7/25 – Day 86
20.2 miles from Raccoon Ridge to Bridgeville
From our campsite, the ridge walking continued for several miles. The terrain was littered with large rocks and dead birch leaves that made us feel like we were hiking in the peak of fall. The heat wave was beginning to wind down and an overcast sky from the previous day’s storm lingered for a few hours. Eventually, the clouds unleashed soaking of rain that we sloshed through for the next mile.
We reached the Catfish Fire Tower, which was both taller and more narrow than most fire towers I’ve seen. We climbed to the top in full gear and ponchos to hopefully find some shelter. Unexpectedly, the room at the summit was open and had a fireman on watch! Bob was more than happy to share some information on his work, such as how he uses a compass and communicates with nearby towers to triangulate fires and send out dispatches. It was also the 100 year anniversary of the Catfish Fire Tower.
Leaving the tower, the rain lightened as AT leap-frogged with a jeep trail for a mile. We filled up our bottles at Rattlesnake Spring, which was crystal clear, ice cold, and the last water source we would pass for quite a while. At the next road intersection, we found a single, unopened Heineken Light that we were just desperate enough to consider trail magic.
Further along, we passed a beaver pond with evidence of furry lumberjacks hard at work. We took a short lunch break, then pushed ahead to the absolutely gorgeous Crater Lake. The sunlight hit the rippling water just right and it gave the impression of a remote, north country alpine lake. Who would have believed we were in New Jersey? We swam in the warm water with a girl named 8 Ball for about an hour.
There were a series of short, rocky outcroppings that we climbed up and down until we hit Brink Road Shelter. We re-upped with water and trudged ahead another mile, opting for another ridge campsite with a view rather than a mice-infested wooden shack. Along the way I accidentally kicked a hidden rock quite forcefully, stubbing my left pinky toe. Fortunately, the injury did not seem to affect my gait. We kept hiking and popped out of the trees to a stunning overlook of Bridgeville and Kittatinny Lake below, where we settled down for the night.
7/26 – Day 87
22.6 miles from Bridgeville to Secret Shelter
Coming down the hill past Bridgeville, we saw a sign blazed “Magic Trail”. Following it led to the Culvers Gap parking lot and the best trail magic we have ever received! A man named Moose had set up multiple tables full of everything a hiker could ever dream of: sandwiches, snacks, fruit, soft drinks, coffee, and, you won’t believe it, ice cream. There was a portable power supply to charge our phones and even emergency items like toothbrushes and ibuprofen. We could have made a full resupply with how many offerings were layed out for hikers, totally free. We sat for a solid hour chatting with Moose and several other hikers. It is amazing to see the effort put forth into such elaborate trail magic.
The weather had cooled off and made for a truly excellent day of hiking Once we had our fill at Moose’s trail magic, we climbed the following ridge to the Culver Fire Tower, which rolled along for a few miles before raising to Sunrise Mountain. There was a large stone pavilion at the top with an unobstructed panoramic view of the Poconos. The weather had cooled off and made for a truly excellent day of hiking as we continued on. We passed a man backpacking south who gave off that distinct thru-hiking essence. Sure enough he was, in fact, a SOBO heading all the way from Maine to Georgia. LJ began on May 27th, the first day of the season Baxter State Park was open, and was only the second true SOBO hiker we have met, the first being Aquaman on day three!
The next dozen miles or so were a rock hell bad enough to put even Pennsylvania to shame. However, the regular ponds and backcountry lakes made for a lovely landscape that was quite pleasant to hike through. After a long midday push, we came to a short spur trail leading to NJ High Point. We summited the peak, which boasted a massive stone memorial and lookout tower at a humble 1,803′.
Up until this point, the AT had stuck closely to the western border of the state. From here it turned southwest and ran in-and-out along the NJ/NY border. There was a drawn out descent from the High Point that took us across a few pastures and dried up stream beds. We reached a “Secret Shelter” (though clearly marked on our map) to find Tarzan, McConaughey, and a few others camped on the property supposedly owned by a former hiker who was not around. Instead, the grounds were maintained by the primary caretaker, Jake. He was the resident donkey who roamed freely around the campsite, mostly grazing in the grass, occasionally stealing food from unaware hikers. We love Jake.
7/27 – Day 88
4.3 miles from Secret Shelter to Cinderella’s Castle
We originally met Cinderella in the Shenandoahs. She has been hiking with a group called the Mountain Mamas, including her, Lady V, and Spice Girl. Anyway, Cinderella lives in New York and has been planning to throw a thru-hiker party once her bubble of fellow hikers made it farther north. Today was the day it was finally falling into place and nearly every hiker that Cinderella had hiked with was invited.
Leading up to it, we have been making jokes about what a hiker party would actually look like: a few dozen hikers who haven’t showered or washed their clothes in a week get dropped off at a nice, suburban home and hobble to the front door. Once let inside, they immediately begin searching for available outlets to charge their phones. They make their way to the kitchen to find a crock pot full of pulled pork and help themselves to three, four, five sandwiches, two bowls of spaghetti, and twelve chocolate chip cookies. The line for the bathroom is out the door. The toilet will need unclogged at least twice during this party. After everyone is finished eating, they go outside to take a dip in the pool. The water turns into a light shade of brown after a week’s worth of muck is washed away. Everybody cracks open a beer, but it’s nearly 9:00pm so they’re getting tired and ready to go to sleep.
In reality, however, it was an unforgettable experience. Myself, Spout, Season Pass, Silent J, Keylime, A.O., Eight Ball, Wraps, and Mojo met at the Walkill River, only a few miles past the Secret Shelter. We sat in the shade next to a group of Jehovas Witnesses doing “trail magic” designed to lock you into a conversation. Shortly after, Mr. Cinderella (aka Kevin) pulled up in a pickup truck and hauled all nine of us twenty minutes to their home in Warwick, NY.
Their house was absolutely beautiful. It was located on a quiet pond, with a huge freshly mowed lawn where all the hikers built a tent city of nearly twenty tents. Cinderella was clearly prepared as a host, and even allowed everyone to take turns showering and throw in loads laundry. Her family prepared delicious food (three meals!), the drinks were great, and we had an amazing time hanging out with thirty hikers who showed up to party. We swam in the pool and were able to take out a canoe on the pond behind their house.
Although some of the stereotypes came true (Grit Daddy fell asleep on the porch at 9:30pm) it’s hard to beat the immaculate vibe of Coltrane and Jimmy Dean strumming away on their guitars, lounging on the pool deck, and sharing beers with hikers you’ve known for only a few weeks who feel so much closer than that. It’s about the people, and you won’t find a more interesting, passionate group of individuals anywhere in the world. Cinderella’s Ball, as everyone has been calling it, was a good reminder for us to cherish the time we have out here.
7/28 – Day 89
14.8 miles from Cinderella’s Castle to Warwick Drive-in Theater
The morning after was a humorous spectacle of hungover hikers hobbling around the yard and slowly dismantling tent city. Cinderella called from the porch that breakfast was ready. At once, we flocked to the kitchen. Cinderella and Kevin prepared an outstanding buffet of nearly a dozen foods, including apple cider donuts from Heaven Hill Farm and some authentic New York bagels. I ate the first truly good bagel of my life and now fear I can never go back to Thomas brand. We hung out for a few hours, drank coffee on the porch, and enjoyed the peaceful morning. Then, around 10:00am, ten hikers loaded onto Kevin’s truck and he hauled us back to the trailhead. We thanked the family for their incredible hospitality many times before it was back to the ol’ grind.
The remaining group divided at the Wallkill River parking lot. Spout, Season Pass, Wraps, and myself hiked together along the swamp land of the Walkill Wildlife Refuge, gossiping about the previous night. After re-entering the forest, we spotted a black bear fifty yards off the trail, our first since Virginia. Eventually we reached the Pochuck Boardwalk, a sturdy wooden walkway nearly a mile in length that took us across a marsh and over a large suspension bridge.
The boardwalk spit us out on a pasture that lead directly to Heaven Hill Farm. We filled up on some tasty homemade pastries and ice cream while we sat out the scorching heat. As luck would have it, clouds rolled in before we began our next climb: The Stairway to Heaven. Our group practiced some geography as we trudged up the steep hillside towards pinwheel vista.
A few miles later, we reached the Warwick Turnpike. Here, Wraps needed to continue hiking on, while Spout, Season Pass, and I hitchhiked to the outskirts of Warwick, NY where a drive-in theater offered free camping for thru-hikers. Even better, a ShopRite grocery store was immediately next door, as well as the Pennings Cidery! After a quick resupply, three of us got buzzed on a bucket of black currant cider.
We must have stepped through a time machine to the 80s when we crossed back into New York; Top Gun was playing at a drive-in theater. When we entered the grounds, we ran into an old man named Pop-pop who directed us to the thru-hiker camping area and gave us a free radio. A massive group of over thirty hikers were hanging out atop a knoll behind the parking lot. We linked up with Watercolor (formerly Grace), Keylime, A.O., and 8 Ball to find a comfortable patch of grass to layout our sleeping pads before the movie NOPE aired. After it concluded, we switched our radio station and moved to a better vantage point to catch Top Gun: Maverick.
Though a bit difficult to follow when listening on a small radio, NOPE was an awesome drive-in flick. Nothing like instilling the fear of being abducted by aliens when camping out in the woods. The first half of Top Gun was also great, but since it did not begin airing until 10:45pm, everybody in our group passed out long before the final sequence. All in all, the drive-in was a bit unorthodox, but it ended being one of the most enjoyable nights on trail just because of the crowd and unique atmosphere.
7/29 – Day 90
15.7 miles from Warwick Drive-in Theater to Mombasha High Point
Another great exodus of hikers commenced in the morning following bagels and coffee from a local shop in the plaza. We got in gear at 10:30am and hitched out of the theater back to the trail. We met a new hiker, Icarus, and formed a short train with him and Season Pass. At one point, Spout unintentionally stirred up a ground hornets’ nest and got me, Icarus, and Keylime (a few minutes behind us) all stung.
It was only a few miles over rocky cliffs before we reached the border of NJ/NY, the state line blazed boldly into the rock. It was a perfect spot to take a break so Spout, Season Pass, Icarus, and I plopped ourselves down in the shade. Not much longer, Star came by followed by A.O., 8 Ball, and Keylime. Icarus played Frank Sinatra from his phone, while everyone shared candy and busted out drinks they packed out from town. Thirty minutes later, we had fourteen hikers all hanging out on a slab of rock that was only symbolic because it meant we had crossed into our ninth state, as good of a means to celebrate as any out here.
The group fractured after an hour or so when it was time to continue hiking. The trail rose to a rocky outcropping at Prospect Rock with an overlook of Greenwood Lake in the valley. Despite the elevation still being under 2,000′, the mountains looked like they were beginning to regain the scope of the southern sections of trail. In any case, overcoming the terrain of New York was clearly going to be a technical challenge of regular boulder scrambles. One FarOut comment put it nicely: “Welcome to New York, put your trekking poles in your backpack and enjoy the ride”.
However, there were brief stretches of flat trail that had no rocks or roots whatsoever, a sight we geniunely have not seen in weeks. Nine miles into the hike, we took a short blue blaze to the Bellvale Farm Creamery. Two scoops of ice cream were $6 but a full quart was only $11. Obviously, I chose the latter and finished it with ease, then ate two hotdogs and a bag of chips for dessert at a pop-up stand just down the road. Someone once said that the AT is both the hardest and easiest hike they’ve ever done. I’m starting see that- after fifteen miles of punishing terrain, you pop out of the woods next to a hotdog stand.
Leaving the road, we hiked up the following hillside over more monstrous rock formations. At the summit of Mombasha High Point, we noticed a gentle misting in the air. We looked up to the sky and found a vibrant rainbow arching wide between the mountains. To our backs in the west, the sunset was visible through the cover of trees, radiating an intense orange one might expect to see in the African savanna. It was a perfect moment, plucked from the timeline of our journey, where we just happened to be at the right place at the right time. It was simply breathtaking. After the sun dipped even lower, we hiked down the peak and snagged an unmarked campsite just off the trail.
7/30 – Day 91
15.8 miles from Mombasha High Point to William Brien Memorial Shelter
Our original goal was to break 1,400 miles today by hiking eighteen miles. After a relaxed morning, breaking down camp at 9:45am, we ran into a woman named Cindy at West Mombasha Rd doing trail magic only a mile into our day. Cindy had an excellent setup with cold drinks, donuts, cookies, and light resupply options. She talked to us about all of the thru-hikers she has seen pass through since May when she began sitting out on Saturdays with her husband. We took some drinks for the road and continued trekking along by 11:00am or so. Mile 1,400 already seemed unlikely…
The next stretch of trail was a series of brutal rock scrambles, culminating at Arden Mountain, then followed up with an extremely steep and rugged descent with regular rock-steps of three feet or higher. At the bottom there was a water cooler with the message: “You survived ‘Agony Grind'”.
From here, we entered Harriman State Park, one of the first sections of the AT ever built traversed through here. The park was sparsely covered in trees and rolling hills of tall grass. After the first climb, we reached Island Pond, a perfect spot to go for a swim in the warm afternoon. Season Pass, feeling ambitious, inflated and paddled his sleeping pad to the island about eighty yards from the shore. Meanwhile, Spout and I enjoyed floating about in the refreshing water.
One of the more famous landmarks was on deck: the Lemon Squeezer. The trail approached a cluster of boulders of enormous size. After one or two easier hurdles, we made a sharp left turn into a narrow crevasse, maybe three feet wide. The tricky part was that the opening was slanted to the right and we had to move our lower bodies forward while leaning to the side. Both feeling adequately squeezed after passing through, we had a premature celebration before realizing the trail ran directly into an eight foot rock wall. While previous boulder-y sections were mostly scrambling, this was a straight-up rock climb that required gripping the upper ledge, carefully selecting a good foot hold, and pulling yourself up. I realized how much I missed true rock climbing.
After the ordeal, we made a quick pitstop at a popular lake named Tiorati Circle to take advantage of flushing toilets and vending machines. In honor of our squeezing, we each got a lemonade to drink. We hiked with Season Pass for the rest of the evening and decided to stop short of our goal and call it at the next shelter we passed.
7/31 – Day 92
16.5 miles from William Brien Memorial Shelter to Graymoor Spiritual Life Center
We woke up unreasonably early at the stout hour of 7:00am and were on our way up the first hill by 8:00am. The other campers at our site were complaining about mysterious music that sounded like a drum circle playing through the night from a nearby location. We must have slept well, as we did not hear a thing.
We began with a short climb to Black Mountain. At the summit, we could just barely make out the skyline of New York City directly to the east through the haze. It was a somewhat surreal experience realizing that one of the largest cities on earth was only a short drive away from the beautiful mountains of southern NY.
Several miles of hiking led us to the base of Bear Mountain. The trail began as an old paved road, then turned sharply up the slope of the mountain on a masterfully well-built staircase of rocks. The ascent offered numerous views of the Hudson River and surrounding mountains. We navigated over large, smooth rocks in place of dirt trail through a mixed deciduous forest that included many birch. At the summit, we stepped into a bustling hot spot of NYC day-hikers enjoying their pretty getaway from the city. There was a lookout tower with some history on the area as well. In spite of the noise, we did not stay long and were soon on our way down the opposite side of the mountain, which happened to have a parking lot close by. We got asked, “how close are we to the top?” at least three times, to which we have now commited to answering “oh, you’re almost there” regardless of how far they actually have to go.
At the bottom, we stepped into a real circus. Hoards of families were gathered in Bear Mountain State Park to picnic and grill on the Sunday afternoon. It was probably the most crowded place we’ve encountered on trail. Overwhelmed, but not so much to skip out on grabbing a burger and pizza from the concession stand, we hung out alone a short ways up from Hessian Lake. Season Pass, Wraps, A.O., and 8 Ball joined us shortly after and we hiked as a group through the next section of trail, which literally went through a zoo.
We were fortunate to catch the Trailside Zoo on a weekend when it was open (otherwise we would have to take a blue blaze around it). The trail followed a paved walkway past a number of enclosures, setup exclusively for animals in rehabilitation from disease or injury. We saw two black bears, a beaver, red-tailed hawks, a opossum, a porcupine, and more. Our group of six left exited a half mile later and crossed the lengthy Bear Mountain Bridge over the Hudson River and into the next series of mountains.
We hiked six more miles to the Appalachian Market, the first of many delis on the next section of trail through New York. After filling up, we hiked to a nearby church and rehab center that offered camping, showers, and a pavilion for hikers. We found many familiar faces ready set up, and spent the rest of the evening tossing water balloons and drinking beer.
What’s next?
Can you believe New York is almost over? We just got here… The states start flying by in the northeast. Connecticut, the gateway of New England, is in our sights. Approaching the 2/3 mark of the trail!
Stay Dirty,
Candyboy & Pout