This will be a very quick post as I’m waiting for a ride back to the trail. An eventful few weeks: caught the Dukes, passed 1000 miles, passed the halfway point, crossed the PA border into Maryland, crossed the Mason Dixon line, and had my first ‘zero’ (non-hiking day) in almost a month yesterday! Enjoy these few quick pics…more updates later! Max.
Finally caught ’em! Dukes reunion.
Dukes southbounders hitting the 1000 mile mark!
Mav and me imitating the sign above us…Birdie on the camera
Mav attempted this pancake challenge: tried to eat 8 of these massive bad boys…
Birdie hiking through an AT cornfield
Another great view of PA…my favorite state so far on the AT
Halfway marker…big milestone!
Trail magic apples left in this tree…yum!!
Crossed the Mason-Dixon line to arrive in Maryland
Greetings all! My last post was made the morning before I hit the trail again after staying with my wife, daughter and son-in-law for 5 days in New Jersey. I returned to the trail late that day in Salisbury, CT and since then have traversed Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and am now posting from the public library in Palmerton, Pennsylvania. As its been two weeks of steady hiking, I’ve got a lot of pictures and a couple of videos to share and will let those tell most of the story, but here are a couple of quick notes:
Wildlife: Over the past two weeks I’ve had some interesting encounters with creatures (see some of the pictures below). As some of you may know, I was passing through the NY/NJ part of the trail right at the time a student from Rutgers became the first ever black bear mauling casualty in New Jersey. I was within 15-20 minutes hiking time of the spot and found it a bit unsettling, especially when I encountered two black bears in a tree 15 yards off the trail around the same time. Luckily, they bounded down out of the tree and ran away, leaving me with a great story to tell but nothing more (thankfully!). Another ‘factor’ in recent days has been the high profile search for a fugitive cop-killer hiding out in the woods near Delaware Water Gap, PA, which I just passed 2-3 days ago. Never a dull moment on the AT!
Terrain Variety: Whereas the trail in Maine and New Hampshire features a lot of similar terrain, as I move further south I’m seeing much more variety on the trail…you’ll see a number of pictures on that.
Whereas I spent the better parts of August and early September hiking with a group of others, the past two weeks I’ve been hiking alone as I gradually catch up to those folks after having been off the trail with family. Both styles of hiking (alone, with others) are fun and I’ve had a great time enjoying the solitude.
Milestones: Finally, for those interested I have a couple of big milestones approaching. I’m currently at 930 miles and therefore will hit the 1000 mile mark later this week! Furthermore, the mileage mid-point for the entire trail is 1092.5 (half of 2185), so its likely that as of my next post I will be over half-done with the AT!
Enjoy this installment of videos and pictures and keep those comments coming!
Michael (Maxheap)
Wildlife 1: Nearly stepped on this guy…raising his angry head.
Wildlife 2: Many friendly deer like this one in CT
Wildlife 3: encountered a dozen or so wild turkeys on the grounds of a monastery near the trail
Wildlife 4: This hawk circled the sky lazily as I hiked by
Wildlife 5: Interesting turtle in NY
Wildlife 6: cows grazing right near the trail in NY
Wildlife 7: Nearly stepped in this while snapping a pic of the cows!
Wildlife 8: These guys came right up to a shelter provided by the farmer who owns them
Wildlife 9: Not one of the bears I saw in the woods. In Bear Mountain, NY, the trail goes right through a zoo!
Trail variety 1: squeezing through this with a pack was challenging
Trail variety 2: lots of rocky terrain in NY, NJ and PA
Trail variety 3: Trailside cemetery. For hikers who couldn’t make it over the rocks?
Trail variety 4: the trail goes right around this plant
Trail variety 5: train station directly on the AT, near Pawling, NY
Trail variety 6: I never get tired of misty RR crossings
Trail variety 7: easy way around a tricky cliff, for those so inclined (not me!)
Trail variety 8: from an interstate overpass on the AT
Trail variety 9: Lots of these cool old stone walls on the trail throughout New England
Trail variety 10: typical AT crossing over barbwire/electric fence. This spot was one of the places Wendy and I did trail magic for friends…in Kent, CT
Landscapes 1: misty morning in CT
Landscapes 2: Hudson river view from highway bridge
Landscapes 3: sun-dappled morning in NY
Landscapes 4: interesting obelisk on highest point in NJ
Landscapes 5: more sun, this time in NJ
Landscapes 6: beautiful overlook in PA
Borders 1: CT/NY border, taken by a friendly group of day hikers
Borders 2: NY/NJ border, minutes from where I encountered two bears in a tree
Borders 3: NJ/PA border- long bridge at Delaware Water Gap
Ordering Japanese takeout delivered to a shelter? Priceless!
Trail magic from the girl scouts! Thank you!
Another kind of trail magic awaited me at this shelter. Blue Moon? Boo-yah!
Apropos Walt Whitman quote in the zoo on the trail, Bear Mountain, NY
My setup when tenting
Don’t forget to hang your food high!
Love a good campfire
What passes for luxury on the AT
This sign greeted me on the bridge approach to Bear Mountain, NY
This town in NJ may have some splainin’ to do if the Vikings’ ownership see this picture…
Since leaving Vermont I’ve passed through Massachusetts, into Connecticut, and will move into New York within 2 days of this post. The fall colors haven’t hit yet, but I’m seeing the occasional yellow or red leaf and it won’t be long before the views are fully multi-colored. The biggest news in the past week was that I spent some days away from the trail hanging out with my wife (Wendy), eldest son (Oliver), daughter (Emily) and her husband (Hamid)! Wendy and Emily came and picked me up in Salisbury, Connecticut and took me back to New Jersey where we spent 4 days together. We toured Emily’s campus, had a sumptuous Persian dinner at the home of friends and managed to get done a bunch of resupply and gear changes I desperately needed for my hike. Hamid is driving me back to the trail head in an hour or so and I’ll be hiking with new shoes, a new pack (same model, but swapped out due to rips in meshing), carrying some needed cold weather gear for the changing weather, etc. Wendy also washed out my sleeping bag, rain coat, etc. so gear-wise I’m feeling great! Wendy and I rented a car and drove back up to the trail in Connecticut and New York where we spent the day giving trail magic to hikers I’ve been hiking with/near over the past month. We managed to catch up with Birdie and Crow who also took stuff to hike into Mav, and we caught Hero, Hercules, Slimjim and Swish, Stringbean and Dirtybird and Weezy who was going to hike stuff into Chispa. It was a long day of driving around but well worth it!
Another highlight of Mass was staying at the home of Greg and Laurie. I met Greg and his dad a few weeks back on Mount Moosilauke. They are planning a thru hike next spring and later texted me to let them know when I hit Mass so we could meet up. Greg drove very far out of his way to pick me up and bring me back to their place, where they fed me like a king, did my laundry, etc. We had a great time chatting together, and then the next morning when he returned me to the trail head he spent the day giving trail magic to other hikers.
Lastly, I have a fun anectdote to share from yesterday, but it requires a bit of set-up. From my previous pictures, you can see I’m looking less like a corporate IT guy all the time. When I go through trail towns, they are very familiar with all the long hair and beards since most male hikers let it all hang out during their through-hikes. However, when I’m away from trail towns, I’ve started to see people relating to me very differently. The looks I get betray assumptions that I’m homeless, derelict, or worse, ha! So, fast forward to New Brunswick, New Jersey where Emily and Hamid live in an upscale apartment building downtown, right next door to the courthouse. Yesterday morning I had returned our rental car and Brian, the extremely kind guy who runs the local Avis office offered to shuttle me back to Emily’s place. As he dropped me off, I stepped away from the curb, said thanks and turned to enter Emily’s secure building entrance. At which point, two women passing by on the street motioned emphatically toward me and said “NO, THAT’S NOT the courthouse!” I politely explained that I knew that and they suddenly looked very embarrassed as I kept going in to Emily’s building, leaving them to realize that I wasn’t heading to court to face vagrancy charges (or whatever else they had conjured). As some of you know, we Gosheys love to turn expectations upside down, so needless to say I had a great time with that little exchange!
Ok…that’s all for now, but here are some more pix from the past week or so…enjoy!
Atop a fire tower in Vermont…thanks for the picture Herc!
Serene pond on the trail
Crossing into Mass, tired!
The trail in a residential neighborhood, near Williamstown, Mass
Must be cool to go to a school right on the AT!
Williamstown from above
The Killans from Bolton, England…practically neighbors to Helen and Simon in Bury. They bought me tea in the lodge on top of Greylock. Chispa in the background having lunch. I hiked with her and Weezy for a day or two, but their 30 mile days were too much for my old man legs!
Catholic church rectory hall that let Chispa, Weezy and I stay for the night. Amen!
Pack off, socks drying on rock, me napping
More shoe mishaps…time to switch brands!
“I pulled in to Nazareth, was feelin’ ’bout half-passed dead…” Ended up alone in this shelter late one evening and found a couple of beers, water and a candle…magic!
Greg and Laurie- great cooks, hosts, friends!
Greg and Laurie’s dog Emma guarding my pack!
Hiking through a corn field. Temptation resisted!
Post lunch tootsie pop on a roadside in Mass.
“I wish I was a headlight, on a northbound train!” Nice AT RR crossing
At times, the trail is definitely “Into the Mystic”
Connecticut! Boo-yah!
First view of Connecticut…I like what I see.
Wendy and Em picked me up at this public library in Salisbury
…which incidentally was the first in the country!
Not fair! Wendy’s only been out here a couple of days and is already miles ahead of me!
If Penny and Russ are still following, hat’s off to Russ for introducing me to this band (RailRoad Earth pre-cursor ‘From Good Homes’) who are playing down the street from Emily in December.
