AquaBlazing New Jersey

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The Appalachian Trail follows white “blazes” for the entirety of the trail. Blazes are marks on trees, rocks, or other structures so that hikers can see which direction head in next. There are a number of other colored blazes that indicate different things, and some clever plays on colored blazes to describe different approaches to hiking the trail. For example:

• Blue blazing refers to taking cutoffs / side trails (often marked with blue blazes rather than white blazes) to reduce the distance or difficulty of trail walked
• Yellow blazing is hitchhiking around a section of trail, usually to catch up with friends or because of bad weather. This one is named for the yellow rectangles featured on roads
• Pink blazing aka “chasing tail on the trail”
• Platinum blazing is a label for folks that tend to stay in a lot of motels, hotels, and hostels (platinum because it’s expensive to hike this way)
• Aqua blazing is the act of canoeing certain sections of the trail. There are a few spots that are set up to do this (e.g., Shenandoah National Park) along the AT

The list goes on, but you get the idea. The type of Aqua blazing I’m referring to, however, is not the type described above.

I’d been hiking with AquaDog since mid-Pennsylvania, and we were getting close to his hometown. We walked into Delaware Water Gap (the last town before you pass into New Jersey), and he casually turned to me and said “want to spend the night at my house tonight? My mom can come pick us up”.

I accepted this gracious invitation, and off we went in AquaMom’s AquaMobile. She got us dinner, we were able to do laundry and clean / organize our packs and gear, and sleep in beds!

Little did I know, this was to continue for the entire state of New Jersey! AquaMom had taken off work for the entire week, and the trail loops around New York in such a way that each day, even though we’d hike 20-25 miles, we’d still be roughly an hour from the AquaManor. I can’t describe my gratitude for the generosity of the whole AquaFamily. They are top to bottom some of the most gracious, supportive, loving folks I’ve ever met. They’re the type of folks that you meet and say “see you soon” upon leaving, and really mean it, even if you don’t know when and where just yet.

As a more general update, I’m writing this post on my last day in New York state. Next up will be Connecticut, which is rather short, and then on to Massachusetts! I am excited to get back up into higher elevation portions of the mountain range, as the weather has been getting steadily warmer, and while it doesn’t compare to the Atlanta summer heat, it is much more difficult when you have no way to escape it. Hydration has become all the more important, and I have to take breaks during the middle of the day at times and find shade.

Cheers,
Billy