Appalachian Trail 2010

New England

Yesterday we finally made it to New England, but my southern mind already thought I was there the minute we crossed the Mason/Dixon line and into PA. Apparently no one else thinks that PA, NJ and NY are in New England…oh well. We are officially in Connecticut and in a few short days, Massachusetts. I am looking forward to blitzing through those states and getting to Vermont. It has been very warm and humid here and I didn’t realize that other parts of the country had heat induced afternoon thunderstorms like Florida.

Yesterday we had done about 9.5 miles and Chris had jumped in 10 mile River for a swim. I was keeping an eye on some clouds coming over the mountain and we started hearing thunder. We got up the hill a bit and it got louder so Chris called his dad to see what the radar looked like. It was a strong line of t-storms so we decided to set the tent up and ride it out. Good thing we did because it poured the second we got in the tent with very strong lightning and wind, too. I think that will be our course of action for short t-storms from now on. See, it isn’t so bad being wet, but having wet shoes is the worst. They take at least two days to dry out and usually new blisters pop up when the shoes are wet. Our other course would be to sit it out and take off our shoes and throw our Keen’s on, but we’ll keep that mind.

Since the last time I posted I said NJ was pretty nice, and it was until the last part of the state. It turned into a series of PUD’s and the NJ/NY line was completely awful. We did 24 miles that day, with two stops for ice cream. It was hot and we were on exposed rocks for a lot of the day. Ugh. Some of NY was nice, a section through Harriman State Park and the Lemon Squeezer was nice (which we did in the rain…and there is 6′ wall you have to climb up that doesn’t have any particular way to hold on to…try that!). We got into CT yesterday after staying at a plant nursery for the night. It’s on NY 22 and the owner lets you take a shower and camp out behind where his tree lot is. There is a deli 0.5 a mile down the road too…the only thing you have to put up with is the commuter train to NYC and some road noise.

It is very nice to be counting down the miles now. Tomorrow we’ll be under 700 miles left…phew! It will go fast, I know, but I am ready to see friends and family and my cats. We talk about the cats all the time. Squirrels and chipmunks are Leo and rabbits and groundhogs are Samson.

Well, the library has a time limit so I think we are going to grab lunch and come back in the afternoon and try to upload some photos. We got a super cute video of a chipmunk! So, hopefully more blogging later.

Also, we’re starting to update our resumes and try to look for jobs, so if you know of any biology/science/environmental jobs in Texas that have start dates for September, pass them on!

🙂

10 Comments

  • Moosie

    Oh my goodness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 700 left woo hoo!! Sam is sitting here on the computer table washing his face. He said meow to mommy and daddy! (in cat talk that means hurry home you guys) I will start looking for jobs and email links to you. Love you guys and miss you bunches. Mom

  • Chris

    Yay!!! You guys are practically done (well…over half way is practically done in my book!). Don’t hate PA, hate the people who made the trail full of rocks. I’ve been on quite a few trails that were rockless there and actually pretty level. It’s not all that bad!

  • Marc

    You guys are really making fast progress. Time flies! We are scheduled to be doing our first real backpacking trip next weekend in Olympic NP. We need some guidance and tips from you two seasoned hikers! Do you take any bear precautions (i.e. bear cans for food and slinging them up in a tree) when you are hiking the AT?

  • Chris footTRAX

    I went to “LITTLE” Slough on Sunday and saw 4 seperate blooms. Spent the whole day there. I also saw a Ghost with two bud ready to open at the same time, maybe this coming weekend. I’m thinking about going back. The water was up to my waist.
    I really like reading your blogs. Keep them coming!

    Find more videos like this on My Florida Hikes

  • Patrice

    Hey Misti!

    Do you have any idea when you’ll hit NH? I just can’t believe how fast time is flying on your hike and I don’t want to miss the opportunity to possibly bring you some trail magic. I know you can’t really predict any exact timing, but if you could narrow it a little based on your pace and plans, like late July or late August. Let me know! We are close to a number of sections of the AT through NH, but closest (45 minutes) to Franconia Notch.

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