Since we left Pennsylvania the days have flown by.The trail community is different up here in the north. Hitchhiking is illegal in New Jersey and New York. There aren’t as many hostels, or shuttles. Hotels are more expensive. The people in towns are less familiar with hikers. We look progressively more homeless than we did the day we were on Springer Mountain. I know that I certainly feel more homeless than I ever have in my life. For example I am fairly comfortable eating McDonald’s on the side of the street in ragged clothes and a new found ability to poop or sleep just about anywhere.
It makes sense that we have heard of a lot of people quitting recently. It has been a bit tougher to get on and off the trail than it was previously, and the daily switch between blisteringly hot or torrential downpour with lightning certainly doesn’t make staying the course all that appealing.
Nonetheless there have still been many beautiful sights throughout New England thus far. The Pennsylvanian rocks slowly mellowed out soon after entering New Jersey. The short distance in this state was reinvigorating. It’s open ridge lines peered across far reaching valleys, whose rocky cliff sides were peppered with small farms and quaint villages. There are many roadside delis that aren’t too far off trail. This has been how we have planned our hiking schedule for most days. This is why this portion of the trail is sometimes referred to as ‘deli blazing’ by thru hikers. New Jersey also has several fire towers with astounding vistas.
The section of the trail that runs through New York has a particular brand of terrain that sets it apart from other states. New York has many steep ups and downs where we have found ourselves using both hands and feet in order to ascend these hills. It has felt like an adequate warm up for some of the far taller and much more intimidating mountains of New England. The water of New York was particularly noteworthy. Frothy yellow foam festering over black muck; the words I would use to describe it. Needless to say we packed out water from town for the majority of it.
Connecticut was a far wetter environment than New York or New Jersey. We forded several rivers. Some swift and flowing, others deep and still. Excessive rainfall from recent tropical storms hammered this region over the past several weeks. Some of these storms left the forests of Connecticut in ruin. It is too cliche to personify the element. Tempting as it is when walking past a fierce and roaring waterfall such as this.
So far, New England has been amazing. As we trek further north the mountains grow tall again. We haven’t climbed over 3000 feet since back in Virginia, but now the peaks grow higher with every passing day.
From the other side,
Pan and Bell
from the other side 