotisserie chicken, I’m confident I’d easily have finished it. Still, I definitely got my money’s worth out of it (3.50, less than half the price of a Ben and Jerry’s at the IGA here). So I doubt I’ll have too much of an issue with the half gallon challenge.
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While I was turning from the road into the woods, I met up with Meat Wagon, to pass off Hennessey’s rain cover (which I got from G Man in Great Barrington, since he was staying behind). This rain cover has been an ordeal thus far, and I’m I’m not sure it’ll ever get back to her. Jokingly, I asked if he noticed anything different about my bag. His response was something like this: “that’s going to make the NOBOs look silly.” My response was, “Haha, yep, that’s the goal.”
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The walk out of town and the climb up to the shelter were no sweat at all with the new pack. Even wandering around the IGA, I just left my pack on since I didn’t feel like I was getting in anyone’s way or at risk of bumping anything (try doing that with a fully loaded 60 L pack).
Once I got to camp, I spent about two hours fiddling with the pack while listening to the other hikers chatting. The adjustments were pretty minor overall: swap the food bag and sleeping bag (so, food bag on the bottom), put the elastic sternum strap on the bottom, add the capture clip above the water bottle pocket (only minor strap scrunching was required, much less than expected) (this also allows shoving the lens of the camera into the pocket for extra stability while moving), verifying both camera lenses would fit in the water bottle pockets, and figuring out where to shove snacks, hat, sun gloves, and bug net (the stretchy pocket underneath, in addition to the hipbelt pocket).
Tues 15
⁃ Stay at Station Inn (Pawling, NY) (via NY 22)
Ugh, the rain today sucked. G Man, Dolittle and I all met coincidentally at the Wiley Shelter and collectively decided not to push on to the Telephone Pioneers Shelter, and instead to share a room at the hotel in Pawling.
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Got a steak margarita sandwich a ball of fresh mozzarella, and a cannoli from Vinny’s Deli. The sandwich and mozzarella were amazing. The cannoli was ok (not filled all the way through, the shell wasn’t super fresh, the filling wasn’t quite right, and it was kinda expensive for the price).
The station inn was quite nice. It had a sorta Airbnb modern vibe to it (and similarly had a bunch of random bits from Ikea).
Wed 16
⁃ Stay at Goshen, NY Airbnb (via Deli and Pizza)
While we were leaving Pawling, NY, we stopped at Tony’s Deli for breakfast. I had a cheesesteak and cheese & gravy fries. The cheesesteak was amazing (and absolutely massive). The fries were mediocre at best.
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Today was a true deli-hopping experience. We had Tony’s deli for breakfast, and we finished at the Deli and Pizza (Corrado’s). Their pizza and pastries were excellent, though their vodka pasta wasn’t really anything special.
Thurs 17
⁃ Stay at Goshen, NY Airbnb (via S Highland Rd)
Fri 18
⁃ Stay at Goshen, NY Airbnb (zero day)
Sat 19
⁃ Camp at Hemlock Springs Campsite
Sun 20
⁃ Camp at Fingerboard Shelter
Was on the bridge so long someone in a security truck came by to check if I was ok, before realizing I was just taking pictures. Lol.
Got several amazing pictures from the bridge.
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Bear mountain trail was in better shape than most of the AT. No idea why the trail is still officially closed.
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“What the f*** is that?” Spotter asked, before continuing, “That’s not a bag. Is that just food!?”
I replied, “Nope, it’s only about a quarter food—there’s a tent in there and everything.”
Spotter was a cool dude, who’s going NOBO. I met him while I was taking a lunch break on the descent from Bear Mountain. We chatted while we both ate our blocks of cheese for lunch (for me, it was finishing off my last half pound of cheese), sharing lots of good about the upcoming trail sections.
One such topic we discussed was his recommendation to skip the detour around the Parkway crossing—which adds 1.5 mi, just to avoid crossing a divided Highway. From what I can tell, the detour was a knee jerk reaction after a hiker was killed (I think last year). I was already planning to skip the detour, so it was just additional confirmation of my decision.
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Oh, did I mention I’ve had a total of 4 lbs of cheese in the last 48 hours? Well I did… I grabbed cheese and crackers at the store for after dinner the last night at the Airbnb.
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Got bit/stung by an ant. Then got stung by a yellow jacket in my left calf.
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Met GORP again who camped with us at the shelter, who’s now sobo. I’d met him originally heading north on Franconia Ridge with the high winds and heavy rain. He’d mentioned then that he was a flip flopper, so I might see him again, not really taking that seriously.
One amusing thing Doolittle and GORP realized was that everyone staying there (Doolittle, GORP, LinkedIn, G Man, and I) was an engineer.
Mon 21
⁃ Stay at Lost and Found Hostel
Got stung by another bee/yellow jacket today. Again my left shoulder.
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Greenwood lake is the weirdest small town. 3000 population, no real grocery store, but they have a standalone Dunkin’ Donuts and a Chase Bank.
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Originally, we planned to get a shuttle in from NJ 17A, but we all independently decided today sucked, so we separately decided to go in from Lakes Rd instead (cutting off 3.6 mi from today’s leg, likely to be made up tomorrow).
Tues 22
⁃ Camp at Warwick Drive-In
G-Man and Doolittle have been semi joking about seeing the Barbie movie for weeks. The Warwick drive in allows thru hikers to camp at the back of the theater and see the show for just $5. So, we’re seeing the Barbie movie I guess.
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Before we got picked up by the shuttle to head to the drive in, we went to a large farm stand. I’ve been craving good, homemade apple pie since the first farm stand I stopped at, but didn’t get one since I was by myself, and they only had whole pies. But now I have friends to share the pie with! Well, one of the friends can’t have gluten, so it’s only one friend, but 1/2 a pie over the course of several hours is way more manageable than a whole pie after lunch.
I also got a cider donut, blackberry hibiscus ginger beer, and some local apples at the farm stand as well.
All four things were absolutely excellent. Even if I ended up eating almost the entire pie since G-Man didn’t want much of it.
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At the grocery store near the drive in, I grabbed snacks for the movie along with some resupply stuff. Looking back, it’s pretty clear I was absolutely starving when I went shopping, since my shopping list of clif bars and some protein turned into a cart of gummy worms, birch beer, cherry soda, and a shrimp cocktail platter.
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Welp, I fell asleep about halfway into the Barbie movie.
Wed 23
⁃ Camp at Unionville, NY Town Park
I woke up feeling like crap today and have an upset stomach. Maybe it’s because I had a Knorr side, an entire apple pie, 3/4 of a bag of gummy worms, and two bottles of soda last night. But who can be certain really?
To add insult to injury, by phone and battery are each almost dead. Crap, hopefully 30 mins of charging for each of them is enough to get me till I can fully charge them again.
Speaking of crap, I had the sudden need to poop about 1/4 mile from the end of the Pochuck boardwalk. With some waddling, I managed to make it the rest of the way off the boardwalk, across the road, and far enough up the trail to get away from the houses visible through the trees. However, this put me squarely into the dense brush, thorns, and poison ivy that are so common in CT, NY, and NJ. Crap. Literally. I have to poop really bad. Like now.
With more intense waddling and taking a few breaks to breathe, i managed to find a downed tree that made a good path into the brush to get a bit off trail and into some semblance of privacy—without walking directly through thorn bushes and poison ivy.
What happened next is the well choreographed art of pulling my shovel, hand sanitizer, and toilet paper, then quickly digging a cat hole, losing my shorts, dropping my leggings, squatting, hoping not to miss the cat hole, and then finally burying the evidence.
Well, with that done, I feel much better now. Still, I’m not wanting to push a long mileage day today. If I had more food on me, I’d be content with stopping at the pochuck mountain shelter just a few miles ahead. But I t, so I’ll have to make it to Unionville at least. Good news though, I can camp in town, so I just need to make it to town.
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The pochuck boardwalk is incredibly peaceful.
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The Wallkill Wildlife Preserve is beautiful. While walking through, I saw several herons and a few other birds I can’t name. It made for an unexpectedly nice end of the day. And because I’m staying in town tonight, I was able to take it slow and enjoy the beautiful sights.
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After setting up camp and taking a nice, long nap (5-8 pm ish), I got up and walked across town to The Wits End Tavern for dinner. Since I was craving protein and couldn’t decide what to have, I had a plate of ribs and onion rings along with a plate of steak, mashed potatoes, and vegetables. Save for some potatoes and cauliflower, I cleaned both plates (thanks hiker hunger). Everything was absolutely excellent.
On the way back to the park, I yoinked an apple from a tree that was over the sidewalk. I’ll probably have it with breakfast.
Thurs
⁃ Camp at Gren Anderson Shelter
That freshly picked apple from last night was excellent. It tasted pretty similar to a Granny Smith, but was 50/50 a dull red and green on the outside.
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Swamp detour. 100 newts after high point. Accidentally took Iris Trail—a nice break from the rocks. Left my hat at the trail magic :/ hopefully it comes back to me. High point was cool, tower climb was unnecessary. Met a college orientation group and chatted w their leader while grabbing water at the high point sp hq. Saw another two orientation groups.
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What do you do when you find an unopened can of chicken breast meat sitting in the woods?
Obviously pack it out—it’s trash. But first, eat the chicken—I don’t want to carry the weight of the full can. I mean, after all it’s sealed and unexpired.
Fri 25
⁃ Stealth Camp near Fairview Lake View (884.0)
Saw three or four more orientation groups today. One person had a Yale Rowing shirt on, so maybe a few groups are from Yale.
Lots of newts again today, probably 50-60 in total.
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It’s oppressively humid today. At least when it rains, the rain helps cool you off. Instead, today, I was drenched in my own sweat and fogging up my open glasses.
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So, uh, after breaking down camp at noon (sleeping/waiting till it stopped raining) and hiking all of two miles, I decided to stop for lunch in town. Lol. Sometimes there’s days like that on trail. My excuse was to recharge stuff, but really I just wanted real meat.
Stopped at the Mountain House Tavern near Branchville, NJ and ordered the Ammo Burger. It was excellent, as were the fries that it came with. The burger was a perfect Medium (as ordered), and the egg was a perfect sunny side up. The fries were perfectly seasoned and had the right amount of crunch.
Sat 26
⁃ Stay at The Clarion Inn (Delaware Water Gap, PA)
The tracking for the box I had my logistics team (aka my parents) send to the Mohican Outdoor Center is still showing “In Transit, Arriving Late”. My logistics team contacted the postmaster, who said the pallet the package is in missed an airplane trip, so it’s not lost, just super delayed. They offered to forward it whenever it arrives at the PO, so we’re thinking possibly send it forward to sub out for another box they’d otherwise direct ship.
For today though, I have enough extra food to stretch an extra half day/10 miles to make it to Delaware Water Gap, where I’m having a Walmart delivery order sent to the motel we’re staying at (the whole gang is here, including Low Gear, Meat Wagon, Doolittle, G Man, Linkie-D (formerly LinkedIn), and I (aka Stark)).
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Oops, I just realized I didn’t tell y’all I got a trail name a few weeks ago.
Sorry…I now go by Stark on trail.
While I was at Renee’s, Doolittle and G Man overheard a logistics discussion I had with my parents where I was talking about swapping gear and how much everything weighed (to determine the package weight).
To G Man, it sounded like a conversation between Tony Stark and his AI assistant Jarvis. I’d previously told Doolittle about helping with doing tech support while camping (guiding my parents through an SSD installation and windows reset). So, the next morning, they proposed the names “Stark” and “Jarvis” to me.
I gave them some thought throughout the day. I thought Stark fit pretty well with how I’m relatively techy and I’m an engineer. Also fits with how much of an arrogant d*****bag I am (though Doolittle denies that as a factor).
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