I'm in Vernon, NJ right now, taking a little time off from hiking. There's an old church in town which makes their basement available to hikers in exchange for a donation, and they've got shower + laundry + internet. Bam.
The trail runs about 2.5 miles from town and doesn't have any shoulders so when I got to the road a few hrs ago, I stuck my thumb out. The last time I tried hitching was in Hamburg, PA. I stood by a busy road for a good 25 minutes and nobody even slowed down. It was raining and the visibility wasn't good, so I think that was why I had no luck, but it still made me doubt my hitching chances. Is it my beard? Maybe it's reached creepy stage... I don't know. Anyway, I tried again today and got a ride within 5 minutes. And it was from a young (20-something) girl by herself. It was super-nice of her. I guess I'm not too creepy-looking after all.
I've been in NJ for three and a half days now. I didn't have too many expectations. I had heard that there were a lot of bears - but that was about it. The second half of PA was pretty rough, because the trail was full of lots of sharp rocks, which made walking slow and painful. I had assumed that the rocks would stop once I got to NJ, but when I got to Delaware Water Gap (where the trail crosses from PA to NJ) I talked to some rangers there and they told me that the rocks would continue into NJ. Dang! But the reality is that the trail is quite a bit easier once you cross the river.
It's been different from previous parts of the trail. Before, you could go long stretches of the trail and really feel like you were in the middle of the wilderness. Not here. Instead, you cross a road every mile or so, and you see a lot of backyards with barking dogs. It sounds not very nice, but I actually welcome the new feel. I enjoy the diversity that the trail offers. Today, there was a mile section of the trail that was actually on a boardwalk covering a huge bog. That was nice. And yesterday, the trail took us to the high point memorial marker which looks like a miniature version of the Washington monument in DC and stands on the highest point in NJ.
Another thing that's nice about the lack of wilderness here is that it means you're never too far away from food and the comforts of civilization. Yesterday, I was running out of food and thinking that it was going to be a hungry day and I crossed a road only to look over and see a coffee+sandwich shop. Yes! And the same thing happened again this morning: I was out of food and in need of a resupply and there was a general store about half-mile from the trail.
When I arrived at the church earlier, there was a note that said that there was a pizza shop in town which offered all-you-can-eat pizza. It was a pretty cool place. It felt very New Jersey. They had the yankees (vs braves) game on. Everyone was talking way louder than they needed to. And there were a few older men who may or may not be involved in the garbage industry / mob. I liked it.
Before I sign off, I also want to mention that I met up with my aunt (Joan) and my grandma last week in Palmerton, PA. They met me there because of scheduling reasons but also because it's somewhat close to where my aunt lives (western NJ). They picked me up from the trail and stuffed me full of pizza, cannolis, cookies, apples and beer. When I got back on the trail, I was probably carrying a good 10 lbs worth of food - which was pretty tough b/c the climb out of the gap was one of the hardest climbs on the entire trail. Once I got to the top, I decided I needed to get my pack weight down and the only way I could do that was to start giving away some of my food. I couldn't possibly eat any more cannolis and they probably would have good bad soon, so when I finally came across some other thru-hikers, I gave them some of the strangest trail magic you can get: apples and cannolis. I was happy to drop some weight and I know they were super happy too. Thanks for everything, Joan and Grammy.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading!
The trail runs about 2.5 miles from town and doesn't have any shoulders so when I got to the road a few hrs ago, I stuck my thumb out. The last time I tried hitching was in Hamburg, PA. I stood by a busy road for a good 25 minutes and nobody even slowed down. It was raining and the visibility wasn't good, so I think that was why I had no luck, but it still made me doubt my hitching chances. Is it my beard? Maybe it's reached creepy stage... I don't know. Anyway, I tried again today and got a ride within 5 minutes. And it was from a young (20-something) girl by herself. It was super-nice of her. I guess I'm not too creepy-looking after all.
I've been in NJ for three and a half days now. I didn't have too many expectations. I had heard that there were a lot of bears - but that was about it. The second half of PA was pretty rough, because the trail was full of lots of sharp rocks, which made walking slow and painful. I had assumed that the rocks would stop once I got to NJ, but when I got to Delaware Water Gap (where the trail crosses from PA to NJ) I talked to some rangers there and they told me that the rocks would continue into NJ. Dang! But the reality is that the trail is quite a bit easier once you cross the river.
It's been different from previous parts of the trail. Before, you could go long stretches of the trail and really feel like you were in the middle of the wilderness. Not here. Instead, you cross a road every mile or so, and you see a lot of backyards with barking dogs. It sounds not very nice, but I actually welcome the new feel. I enjoy the diversity that the trail offers. Today, there was a mile section of the trail that was actually on a boardwalk covering a huge bog. That was nice. And yesterday, the trail took us to the high point memorial marker which looks like a miniature version of the Washington monument in DC and stands on the highest point in NJ.
 |
Another thing that's nice about the lack of wilderness here is that it means you're never too far away from food and the comforts of civilization. Yesterday, I was running out of food and thinking that it was going to be a hungry day and I crossed a road only to look over and see a coffee+sandwich shop. Yes! And the same thing happened again this morning: I was out of food and in need of a resupply and there was a general store about half-mile from the trail.
When I arrived at the church earlier, there was a note that said that there was a pizza shop in town which offered all-you-can-eat pizza. It was a pretty cool place. It felt very New Jersey. They had the yankees (vs braves) game on. Everyone was talking way louder than they needed to. And there were a few older men who may or may not be involved in the garbage industry / mob. I liked it.
 |
| From AT 2012 |
Before I sign off, I also want to mention that I met up with my aunt (Joan) and my grandma last week in Palmerton, PA. They met me there because of scheduling reasons but also because it's somewhat close to where my aunt lives (western NJ). They picked me up from the trail and stuffed me full of pizza, cannolis, cookies, apples and beer. When I got back on the trail, I was probably carrying a good 10 lbs worth of food - which was pretty tough b/c the climb out of the gap was one of the hardest climbs on the entire trail. Once I got to the top, I decided I needed to get my pack weight down and the only way I could do that was to start giving away some of my food. I couldn't possibly eat any more cannolis and they probably would have good bad soon, so when I finally came across some other thru-hikers, I gave them some of the strangest trail magic you can get: apples and cannolis. I was happy to drop some weight and I know they were super happy too. Thanks for everything, Joan and Grammy.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading!
Sooo happy that Grammy and Joan made it up to visit you Matt! SHOUT OUT TO JOAN: THANK YOU!!! Dad and I are having an amazing time in Russia! Talk soon.
ReplyDeleteglad someone could share the cannolis. good thing i didn't bring the bag of trail mix i had planned to. would have been another cpl lbs. love those loud jersey folks...lol! joan
ReplyDelete