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…
Great photos and update, congrats on 1000 miles! Impressive!
Wow, that CT snake looks exactly like a Copperhead! Wow, don’t see those too often! Sweet…..
Ed: Yep, it was a good sized copperhead. Naturally, I was distracted bopping along listening to music and nearly stepped on it! You can sort of see he was angry with his head raised. By the way, I’m about to send out my next post including some pix of Shenandoah- your old stomping ground! It was every bit as beautiful as you indicated.