Day 79

My ankle was still sore and it was a nice shelter so I took a zero. Pretty chill day sat around eating another pizza and reading books.

Day 78

Ankle was still sore but with nothing but flat land and an easy 15 miles to the next shelter I hiked on. The shelter was not as nice as I expected from the nobos description but it had a solar shower and you can order pizza there, which I did. There were also two other sobos there I hadn't met before but had been chasing for a while, smiles a different one then the one I met in hanover and rj. Numbers and Minty were going to hike in but I managed to convince them to stick around for pizza.

Day 77

I was feeling much better after a good nights sleep and some food. Numbers and Minty Fresh were planning in doing some crazy big days to maryland and beyond. So I decided to hike with them one more time before they leave me in the dust. On my way down to port clinton there was some nice gravely trail with an easy grade. Somehow I managed to step on a loose but of gravel and my right foot slammed into a water bar and I tweaked my ankle. I think it is just a strained tendon and should heal with a bit of rest. The 501 shelter was going to be a short hike for tomorrow and is supposed to be one of the nicer ones on the trail. So I decided to push on instead of stopping in town.

Day 76

From the jail I decided to keep up with the rest if the sobos and do a long hike to another town like shelter. On the way there we passed another sobo couple I had met up in Hanover, goose and pivot. When we got to the shelter there was yet another sobo, barklee. This was amazing a month without seeing another sobo then I run into 6. Now I just need to try convince some of them to hike with me and finish on halloween. When we got to the shelter I was exhausted all I could do was cook dinner and pass out. oI think it was cause I didn't snack properly after lunch.

Day 75

The hike to the jail was nicer than I expected. We had to cross the superfund site, an area completely devastated by zinc processing. I was expecting a more barren wasteland, and there was still a good amount of that, but the government is trying to rehabilitate the area and the forests are starting to grow back. When we got into town we had to go by the police office to register for the stay. Unfortunately the cops were all out on patrol so we got put in the jail by the cleaning lady.

Day 74

From town we decided to do what jj coined as the sinners path. Stay at the church in delaware water gap, hike to a bar in wind gap, then stay at a jail in palmerton. Since we were now in pa I finally got to see the dreaded rocks that all the nobos had been warning me about since nh. They weren't that bad. Annoying at times and my feet did get sore but compared to the trails in the north it was no big deal. It makes me wonder what the rest if the trail is going to be like if this is some of the worst stuff the nobos had seen. We picked up another sobo on our way to town, Minty Fresh had been way ahead but took 10 days off to hang with his wife. The Beer Stein was a nice bar which had a really good pizza one with an actual crust unlike all the pizzas up around ny.

Day 73

The plan was to do a short hike to delaware water gap in pa and stay at a church hostel. Time to hike out of nj. The last stretch was really pretty and crowded. I guess a lot people wanted to enjoy one of the last weekends of summer. It was a practically perfect day to hike. One of the people was a really nice lady that gave me a $10 bill out of the blue. Turns out her son had hiked the trail a few years back so now she carries a $10 to give to any hiker she sees. That worked great for me cause there was an ice cream shop in town. There was also a bakery in town that specializes in pies. Lets just say I had a lot of pie. That night I had two other sobos show up, numbers who I had met briefly in ny and jj who I had seen in the 100.

Day 72

Another beautiful day over nice flat terrain. I got an early start since I was excited about getting a free night stay in a $40 cabin. When I got to the cabin the folks running the place hadn't heard of someone giving away their room like this so were hesitant to give me the spot. Luckily they were able to get ahold of the lady that had the reservation and I got my free night stay.

Day 71

Day started out fantastic, at the bottom of the hill there was some trail magic ice cold coke. Right after that I entered the Wallkill preserve, which was absolutely gorgeous. I stopped off at the next shelter to eat lunch where a nobo told me that the park headquarters gives out free sodas to anyone that signs there register. While I was waiting for my soda I check out the hiker box which has a note saying there is a free nights stay at mohican outdoor center the next night for any sobo that can hike there in time. It was only an extra 6 miles from where I had planned on camping so I decided to go for it. I ended up doing 25 miles today. That left me an easy 20 mile day into the Moc tomorrow.

Day 70

Since it was a town day I didn't do many miles. I really need to see if I can fix that. The trail today was really pretty. There was about a mile on very nice boardwalk over a swamp. Surprisingly little to no bugs.

Day 69

From wildcat I did a short day across the border to nj. Since I crossed a border it rained. This put a big damper in my plans to camp at the drive in movie theater in warwick ny. So I ended up spending the night at a BandB.

1000 Miles!

Just passed the 1000 mile mark. I know I'm way behind in updates here. I'll be in a town tomorrow so I'll catch up the blog then. On a side note I should be back in Maryland by the 1st.

Day 68

I decided to do a 20 to wildcat shelter. Not much to say it was a pretty uneventful day. I did decide that ny is my least favorite stretch of trail. They are the dirtiest trails and they send you up and down over these little hills for no reason. On the bright side I got to do the notorious lemon squeezer. A fun little track between two big rocks. I tried squeezing through with the pack on my back but that didn't work. I then tried the over one shoulder trick malia showed me but my pack still scraped so I just put it on the ground and moved it that way. I also ran into another trail celebrity, chipmunk. She is going go the youngest solo through hike at 14.

Day 67

From the monks place I had another short 14 mile day planned to black rock mountain. Some nobos said its a good spot to camp since you got a clear view of new york city. It was also supposed to be a good night to look go meteors. The hike there was by far the easiest trail I had hiked. The trail went over the hudson, through a zoo, and over bear mountain which is a huge tourist attraction. I must have seen 1000+ people. Because it's such a tourist attraction they have some of the best maintained trails. The hike up bear mountain was along some newly installed stone stairs that belonged in a national monument. When I camped up on black rock mountain there was "clear" skys but not really cause of all the pollution from the city. Even still I got to see the nyc skyline but not many meteors due to light pollution.

Day 66

The nobos suggested I spend the night at the a franconian monk place. They let hikers use their baseball field. The hike there was annoying full of what's called pudding, Pointless Up and Downing. The monks place was nice the had running water, porta johns, and a big fire pit. A large group of nobos rolled in around sunset and built a big fire then sat around singing and playing guitar for a few hours. Very cool except I was tired since I didn't get much sleep the night before due to drinking 1.5 liters of pepsi before trying to sleep last night.

Day 65

While I was camped last night it poured so my streak for storming when I cross a border is up to 5. I grabbed a cup of water from Nuclear lake. I'm hoping to develop flight as my super power since my feet are always sore from the trail. Todays deli was much better but I ended up getting a stew instead of a sandwich since it was wet and raining. The shelter I stopped at was an old house. It is on the side of a road and you can get pizza delivered there. Guess what I did. The pizza guy drove past the place 3 times even thought they said he had delivered there before. Even slightly cold having pizza delivered to me on the trail was worth it.

Day 64

Another day another state done. NY here I come. I actually zig-zaged across the border three times but I did end the day in ny. I'm going to miss ct by far the best trails on the at so far. I got to see the oldest oak/tree on the trail today. It was huge. I decided to try a challenge for ny. Eat at a different deli every day in ny. Today was Toni's deli which was very dissapointing since he was out of bread so I had to get a burger instead.

Day 63

If I thought yesterdays trail was nice todays blew it out of the water. There was a 5 mile stretch that was walking on packed sand and flat the whole way. It was a shorter day since I wanted to continue the tradition of camping next to a border. Luckily that meant I had time to run into Kent for some ice cream and pasta.

Day 62

The hike from salisbury was one of the most pleasant yet. Not much ups or downs and some very nice dirt trails. So far ct has the easiest trails. I walked past great falls which is a large cascade type water fall on the housatonic river. Very impressive due to the amount of water.

Day 61

Having successfully completed my shortest day challenge I decided it was time to get cleaned up and cross into another state. As seems usual now when border crossing a thunderstorm rolled in. I'm now 4 for 4 in camping next to a border and getting rhinestones on. So off to the Bearded Woods hostel in Salisbury, ct. The place was more expensive than the other hostels I've been at but it included everything as well as dinner and breakfast.

Day 60

After I left great barrington I went to the glen brook shelter for the night. That is where I decided to do the shortest day on the trail. I walked a massive .1 miles, it wasn't even that far, to the next shelter. The shelter shares the water source but is a different shelter. So I didn't do a zero but I dont see how I could do a shorter day. A nobo said there might be a shorter day I'm maryland, but I plan on blitzing past that state in a day so I won't get to see. I made a video of the hike between the two shelters and will link it here when I can get it on the internet.

Day 59

Another day with a town stop to resupply. I headed down to Great Barrington and decided I could save money by buying my supplies from the bulk bins at the local food co-op. That didn't work. I ended up spending more money and having flavorless rice and couscous. Then spent all money I saved on that buying fresh fruit which I promptly ate.

Day 58

Back on the trail. another 21 miles down. Easiest trail yet. Not much else to say about it. So lets talk about the nuisance bugs of new england. First up is the mosquito. Not much different than your standard mosquito. They obey the rule of deet, stay away from the deet and eat anything not covered and if they can get through the shirt they will attack covered stuff. Main difference is the quantity, at one point I had a swarm of 50 drafting off me in the 100 mile wilderness. We will discuss the "no see ems" next time I got nothing to write about.

Day 56

Another long day to get to upper goose pond. From what the nobos say it's the best place to zero on the trail and thats what I plan on doing. The hike is the easiest yet even with a late start I made the 20 miles averaging 3 mph the whole way. About halfway there is an infamous trail angels house, the cookie lady. She makes cookies every day for hikers to eat. I got there in time to get the last cookie.

Day 57

Great zero. The Upper Goose pond is a full cabin with bunks and mattresses. It sits on a lake that is spring fed and sub warmed. Perfect for swimming in. There is also a pair of canoes to take out and hang out in the lake with. Then in the morning the caretakers there cook pancakes. Blueberry if someone brings fresh blueberries in.

Day 54

Another day foiled by a town stop. I went into North Adams ma, the trail goes though the town, and pigged out at a friendlies, ice cream and burgers. Coming out of adams was a fairly steep climb. Nothing compared to what I had done but I had not done a climb like that stuffed to the brim with ice cream, burgers, and fries. It was rough. Luckily there a shelter half way up so I stopped there to let my stomach digest.

Day 55

Have to make up for slacking off yesterday so going for another 20 to get to Dalton. The trail in mass is so easy that I make it with lots if time to spare. Another sobo is at the place I'm staying, Pink Leprechaun. He's crazy in the Maine he was leaving challenge notes for the rest of us saying he had done 250+ pushups on the tops of the mountains.