Hiking the Good Hike

6/4 Day 93 Graymoor Spiritual Life Center to RPH Shelter - 18.8 miles

     Not a lot to talk about today. We heard we would be able to order pizza from RPH shelter tonight so that acted as motivation for us. The weather was nice today, still warm but not terribly hot. At the shelter, we saw Corona Sam another thru hiker we hadn't seen in several days. We did take advantage of the pizza delivery for dinner and then just relaxed for the rest of the evening. This shelter is very well maintained; it is as nice or nicer than some hostels we've seen.


6/5 Day 94 RPH Shelter to Wiley Shelter - 25.6 miles

     It wasn't in our orginal plan to hike 25 miles today but plans change. The first several miles leaving the shelter this morning were beautifully maintained. There were no obstacles on the trail making our pace quick but easy. As we hiked, we met a gentleman working on the trail. He introduced himself as "Elvis Trailsly," and I recognized him from a photo I saw at the RPH shelter. It turned out he is the "Ralph" in Ralphs Peak Hiker Shelter (RPH). We helped him move a large rock he had dug out of the trail and talked to him for some time before moving on. He told us of a deli off trail at the next road crossing. We often crave cold pop (or "soda" for those unfamiliar) more than anything else so we jumped at the opportunity to satisfy our craving.
     Our plan was to hike to a garden center and nursery described in our guide book as hiker friendly offering camping and showers. As it turns out, the most hiker friendly thing about this place was the giant AT decal on the wall. They told us we could camp behind the shed which was a mulch pile ten feet from an active railroad and twenty feet from a highway. This was not an ideal camping situation and it was early enough so we decided to move on. We ended up at the next shelter with Corona again.


6/6 Day Wiley Shelter to Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter - 19.7 miles

     We woke early with plans to visit Kent, CT to resupply. We entered Connecticuit early on this morning. The hiking in Connecticuit was nice but not easy. We saw Giuseppe at the road crossing. As we talked to Giuseppe, we got a hitch into town. Town was nice, but not cheap. We ate lunch and resupplied. As we were walking out of the grocery store a lady rolled down her window and offered us a ride back to the trail. This was about the easiest we've ever gotten into and out of town. While in town we recieved warning from many locals about a tropical storm that was heading our direction. We had heard rain, but had no idea it was a tropical storm. The clouds began to roll in as we hiked out and the rain began just before we arrived at another empty shelter. Just before dark, Zippy and Diddo arrived. It's now raining pretty hard and it is not expected to let up for a couple of days.

6/7 Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter to Sharon Mountain Road (Bearded Woods One-of-a-kind Bunk and Dine) - 10.9 miles

     The forecast was right. It was raining, a lot and it was cold. We hiked in the cold rain to Pine Swamp Brook Shelter. We were miserable and I was prepared to hang out the rest of the day in the shelter watching the rain and trying to stay warm. We discussed our options and noticed the write up for Bearded Woods in our guide book. We had never heard of this place and we've read a lot of books, trail journals, and blogs about the AT so it concerned us a bit that it was unknown to us. Included in the stay was a shuttle to and from the trail, bunk, shower, laundry, dinner, and breakfast. It seemed too good to be true. Wideload called to see if they would even pick us up from the gravel road a mile from where we were. She spoke with Hudson who said he would pick us up in a half hour. We were now hiking in the miserable cold rain to be picked up and taken to a strangers home. We didn't know if we would be sleeping in a dungeon eating gruel or what but we were happy to get out of the rain.
     Hudson was waiting for us at the road. We packed in the truck and he drove us to his home. We learned the reason we had never heard of this place was because they had just opened last season. We also learned that we were the first thru hikers to stay this season. The place was great. We took our showers while Hudson laundered our wet, dirty clothes and then served us soup. There was one section hiker here named Chief. After our soup we watched a couple of AT documentaries called "Flip-flop Flippin" and before we knew it it was time for dinner. Big Lu, Hudson's wife, prepared a family style dinner complete with salad, home made rolls, and dessert. We had a great time at dinner and we are so happy we decided to make the phone call to stay here. This is a place that should not be missed. We're tempted to stay another night if it's still raining tomorrow.

     There's not as much leisure time as one would think while hiking the AT. By the time we're finished walking for the day we eat and then we're pretty much ready for bed. As a result, our blog often suffers neglect. At some point far south of here I fell very behind on our updates and my efforts to catch up have been futile. I would very much like to post more current updates as we are nearing the finish line. The next few posts will contain shorter daily updates that will focus less on the unimportant details. Thank you for continuing to follow. 

5/24 Day 82 Palmerton, PA to Leroy A. Smith Shelter - 15.5 miles

     Today started off great. We met a very nice guy named Nick at the local diner who was very interested in our trip. After talking with him through breakfast he insisted on buying our meal. An older couple in the diner offered to give us all (me, Wideload, Witchdoctor, and Passover) a ride back to the trail. Things didn't continue in our favor. When we arrived at the foot of Dante's Inferno it was cold, raining, and very windy. This section was a a difficult rock scramble under perfect conditions but we made it.

      The weather was terrible all day. The rain never stopped and the temperature never reached 50. It seems crazy to me to have weather this cold at this time of year. It's going to be a cold night but we're excited to visit with friends Jared and Kyle who are driving from Ohio to meet us at Wind Gap, PA tomorrow. 

5/25 Day 83 Leroy A. Smith Shelter to Wind Gap, PA - 4.6 miles

     Still cold this morning. Met Jared and Kyle at the trail head in Wind Gap and said goodbye to our friends Passover and Witchdoctor not knowing when, if ever, we'll see them again (on trail). We had no real plans for the weekend but when Jared and Kyle spoke of visiting New York City, we made a spontaneous decision to take a trip to the big city. 

    We drove to Liberty State Park in New Jersey and then made plans to stay in Newark, NJ for the night and figure out how to take the train into the city and what to do tomorrow. After checking in we ate at a great diner and then watched a movie. We plan to tackle the city tomorrow. I'm nervous about this.

5/26 Day 84 New York City - 0 miles

     Today was not a restful zero by any means but it was an adventure we won't soon forget. We took a train into New York City. When we got off the train and walked through the station up the stairs into the street I was instantly overwhelmed by the number of people. Next, I noticed the size of the buildings and the traffic. This place would be overwhelming to me anytime but it was so much more so after spending the last two months in the woods sometimes only seeing a handful of people a day.

     We walked around like the tourists we were, heads in the sky, making our way to Battery Park. After learning the Statue of Liberty was closed we headed over to see the 9/11 memorial. After learning we had to have a pre-printed pass to enter we gave up. We headed underground to tackle the subway in hopes of finding our way to Central Park. We eventually emerged at Central Park. I thought it would be a nice place if there were less people there. We walked around for a couple hours and then walked to Time Square. At that point, I was pretty much done. We took the subway back to the train station and train back to Newark. From there we drove back to Wind Gap and got a hotel for the night with Jared and Kyle. New York is a nice place to visit, but not a great place to rest.

5/27 Day 85 Wind Gap to Backpacker Campsite - 20.9 miles

     Jared and Kyle were anxious to get on the road early but we decided to sleep in and just hitch hike to the trail later. We left Pennsylvania and entered New Jersey. We camped at backpacker campsite not far from the state border. The water here is brown, I hope all water in New Jersey isn't brown. I talked to Ayce and learned he moved his finish goal to an earlier date. Sadly, this means we won't be hiking with Ayce any more. 

5/28 Day 86 Campsite to Brink Road Shelter - 19.5 miles

     The rain began soon after we left camp this morning and continued all day. It was another cold day with the temperature never rising above 50. The terrain is still very rocky which is tricky on a rainy day. There were three section hikers monopolizing all of the shelter space when we arrived. We stood shivering in the cold rain for ten minutes as they reluctantly moved there things to make room for us. It's going to be a long night.

5/29 Day 87 Brink Road Shelter to Highpoint Shelter - 19.6 miles

     Still raining this morning. Stopped at a deli just off trail for a breakfast sandwich and some coffee and the rain stopped. Met a New Jersey ridgerunner who told us thru hikers are given free Pepsi at Highpoint State Park office but they close at 5:00. We hustled to arrive at the office at 4:20 and found they close at 4:00. Luckily, a park employee was still there and went back inside to get us a Pepsi. Later, we climbed a wooden observation tower from which we could see the Highpoint Monument standing tall on New Jersey's highest peak. I asked a local kid what the monument was built for and he answered, "I think they built it for looking at something." I'm almost certain that's not the case. Shared the shelter with a southbound section hiker.

5/30 Day 88 Highpoint Shelter to Vernon, NJ - 18.9 miles

     Today was a day of road crossings; nineteen of them by my math. We also had a long, sun-exposed road walk, field walk and the famous New Jersey boardwalk (not Atlantic City, the other famous boardwalk). Today was the warmest day we've experienced reaching mid 90s. The heat was hard on me today; I nearly passed out upon arriving at the road crossing that would take us to town. I didn't expect heat like this. We were freezing just two days ago. 

     We easily hitched a ride into town and headed for St. Thomas Episcopal Church Hostel. This place was really nice offering laundry, showers, Internet, TV, AC and a place to sleep for a small donation. We walked to the grocery store and pizza shop and then headed back to the church to relax. 

5/31 Day 89 Vernon, NJ to Wildcat Shelter - 17.1 miles

     Another hot day. We hitched out of town and hit the trail at 9:30. It was already in the 90s. We met two southbound section hikers who told us two things that excited is: there was a mother bear with cubs just ahead of us and Blue Moon was just ahead of us. We didn't see the bears but we did find Blue Moon. Later we left New Jersey and entered New York. The terrain was difficult with many steep climbs and boulder scrambles. In the evening, we took a small detour to Bellvale Creamery for homemade ice cream and orange soda. This was a nice treat at the end of a tough hit day. Mosquitos are our only company in the shelter tonight. This in combination with the heat is going to make sleeping difficult tonight. 

6/1 Day 90 Wildcat Shelter to Mile 1380 - 10.2 miles

     We got a message from Nomad last night telling us he was going to meet us at the parking lot at mile 1380; this and the heat was our motivation to get moving early. We didn't get a break from the heat as it arrived early again. The hiking was difficult with many rock scrambles and much exposed trail. Water sources are scarce in this area but local trail angels have provided gallons of water at many of the road crossings. We made our way to the parking lot where we would meet Nomad by way of "Agony Grind," a steep rocky decent. We found Nomad wating with cold drinks and we were ready for a break. After resting there for a while we decided we didn't want to hike any further so we jumped in Vanimal and headed for a hotel for repsite from the heat. We spent the rest of the evening eating, relaxing, and watching movies. We kind of had a system reset and realized there is no need for us to rush our hike. We want to enjoy this experience as much as possible and if that means slowing our pace than that's what we'll do. This is a once in a lifetime experience and we need to treat it that way.


6/2 Day 91 Mile 1380 to William Brien Memorial Shelter - 9.3 miles

     We had no reason to rush today. We have a new approach, remember? We hung out at the hotel until they kicked us out and then hit up the grocery store for a resupply and had lunch with Nomad. Nomad decided to hike in a couple miles with us to check out a rock feature known as "The Lemon Squeeze." It was still hot today and the clouds threatened rain. It was fun to hike with Nomad again if only for an hour or two. He headed back to the van to travel to New Jersey and we continued north. William Brien Shelter looked nice from a distance but was in need of much repair upon closer examination. It was so bad, in fact, that we decided to tent despite the coming storm leaving the shelter empty. The rain arrived soon after dinner but we were dry and happy in our tent. We felt great after our break with Nomad.