2017 Appalachian Hike

Goodbye New Jersey.  Hello New York. 

That was the hardest 20 miles yet. Actually for me it was a lot of scary climbing. There was some climbing and descending pretty much straight up and down. And it was raining so the rocks were wet and slippery. I felt at times I had no business climbing where I was. I was definitely over my head. I do have a banged up knee and shin from it. 

It rained some overnight and stopped around 5 or 6. I got up and was hiking by 7:00. Engineer, Maple Syrup and Timber were all still in their tents. My Aunt Ardena has named us “The Four Cabelleros”

Shortly after I started hiking it started raining again. The rock climbing was grueling So I was going slow all day. I kept thinking the other guys would catch me. 

This is the highest point on the AT in New York. 

At around lunch I stopped at Bellvale Farms Creamery. Engineer said he read that it is the second best ice cream place in the US. It was very good. I ate my peanut butter and honey tortilla wraps first. Then I went back to hiking. 

Again, I kept thinking the other guys would catch me. At around 4:00 I messaged them to tell them I was getting water at the falls and was going to start looking for a campsite.  There was no way we were going to make it to the next shelter. It was another 10 miles from the falls. 

I kept hiking and wasn’t finding any campsites. Everything is just rocky. Then I got a message from Timber saying they were stopping at the previous shelter. I was about 4 or 5 miles ahead of that. They must have really slept in or spent a long time at the ice cream place. 

So, since I was going to be camping alone I decided to hike until dark. That brought me here and so I’m eight miles ahead of them. I’m sure they’ll catch me. 

So I’m stealth camping again. This time next to a road. Everything I own is wet or damp. My tent was wet when I rolled it up this morning. My sleeping bag is damp. My shoes and socks are soaked. They’re not going to be dry for tomorrow. 

I hope the sun comes out tomorrow. We have certainly had our share of rain.