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Dear family and friends,
I'm now in Kent Connecticut. It seems amazing that we have arrived in New England.
Over the last few days the discussion around the shelter has shifted from "I'm
not sure how much more of this I can take" to "Whoa, the end is not
far away. Maybe we'd better slow down and stretch it out a bit longer!"
New Jersey began with a pleasant walk from the Delaware Water Gap up to Sunfish
Pond, a glacial lake on top of Kittitany Mountain and the first natural lake
of any size we have encountered all trip. Lakes are ephemeral features. They
fill up with sediment fairly quickly in geologic time. As a result there are
almost no natural lakes in the South, but in the North the glaciers reshaped
the land and created basins for lakes. Sunfish Pond is a boulder-rimmed jewel,
reminiscent of New England lakes. It was a sunday and many day hikers and families
had walked up to enjoy a picnic or a swim.
Kittitinny Mountain continues across the Delaware Water Gap from PA and is composed
of the same blasted sandstone of which I complained so bitterly in my last message.
So we had 45 more miles of rough walking, though not so bad as PA. Other than
that the trail is quite interesting in NJ. There are many viewpoints from the
ridge, unfortunately not visible when I passed by due to rain and fog. After
a few days I came to High Point monument, a 100 foot tall version of the Washington
Monument at the highest point in NJ. Then the trail mercifully decended off
the ridge.
My sister Sue and husband Jeff live near this part of NJ and they picked me
up at a road crossing a few miles from High Point. I spent the next four evenings
living in luxury at their home - bed, showers, real food, the works. Sue and
I slack-packed the next day, meaning we walked without full backpacks, a practice
which I had disparaged but now endorse heartily.
That night, July 14, Sue and Jeff hosted a major trail magic event at their
home. Jeff drove back to High Point to pick up a car load of hikers, and Sue
and I picked up hikers from the hostel and trail head in Vernon NJ. I had been
leaving messages in the trail registers and talking to people about this event,
so we practically swept the trail clean of thru-hikers for 50 miles. Sue and
Jeff prepared a splendid feast of hamburgers and hot dogs, macaroni and potato
salad, lots of drinks, iced brownies, and homemade chocolate chip cookies. The
last were so heartily received that I suggested a trail name of "Chocolate
Chip" for Sue, which she accepted with a laugh. Most hikers were returned
to the hostel in Vernon that night, but the High Point group slept on the living
room floor and were treated to pancakes in the morning by Jeff. Hikers wrote
their praises in a trail register that Sue provided. One hiker wrote that Sue
and Jeff had now become Trail Angels, and Raven will henceforth be considered
a Saint on the trail.
The 15th was a rest day for me, meaning we raced around like crazies visiting
stores. On the 16th both Sue and Jeff slack packed with me for a 15 mile day
over massive rock outcroppings in Wawayanda State Park. By the time that day
was over we had completed NJ and both Sue and Jeff had a clear perception of
sore feet syndrome.
After the hike Jeff took me, Sue, and their dog Shadow for a ride in his small
plane. This was one of the major highlights of the whole trip for me. Once up
at altitude Jeff let me take the controls. With careful coaching from Jeff I
flew the plane back to High Point, did a 360 around High Point monument, flew
over the Delaware River and up to Port Jervis, then back east following the
AT along the NJ-NY border. What a thrill! We could see the route of the trail
below, including a long boardwalk through a marshy area and the rocky massif
that makes up Wawayanda State Park.
The next morning I said a sad farewell to Sue, Jeff, and their guest room. The
next 6 days were spent traversing NY. The trail was scenic and interesting,
climbing over and between huge rock croppings, with many 50 - 100 foot ups and
downs. We passed through the "lemon squeezer", a narrow crack between
two boulders that required removal of our packs to fit. Bear Mountain Inn waas
interesting, a huge Bavarian style structure with window boxes and gardens filled
with flowers. Then I crossed over the Hudson River on Bear Mountain Bridge,
which certainly felt like a milestone.
The last three days have been lots of up and down, first in NY then crossing
into CT this morning. It has been said that when a north-bounder reaches New
England you have completed 2/3 of the distance but only 1/3 of the work. I hope
this is not literally true, but their is no doubt that the trail becomes increasingly
rugged and beautiful as we move north from here.
I expect to reach Hanover NH on Aug 12, and I'll be hiking with my two sons
Dan and Ben Aug 13-18. I'm really glad they are coming out to hike with me and
looking forward very much to their visit. Also looking forward to a trip home
the following week.
Well that's all for now.
Best wishes to you all,
Raven