2017 Appalachian Hike

Today was a good day. The weather was pretty wet and drippy all morning and cloudy but dry in the afternoon.  The morning started with more challenging climbing. It took me 90 minutes to go the first 1.8 miles. To put that in perspective, my normal pace for an entire day is 2 to 2.5… Continue reading Orange Turnpike-Bear Mountain. 1402.9 done/786.9 to go. May 30, 2017. 

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… Continue reading Wawayanda Shelter-Orange Turnpike. 1382.1 done/807.7 to go. May 29, 2017. 

24 miles today. I was in and out of New York a few times today. The trail goes along the New Jersey/New York state line and in and out of both. We are camped in New Jersey and tomorrow after four miles we’ll be in New York and Done with New Jersey.  I stopped this… Continue reading High Point Shelter-Wawayanda Shelter. 1361.9 done/827.9 to go. May 28, 2017

25 miles today. Not much to report. There were a few scenic views, but mostly it was negotiating the relentless rocks.  I started on the trail at around 6:15. As usual I was the first one out. At about 10:00 I got to a highway where there was a diner a little over a mile… Continue reading Side trail to Crater Lake-High Point Shelter. 1338.0 done/851.8 to go. May 27, 2017.  

Good bye Pennsylvania. Hello New Jersey. Hard to believe another state is done.  We didn’t get on the trail until 9:45 this morning. We did still get 20 miles done.  We had a long gradual climb first to Sunfish Pond. I found the rock cairns especially interesting.  Then on to the summit of Mount Kittatinny.… Continue reading Delaware Water Gap Pennsylvania-Side trail to Crater Lake. 1313.5 done/876.3 to go. May 26, 2017. 

We ended up taking a zero day today. First there was heavy rain today. Also I had to wait until afternoon for UPS to deliver my Amazon order. And our bodies can use some recovery time.  This is what a motel room with four guys and packs looks like.  I did my shakedown on my… Continue reading Zero Day in Stroudsburg Pennsylvania. May 25, 2017

I had the privilege of breaking down my tent in the rain this morning. It wasn’t raining hard, but it was raining. Packing your backpack entirely in the tent is a challenge. But, that’s how you do it. Then you take down and roll up your tent as fast as you can.  I wasn’t the… Continue reading Leroy A. Smith Shelter-Delaware Water Gap Pennsylvania. 1293.6 done/896.2 to go. May 24, 2017

Let’s see if I can stay awake while I write this tonight. I typically do this when I go to bed. Bed time is between 8&9 every night.  As soon as it’s dark all the hikers are asleep. I doze off frequently while I’m writing this. There are many times I wake up around 2:00am… Continue reading Bake Oven Knob Shelter-Leroy A. Smith Shelter. 1273.5 done/916.3 to go. May 23, 2017. 

Today was a rocky hard day.  It was a foggy, rainy day so there were no great views either. This should have been a view.  We wanted to go 24 miles today but the rocks were just relentless. We’ve been hearing about the rocks in Pennsylvania. We found them. Engineer, Maple Syrup and Timber are… Continue reading Eckville Shelter-Bake Oven Knob Shelter. 1250.0 done/939.8 to go. 

This is the pavilion we camped at last night.  We got up this morning and hiked from Port Clinton to Hamburg Pennsylvania, about 1.1 miles off the trail. We went to McDonald’s first. I ate four egg and sausage on English muffin and drank three large coffees.  I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this before… Continue reading Port Clinton Pennsylvania-Eckville Shelter. 1232.6 done/957.2 to go. May 21, 2017.