New York + New England

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I’m writing this post from Lincoln, New Hampshire. I’m finding less time these days to write as my days are increasingly occupied with obvious activities (hiking and camping), and simultaneously occupied with activities that may seem less intuitive (gear maintenance and repair, resupplying, and getting to and from towns to name a few). I’m learning that the further north I get on this journey, the less infrastructure is in place for thru hikers. The towns are a bit more spread out, the options for room and board less available, and the path to and from town is a bit less certain.

That said, I wanted to take this down time to update you guys on my trip since my last post.

The beginning of New York proceeded similarly to New Jersey, with one major difference. Aquadog and I completed a challenge known as “no shirt New Jersey”, wherein we both hiked the entirety of the state of New Jersey topless. You may recall that Aquamom very generously provided meals and rides throughout New Jersey, but in case you’re wondering, we were able to don shirts at the AquaManor, since it is in New York.

The challenge was timed pretty well, as we experienced a heat wave in New Jersey, however, the final day of our journey, I developed a rash on my lower back. Initially, I thought I was being bit or stung by a group of insects, with small pins and needles across my lower back. In actuality, I think it was my skin letting me know it had had enough of this particular challenge. With about 10 miles remaining in New Jersey, I let AD know I’d see him at the state line and broke into a jog. Never had I felt so glad to put on a shirt!

I’d planned to visit some friends in New York City whilst walking through New York State. AquaDog decided to press onward rather than stop, so we parted ways, to reunite in New Hampshire.

Both New Jersey and New York were amazing surprises to me. I knew both states had beauty beyond what I may picture in my minds eye (the Jersey shore and Manhattan, respectively), but the reality far exceeded my expectations. The trail has continually reminded me of the beauty in our backyards, and the breadth of that beauty across our nation. It is easy to forget how close most of us are to amazing and breathtaking outdoor adventures, and it’s been a blessing to experience these adventures on a daily basis the past few months.

Upon returning from NYC, I hiked solo for a few days to finish off New York, and eyed my next challenge: the Connecticut challenge. The state of Connecticut spans roughly 50 miles of the Appalachian Trail, and the challenge is to hike its entirety in a day.

The night before my attempt, I camped two miles shy of the state line, and planned to begin at midnight. I made it roughly 20 miles by headlamp before realizing I’d grossly underestimated the amount of food I’d need to successfully complete the challenge. My other experience with a big miles challenge was the four state challenge, whose terminus is very close to the town of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. This convenient ending means one really only needs to carry enough food to complete the challenge itself. Connecticut is a bit different in that the first town in Massachusetts, Great Barrington, is 15 miles past the state line. If I’d completed Connecticut in a day, I’d certainly need a rest day after, and then an additional day’s food to make it to Great Barrington for a resupply. Thus, in total, I’d need three days’ worth. I had about a day and a half.

The best option looked to be a town in Connecticut called Cornwall Bridge, roughly 24 miles into my day. As I got close to the road crossing that would lead into this town, I began experiencing some pretty drastic cold / flu symptoms. At first I tried to shake these off, but they rapidly worsened. As I walked into Cornwall Bridge (lacking cell signal to try and secure a ride), my pace slowed to a crawl.

It was at this point I resigned to failure. I had to take a rest day in Cornwall Bridge, which led to reuniting with the Cornell Crew the following morning (or at least the subset that wasn’t attempting the Connecticut challenge), who had stopped for breakfast in town. I hiked with this crew on into Massachusetts.

Stocked with medicine from my stop in Connecticut, I slowly recovered from what turned out to be a sinus infection. Some week later in Dalton, Massachusetts, however, my strength again declined and I decided OTC treatment just wasn’t cutting the mustard. A doc in the box gave me an antibiotic and some stronger decongestants that finally knocked the infection out.

I thoroughly enjoyed both Connecticut and Massachusetts despite my ailment. Though my ego is still bruised from failure in Connecticut, it allowed me to reunite with a group of hikers whose presence I greatly enjoy, and it forced me to slow down a bit and truly take in the scenery.

Glori was set for her final visit of my hike in Bennington, Vermont, however, due to my sickness, I didn’t quite make it there on foot. She picked me up toward the end of Massachusetts, and we spent a long weekend together in Vermont.

The mismatch of expected versus actual timing allowed for Glori to meet most of the folks that I’d spent the most time with on the trail. Since they’d gotten ahead while I was under the weather, they were all hiking through Bennington during Glori’s stay. We brought some beer, sodas, and snacks to a road crossing and provided some trail magic to the friends I’d made. It was special to me that Glori got to meet everyone.

I hiked hard for the rest of Massachusetts and most of Vermont. The AT overlaps with the Long Trail through most of the state of Vermont, so there was an injection of new faces that were hiking the LT. I enjoyed getting to talk to LT hikers, hearing about their experiences to date and learning more about the trail.

Unfortunately, since entering Vermont, the weather I’ve faced has been less than ideal. There are four major peaks in Vermont, only one of which provided views on my hike. Although I strongly subscribe to the notion that it isn’t the trail’s job to entertain the hiker, rain, wind, and storms are very challenging when they are persistent. I’ve tried my best to reset my attitude, but the mud, constant wet clothes and gear, and general discomfort that come with foul weather have proven to be very taxing mentally and emotionally.

On the bright side, I’ve had the opportunity to hike with some old friends beginning at the tail end of Vermont. One of my good college friends (trail name “Sauce”) and his wife (“Far Out”) are completing a flip flop of the AT this year. A flip flop is a thru hike wherein two halves of the trail are hiked out of sequence. In the case of Sauce and Far Out, they are in the process of hiking from Harpers Ferry, WV to Mt. Katahdin (which is where I’ll finish my thru hike). Once complete with the flip, they’ll return to Harpers Ferry and hike southbound to Springer Mtn. (where my hike began). When they started in Harpers Ferry, I was quite a bit behind them. It was shortly before crossing into New Hampshire that I finally caught them. It’s been tremendous getting to reconnect with Sauce, and getting to know Far Out better. I’m excited to continue to live vicariously through them when my hike ends, but theirs continues.

I’ve spent the past few days hiking in New Hampshire. I’ve heard the entire hike about the difficulty increase that occurs beginning in New Hampshire – the rumors are no exaggeration! I completed an 18 mile day yesterday whose difficulty was commensurate with 25+ mile days over easier terrain. That said, the increased difficulty is a style of hiking I quite enjoy. Stretches seem more similar to boulder scrambles or mellow slab climbing. It’s challenging to have to reset mileage expectations, but upon accepting the inability to move quite as quickly as I’ve grown accustomed to, it’s really been fun.

I’m not sure where my next post will be from. The next stretch between Lincoln and Gorham will be one of the most challenging, and hopefully one of the most rewarding, should the weather cooperate. From there, it’ll be onward to Maine and a destination months in the making.

Cheers,

Billy