AT Days 80 to 89 - From Rock Hell to City Lights: Escaping Pennsylvania’s Pain and Finding Rest in New York

Day 80

We’re getting quite good at this early start thing! We once again hit the ever-so-rocky Pennsylvania trail a hair after 6:30 am this morning with the plan to have some extra time to negotiate the tricky PA rocks. The trail was a bit friendlier than we anticipated, so when we arrived at Eagle’s Nest Shelter, we stopped for a late breakfast. Along the way there, we passed through a controlled burn area and pet an incredibly soft dog. After breakfast, we continued making great time, despite the treacherous trail, and arrived in Port Clinton, PA, just a hair after noon. Along the way, we also saw several garter and rat snakes, which makes this 4 days in a row that we’ve seen snakes. We then grabbed a hitch from a wonderful metalhead driving a '90s catfish Camaro, who took us straight to Walmart. I grabbed a few McDoubles, resupplied, and ran into Groot, Bear Bait, and All Around. Groot had been hiking with his family, and Bear Bait was waiting for his friends from Ohio to arrive. Once we were ready to roll, we tried and failed to get a hitch for about 2 hours. Since we couldn't find a ride, I grabbed a milkshake from Wawa, and we started the sketchy highway berm walk back to the trail.

When we finally made it back to the trail, we knocked out the climb out of the gap and did another 6 miles to Windsor Furnace Shelter. There we were entertained by Bear Bait and his friends frying bacon in a pie tin next to a fire, then deep frying eggs and various other things in the tin of grease. Our group is finally all feeling pretty decent, aside from allergies, and we’re excited to be a few days away from completing Pennsylvania! Likewise, forcing myself to eat more has made hiking considerably easier, so I’m hoping my more calorically dense resupply helps me feel more energetic.

Day 81

After our unexpectedly large dinner (compliments of Bear Bait), we all slept quite soundly, so we were able to break camp early. Right off the bat we hit a nice, cruisy section of trail with scenic views from Pulpit Rock and The Pinnacle. Instigator and I enjoyed our first on-trail breakfast cereal, now that we had figured out how to make dehydrated milk work in smaller portions. From there, we continued until we came up to Eckville Shelter, where we stopped for an early lunch and to check it out, as it was one of the few fully enclosed shelters on the trail. There we took an extended break to plan out our upcoming nero in Delaware Water Gap. The trail was unfortunately still pretty rocky, so we slowly trudged on until we arrived at the closed Thunderhead Lodge, where we stopped for water and to make dinner at their picnic tables. It ended up raining on us a bit, but thankfully, it also meant cooler temperatures. We only walked a little further before calling it a day and pitching camp for the night. These rocks really take it out of you!

Day 82

We all ended up sleeping quite well last night, due to the cold front that passed through as we were trying to make dinner. Unfortunately, my inflatable pillow seems to have formed a leak, and I woke up with a horrible knot in my neck and shoulder. This ended up adding a large degree of challenge to my day, as we had several major scrambles to tackle, which required the use of both arms. Despite the pain in my shoulder, we made it over Knife’s Edge and up Bake Oven Knob in decent time. We were in a rush to try and catch Slinky and Scratchums at the trail magic that was being held for them at the Lehigh River Gap. When we got there, we had just missed them, but the magic was still going on. It was hot out, so we stayed for a bit to share stories, stock up on water, and slam Gatorades before our last climb. This climb turned out to be somewhat of an exercise in bouldering, which was a ton of fun, despite the pain in my shoulder. We had an amazing view of the river below, and the three of us had a blast climbing. From there, we put down a few more miles and made a beeline to the Slopeside Pub at Blue Mountain Ski Resort, which happened to have a $10 burger special on Thursdays! While there, we ran into Fire Hoser, and enjoyed offbeat live music. Thankfully, the discount vodka lemonades made it sound much better. We then set up camp on a slightly sloped stealth site for the night, but we didn’t mind because it wasn’t rocky for once!

Day 83

We awoke a bit scrunched up in the 2 person tent due to the slight slope, but we otherwise slept well. I think we slept well because the pine duff ground under the tent was so incredibly soft. This also made it pretty easy to pack up quickly, since we didn’t have to maneuver around rocks. From there, we hit the trail and were immediately bombarded by copious small, sharp rocks that made it difficult to maintain a good pace. Eventually, we crawled into Leroy A. Smith Shelter, where Instigator and I trekked the long way downhill to collect some much-needed water for our remaining 14 miles. We needed to load up extra because the 14 miles were devoid of water sources. From there, we trudged on the remaining miles, with a few snake sightings, a cooler of ice-cold trail magic sodas, a climb (which strangely had no switchbacks and was the only smooth trail all day), and the ever present sharp rocks. The rocks were miserable because you could not take your eyes off the trail for a second, lest you end up kicking one or tripping. Likewise, they were so all encompassing that you were forced to step on their jagged edges. So no matter what, your feet were destroyed. Thankfully, we eventually rolled into Kirkridge Shelter, where we ran into Dr. Pepper, who was also completely gassed from the rocks. Once his hiking buddy, Fire Hoser arrived, we all had a brief dinner before quickly passing out for the night. The rocks in PA are no joke!

Day 84

Despite it being cool, flat, and quiet last night, I still slept poorly due to my unfortunate pillow situation. I woke up in the middle of the night to a flat pillow and another painful pulled muscle in my neck/shoulder. Due to the pain, I was unable to sleep again, so I just sat up and read until it was time to leave. Thankfully, we only had two miles of rocks before 4 easy miles of fire road walking down into Delaware Water Gap. Dr. Pepper joined us on the walk down, then stayed with us for breakfast at Village Farmer and Bakery, a magical, cheap place full of incredible, fresh food. We then walked over to the local outfitter, where Not Today, a former thru-hiker, trail angel, and new hostel owner, introduced himself and offered to take us around on our town errands. It turns out that he left the cooler of cold drinks we found yesterday! After we wrapped up our errands, we headed to the beach along the river and enjoyed a few hours of lazy afternoon at the national recreation area. We then went out for barbecue, sent Masochist to the church hostel he was staying at, then Instigator and I returned to our hotel and passed out early. PA had thoroughly kicked our butts, and we badly needed the rest.

Day 85

Even with our early bedtime, Instigator and I still slept in at our hotel. Forgetting that it was a holiday weekend, we were stunned to find the breakfast room slammed at our Quality Inn. After finally getting a turn at the waffle machine, we enjoyed the last few hours in our room before checking out. Once we were packed up, we headed back to the bakery to meet up with Masochist for yet more food before hitting the trail again. Once there, it was clear that we were all still pretty fried from the past few days, so we decided to keep the hike pretty short. Masochist had just gotten new shoes, which were helping him, but his and Instigator’s feet were still bruised and battered. After a quick road walk, we returned to the unusually crowded trail, which, unfortunately, was also still quite rocky. We had a long, but easy climb before reaching Sunfish Pond, which is apparently one of the “Seven Wonders of New Jersey.” There, we also met Hoot, a local ridge runner who took the time to chat with us a bit about ourselves and the local animal activity. According to Hoot, there are a lot of hedgehogs around, which makes sense since we saw one on our climb! We only ended up hiking a few more miles afterwards, before calling it an early day and pitching camp along the ridge line. Part of me wishes we had taken a zero today to rest up, but I’m glad we saved the money and got away from the holiday crowds. Now I hope this whippoorwill moves along so that I can go to sleep early!

Day 86

It got nice and cool again at our stealth site last night, so we were all able to sleep quite soundly. We began the day early again with a quick couple of miles to the Mohican Outdoor Center, where I restocked on water and had a breakfast sandwich. Water sources in New Jersey look fairly scarce and questionable, so we wanted to make sure we had enough for the warm day. From there, he had a bit of a short climb before we came upon the first fire tower of the day, where we also ran into Bear Bait and the Kiwis. The tower was in pretty good shape and had a great view! We also saw an active beaver pond, but no beavers, and several large snakes. After lunch, we began passing several gorgeous lakes along the ridge line we were walking on. At some point after lunch, Branson passed us and told us about a bar on the beach next to a lake, so we made plans to stop there for dinner. When we arrived after a few more hours of easy hiking, we were greeted by an amazing view of Kittatinny Lake and a number of our fellow hikers. Gyps Bar was cash only, but had ice-cold, cheap drinks on tap. We hung out there for a few hours before continuing to the Gren Anderson Shelter for the night. There weren’t any good stealth sites or marked campsites nearby, so there ended up being a large crowd there. Unfortunately, this meant that good tent sites were at a premium, so Instigator moved a few rocks to protect our precious sleeping pads.

Day 87

We had an interesting night due to a frantic raccoon that ran around raiding everyone’s bags outside of their tents! No good pictures were taken; however, it was hilarious watching it tear around the campsite with our headlamps chasing it. Once we actually got up for the day, we began our hike to Unionville. Along the way, we stopped for a break at Mashipacong Shelter, and Instigator informed us that her feet were killing her more than usual. We took a stab at retaping them before hitting the trail again, but by the time we reached High Point State Park, they were already badly swollen. We made the call to hike separately in the afternoon and reconvene at the Secret Shelter just outside of town. So I put in my audiobook and trudged on through a few fields and meadows. Eventually, I reached it and found Masochist there, busy pulling ticks off his legs. I ended up finding two on myself while hanging out, so I'm glad he had noticed his unwanted hitchhikers. Instigator then rolled in not too long after, in a ton of pain. We decided to continue into town and then made a plan of action to treat her feet. We ended up going to Wits End Bar in town, before settling down for the night in the town park. Hopefully, ibuprofen, stretching, elevation, and a night's rest will help her.

Day 88

The park turned out to be a nice place to camp, despite the floodlight and church bells. It was otherwise soft, flat, and quiet! In defiance of our attempts to rest, Instigator’s feet were still in pretty rough shape. We then burned a few hours trying to come up with a plan since she wouldn’t be hiking, and we decided to head into New York City early to take a few days off! We grabbed an Uber from Unionville to Warwick, then took a New Jersey Transit bus straight to the NYC Port Authority. After our 2-hour bus ride, we wasted no time walking through Times Square, grabbing a few drinks, hot dogs, and pizza before heading to Central Park to relax. The air quality was horrible, and the heat was oppressive, but we otherwise had a wonderful time just looking around at the buildings and people watching. Masochist and I had never been to New York City, so we were overwhelmed by it all, especially after nearly three months in the woods. After our relaxation session, we headed to Union Park, where Instigator met up with a friend of a friend to get a key to the apartment we were crashing at. While she did that, Masochist and I explored the local farmers' market. From there, we headed to an Indian restaurant where Masochist had his first taste of Indian cuisine, and we enjoyed something that wasn’t pizza or burgers! After dinner, we hit the subway and headed out to Brooklyn to Instigator’s friend’s apartment, where we are crashing. Never missing an opportunity for food, I grabbed a tub of ice cream, and we called it an early night.

Day 89

It’s finally Zero Day in NYC!!! I’ve been looking forward to this day for quite a while. We started by grabbing bagels for breakfast in the Hasidic neighborhood of Brooklyn, and then we headed to Prospect Park to enjoy them and take in the scenery. From there, we headed over to the massive Green Wood Cemetery to check out the old graves and the incredible grounds. Based on a question one of us joked about, we learned that more people are buried in the cemetery than live in all of Vermont! From there, we went back to the apartment to knock out some chores and attempt to cool off from the oppressive heat. After our break, we grabbed a quick subway ride to the Dumbo Ferry Pier. We then had a lovely booze cruise on the ferry and enjoyed floating around the East River. This was one of my favorite activities so far, as I got to sit and see more of the skyline while enjoying boat drinks! Post cruise, we explored Grand Central Station, Masochist got some more dollar pizza, I got a good look at the Empire State Building, and then we met one of Instigator’s friends for Vietnamese food. From there, we went for a nighttime stroll through Chinatown, and then across the Brooklyn Bridge to see the skyline at night. As expected, it was stunning, and we even had a bit of a nice surprise when the Kiwis from the trail ran into us while doing the same thing! How wild is that in such a large city, the only 3 other hikers we knew of in town happened to be in the same place?! After our walk, we caught the subway back to the apartment and crashed. As always, Instigator killed it as our tour guide!