1392.3 miles, 2,577,198 steps

Home to just 99 miles of trail, New Jersey was a breeze. The rocks are not nearly as onerous as PA, but something has me not quite at full speed. Whether it’s the lack of switchbacks, early summer heat, trail fatigue, or a bit of all three, most days I finish a bit shorter than expected. Certainly, you’ve recognized a theme from the past month or so: “I wanted to make it to X by the weekend, but that didn’t work out”.

Of course, I’m the only person who sets deadlines for myself out here. My self-expectation was driven by a desire to finish on July 14^th. A few weeks ago, that seemed attainable, but the going has proven tougher than I expected. So, the choice was before me. I could stay committed to this arbitrary date, frustration building every week as I constantly failed to meet increasingly ridiculous mileages. Or, I could allow myself an extra week, giving me space to slow down an actually enjoy the trail (oh, right, this is supposed to be fun some of the time). So, in the middle of this week I surrendered to reality and pushed back my timeline to the 21^st. Yes, it hurts to lose some family time before starting my job in NC, but I didn’t spend four months in the woods to quit so close to the finish line. I have my mission, and I’m going to stick to it. If further complications develop and I push back to the 28^th, so be it.

Accordingly, I’ve been much more at ease. Yes, I’m out here to push my body to the limit, but the pressure to travel an arbitrary distance is gone. I’m free to linger and savor the best sights rather than more about X miles left in the day. I even accommodated a spur-of-the-moment detour to the Big Apple when the opportunity presented itself…

Day 96: Sunday, May 26

Delaware Water Gap to Worthington State Forest – 4.8 miles

All the locals told me the Apple Pie Bakery was a must-do before leaving town. After a relaxing morning, I headed over there for a light lunch. Throughout the interior, pies, pastries, and punny signs abounded. Their calling card is the “True Love” special, a hot dog paired with a slice of apple pie for $5.

As the name implies, the town is situated right next to the Delaware River. It wasn’t far from Main Street to the bridge that brought me into New Jersey. And there’s no more fitting way to be greeted by this state than a pileup of bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Being Memorial Day Weekend, the parking lot was swarming with hundreds of visitors. Heading up the mountain, foot traffic tapered off as side trails peeled away. My stopping point at the Backpacker Campsite offered a wide spread of tentable grass divided into many pockets by clumps of trees, so it wasn’t hard to secure privacy away from the crowds.

Day 97: Monday, May 27

Worthington State Forest to Brink Shelter – 19.6 miles

With a whopping 2 inches of rainfall, this was the first truly stormy day. A wall of thunderstorms trawled over the mountains from noon until evening, unleashing downpours in two waves. No way to prevent my shoes from soaking through, at times I sank my feet into a puddle to embrace the refreshing coolness.

My main concern for the day was being exposed by the terrain. The day’s course had me on a constant ridge the whole way, and only light tree cover kept me from being the tallest thing around. When I heard distant thunder around 3:00, I immediately diverted from the trail and sought lower elevation. I happened upon a short road which helped me drop 100ft, though it soon ceased and the ground leveled out. While I would have liked to be a bit farther down the mountain, there wasn’t a feasible way to accomplish that in due time, and I hunkered down as the rain drops intensified. Thankfully, I heard thunder only a few times more, and it was far in the distance. Once the rain started to decrescendo, I resumed walking. The second wave of the storms was just showers, and there was no need to take cover again.

I sloshed up the steps to the shelter to find four other hikers. I began to introduce myself, which prompted a young man about my age to exclaim “Oatmeal! I’ve been trying to catch you!”. “Rocky” explained that he saw my notes of “Verso L’Alto” in the shelter logs during my days as “Frassati”. As a fellow Catholic who also knew of Pier Giorgio Frassati, the phrase was his personal motto for many years. He caught on to my change in trail name when I started signing the logs as “Oatmeal (formerly Frassati)”. I was astounded that Rocky had been trying to track me down all the way since Georgia, in addition to meeting my first fellow Catholic on the trail. We said night prayer from the liturgy of the hours together that evening.

Day 98: Tuesday, May 28

Brink Shelter to High Point Shelter – 19.7 miles

I was hoping to spend a bit more time with Rocky, but he breaks camp and covers ground at a much faster pace than I can manage. He got going before I was halfway through my breakfast.

Today was all about finishing up the ridgewalk that started yesterday. New Jersey continued the trend of mild elevation changes from Pennsylvania. The path was strewn with far less rocks, though occasionally a stony bluff interrupted the dirt for a handful of yards. The surrounding foliage was a bit less packed, permitting more frequent glimpses into the valleys below. New Jersey possessed a sublime simplicity: neither mundane nor extravagant, the gentle hills made for an engaging trek without demanding too much.

As the name implies, High Point State Park is home to the state’s tallest peak. It’s a mere third of a mile to divert to the site, which boasts a 200-foot obelisk. Tired me did not feel like tacking on 0.6 at the end of a long day, but I did enjoy a view of the monument from a wooden observation platform.

Day 99: Wednesday, May 29

High Point Shelter to Base of the Stairway to Heaven – 19.3 miles

Once the NJ/NY border was just in reach, the path turned east by southeast to follow the state line. The easygoing lowlands were dominated by grasslands and marshes. A plethora of frogs, dragonflies, and birds darted among the stalks that flanked the path. A gargantuan snapping turtle lay on a marshy bank. I even spied a fawn with its mother through the trees, though they were too obscured to get any reasonable picture.

Day 100: Thursday, May 30

Stairway to Heaven to Greenwood Lake NY – 14.7 miles

The day started right away with the famed “Stairway to Heaven” lifting me out of the flats back to 1300 feet. The climb is moderately steep with some stony cliffs here and there: definitely the toughest section in NJ, but tame on an AT-wide scale.

A few hours later, I descended into a minor valley. A heavy thumping sound, like a horse galloping, burst from the right. I turned just in time to see a round, black, furry blur dashing away to the south, probably clocking a good 30 mph before escaping my sight. The incident didn’t give time for a moment of fear to arise, instead yielding wonder that I had gotten so close to a bear without it noticing me (evidently I’d startled it). Yet again, I didn’t have time to capture it on camera, but I marked the spot with an annotation. It couldn’t have been farther than 50 feet away.

Midafternoon I crossed into New York. The path was a continuous stretch of granite, meandering up and down like water in a wave pool. At times the trail skirts around impassible cliffs, and I got turned around more than once (as I continued through the state, it seems the clubs don’t blaze the trail as densely as I’ve grown accustomed to). Just beyond a gorgeous overlook into the valley below, a side trail took me 0.8 miles into the town of Greenwood Lake. As you’ll see in the next entry, something more than pizza and ice cream diverted me from the trail a day early.

Day 101: Friday, May 31

Side trip to New York City

For most of the week, my mother attended a writer’s conference in NYC. On upon learning that she was mostly doing research (read: sightseeing various locations where her book scenes take place) on Friday, and that public transit into the city was feasible, we spontaneously arranged plans yesterday for me to pay a visit.

Boarding an early morning bus, I found myself toting my backpack through Times Square around 8:00 AM. After dropping off my gear, cleaning up with a shower, and donning my nicer town clothes, we set off for the conservatory in Central Park. Eventually we took a cab over to the 91^st Street Garden in Riverside. Happy to be free of weight on my back, I identified numerous birds as we toured the vibrant plants and broad promenades.

We ended the day viewing the sunset from the Empire State Building. Watching the golden sky give way to the myriad of city lights, it struck me that our elevation on the 120^th floor was similar to the peaks I’ve been hiking for the last month. Immersed in the biggest city on the East Coast and standing beside my mother who I last saw in Georgia prompted me to reflect on the months and miles that have passed.

Day 102: Saturday, June 1

Greenwood Lake NY to Powerline – 1.6 miles

After catching the morning bus, I lingered in town for most of the day. My original plan was to hike 20 or so miles to the next town and attend mass tomorrow, but with all the walking around NYC it made more sense to take the day off and attend the vigil mass in Greenwood Lake. Throughout the morning and afternoon I lounged in the local park, typing up my notes for the week and enjoying some podcasts.

With plenty of time to spare, I went to the church a few hours early. There I met José, who I presume worked at the parish office. He warmly welcomed me, was eager to hear my story, and informed me that confession would be held in a short while. I jumped at the chance to receive the sacrament, of which I had not partaken since starting the trail. For a while the line was empty, so I got to chat with the priest, Fr Gus, who was to retire in a month. Once I headed back the the church building, I met the organist, Johnathan.

This chance to acquaint myself with several members of the parish reminded me of the Catholic Campus Ministry at Virginia Tech. The weekly routine of visiting a new parish full of strangers is a stark contrast to the masses where pews were packed with my closest friends. I could say I “knew”, if only in a surface-level way, some of the folks at this mass, giving me a taste of the community I miss so dearly.

Day 103: Sunday, June 2

Powerline to Fingerboard Shelter – 17.1 miles

The trail in NY is all at once better maintained and more strenuous. Stone steps and well-cut paths ease, in part, steep climbs and switchbacks among the cliffs. With names like “Agony Grind” and “Lemon Squeezer”, features in this area are far more intense than the lowland marshes. Specifically, the Lemon Squeezer is a rock tunnel that funnels into a pass between two opposing walls. The opening thins as you go along: I had to remove my pack, hoist it way above my head onto the ledge above the left wall, shimmy through the rest of the crack, climb onto the ledge, and walk the opposite direction to collect my pack.

I also encountered my third bear. This one was much larger and not skittish. He didn’t respond to my shouting but kept to his own business. Thus, I was able to photograph the sighting to prove I’m not just spinning tall tales or misidentifying a Bigfoot.

On the Horizon

Let’s see if I can leapfrog one more state, in addition to Maryland and New Jersey…

Pebbles

New Birds: Swamp Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat

Songs in my Head: “Triangle” by Gordon Lightfoot; “Running on Empty” by Jackson Browne; and “Vienna”, “New York State of Mind”, and “Summer, Highland Falls” by Billy Joel

🎶 I don’t have any reasons / I’ve left them all behind / I’m in a New York state of mind 🎶,

Maxwell “Oatmeal” Stelmack