New York, New York
So at this point we have walked into and out of New York and into Connecticut. The terrain in New York was pretty killer. It made me glad for the few times I went bouldering at the rock climbing gym back home because may times the trail called for it. The problem is that its all a little more difficult with a huge backpack on. Still, the state of New York had some really pretty parts and definitely some interesting characters.
There was one night that we stayed at a shelter and a guy who hiked southbound last year showed up announcing he had trail magic: hotdogs, cookies, whiskey and weed (the weirdest trail magic I've heard of). We took him up on the food and eventually a few swigs of liquor to aid in sleeping and just about the time we finally got to sleep another hiker comes into the shelter. This guy had hiked northbound last year and had brought cold PBRs and candy bars. He was on what he called a day-night hike. Just a short day hike length that he does at night. Odd guy. The two of them went back and forth about hikers they had both known and how the hiking season had been for them and we hikers passed out, it being well past "Hiker Midnight".
A few days later we crossed up and over Bear Mountain and the Hudson River. That night we camped at a monastery that allowed for tenting on their ball field. The next day we had planned to stick around and wait for Evan and Katelyn to come by. They were coming up to New York for an event and were going to pick us up for dinner so we wanted to be near a road so they could collect us and we could already have camp set up so we didn't have to hike at night. So we stayed put that day and as we were hanging out in the pavilion by the ball field a couple of guys came down to play soft ball. Then about 70 more showed up! Some played soft ball and others just hung around and talked. We sat an talked with several of them for about 4 hours, amazed in each others lives and the parallels of our communities. They were drug addicts at the rehab at the monastery and had plenty of stories to tell and we were able to tell them all about the trail and how we had been living for the past 3 months. They were definitely the most interesting and fun folks we had met on the trail.
We kept trucking through NY, which was wildly hot, humid and buggy and crossed into Connecticut yesterday. Officially being in New England, I was hoping it would magically be cooler but it is just as miserable. I think the sticky heat is worse than the snow and cold. At least I used to be able to get in dry clothes and get in a warm sleeping bag. Now my clothes are soaked through and through in sweat, which doesn't dry it seems, and then you don't want to get into your tent because its a sauna but you have to because the bugs are so bad but it rains everyday so your tent is always soaked. Things really suck right now, in short. We are looking at a week straight of thunderstorms, so I am just preparing to be wet for a long time. We are hoping to get through CT and MA fast but the weather looks like it may prevent that. Time will tell and we are hoping to get some cooler weather too.
Massachusetts update coming next!
There was one night that we stayed at a shelter and a guy who hiked southbound last year showed up announcing he had trail magic: hotdogs, cookies, whiskey and weed (the weirdest trail magic I've heard of). We took him up on the food and eventually a few swigs of liquor to aid in sleeping and just about the time we finally got to sleep another hiker comes into the shelter. This guy had hiked northbound last year and had brought cold PBRs and candy bars. He was on what he called a day-night hike. Just a short day hike length that he does at night. Odd guy. The two of them went back and forth about hikers they had both known and how the hiking season had been for them and we hikers passed out, it being well past "Hiker Midnight".
A few days later we crossed up and over Bear Mountain and the Hudson River. That night we camped at a monastery that allowed for tenting on their ball field. The next day we had planned to stick around and wait for Evan and Katelyn to come by. They were coming up to New York for an event and were going to pick us up for dinner so we wanted to be near a road so they could collect us and we could already have camp set up so we didn't have to hike at night. So we stayed put that day and as we were hanging out in the pavilion by the ball field a couple of guys came down to play soft ball. Then about 70 more showed up! Some played soft ball and others just hung around and talked. We sat an talked with several of them for about 4 hours, amazed in each others lives and the parallels of our communities. They were drug addicts at the rehab at the monastery and had plenty of stories to tell and we were able to tell them all about the trail and how we had been living for the past 3 months. They were definitely the most interesting and fun folks we had met on the trail.
We kept trucking through NY, which was wildly hot, humid and buggy and crossed into Connecticut yesterday. Officially being in New England, I was hoping it would magically be cooler but it is just as miserable. I think the sticky heat is worse than the snow and cold. At least I used to be able to get in dry clothes and get in a warm sleeping bag. Now my clothes are soaked through and through in sweat, which doesn't dry it seems, and then you don't want to get into your tent because its a sauna but you have to because the bugs are so bad but it rains everyday so your tent is always soaked. Things really suck right now, in short. We are looking at a week straight of thunderstorms, so I am just preparing to be wet for a long time. We are hoping to get through CT and MA fast but the weather looks like it may prevent that. Time will tell and we are hoping to get some cooler weather too.
Massachusetts update coming next!
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