Living in New York City can feel like an inescapable bubble. It’s the last place you would associate with hiking but it’s where we lived when we decided to get serious. Of course, the city itself is no place for long distance hiking but a 45-minute train ride will place you directly on the AT. Once we discovered this we spent the next 3 years journeying out of the city by train, bus, and hitch to spend our weekends on the Appalachian Trail.

Harriman State Park NY to Connecticut

65 miles | 4 Days | July 2016

Before hiking the AT we had mostly stuck to Harriman State Park doing overnight trips. Having multiple ways to enter and exit the park from the train made it our most accessible destination. Honestly, the idea of hiking the AT in NY had never occurred to me because if we were going to take more than 3 days off for a trip why wouldn’t we travel to a “better” section? The previous summer we had done just that going all the way to Maine to do the “100 Mile Wilderness” the last 100 miles of the AT. This was an amazing trip but obviously required serious time off to do.

Alex proposed the idea of starting in Harriman and walking north on the AT where we could still catch the train back home. This wasn’t my idea of an epic hiking trip but it made sense.

Starting off in familiar territory at the base of Bear Mountain, we proceeded North, crossing over the bridge and back into the woods. This was July in NY state and the Thru-Hiker bubble was in full effect. Right away we encountered multiple thru-hikers who had started in Georgia 3 months prior. This made for an interesting experience that I hadn’t anticipated. We were only going a short distance but being on the trail at the same time as these thru-hikers gave me the feeling I was on a similar journey. One day maybe, I would be.

After a long hot day of hiking, we arrived at Graymoor, a simple shelter in a large field run by a group of Friars. Knowing most of the thru-hikers would be staying here made me want to push past and look for another place to camp. I didn’t feel deserving being amongst hikers who had come this far and wasn’t sure how we would be received. Bad weather was coming in though and this looked like the best place to crash for the night. The shelter quickly filled up as the rain started and the sun went down. My anxiety quickly dissipated over good conversation and a communal joint.

The muggy hot weather persisted as we hiked through this uneventful and densely populated section of NY. I say populated because half the time we were literally hiking on the edge of suburban backyards. We were rewarded though by making it to the lovely Canopus Lake. Having a sandy beach with lifeguard on duty made this the perfect place to have a swim. We ended up spending a little too much time here and departed at dusk. Because of this, we ended up stealth camping only a mile further up the trail.

The next day was filled with more PUDs (Pointless Ups and Downs). Normally I don’t like to dismiss any section of the trail as pointless, but after the 3rd mountain with no view, it feels fitting. Water in NY on the AT can be scarce and we were thankful for the water pumps at various shelters. The day ended at Telephone Pioneers Shelter just before bad weather came in. Once again we found ourselves in the middle of the AT bubble, and the shelter filled to the brim with thru-hikers. My hesitance and trepidation to be around thru-hikers, as a section-hiker, slowly melted away and by the end of this trip, I found myself comfortable in the bubble. Not everyone we met was enjoyable to be around but the majority were great people and I got a real taste of what being on a thru-hike would be like.

A very rainy night ensued and I woke up to an almost flooded tent. If you’ve camped in the rain you know how miserable it can be and I was thankful this would be our last day on the trail. This experience of dealing with bad weather on camping trips and heading home after was one I was familiar with but this time it felt different. This time I was aware of the thru-hikers whose last day wouldn’t come for another 2 months. They didn’t get to shove their wet gear into their packs and go home, they had to keep going. After this trip, I adopted the mindset of a thru-hiker regardless of how short my time was on the trail and treated my last days as if I still had months to go.

Harriman State Park NY to High Point NJ

46 miles | 3 Days | April 2017

By the start of 2017 Alex and I had agreed to hike the PCT come 2018. Both of us began to think of 2017 as a preparation year. We spent all of our available time off on the trail. Having done half of the NY section on the AT the year prior, it made sense to complete it now. Again we started at Harriman State Park but this time heading South on the AT to New Jersey’s High Point.

The train from the city drops you off at the edge of Harriman and from there a short connecting trail puts you on the AT. This year marked a big change for the both of us gear-wise. Going down a rabbit hole of Ultra Light forums online over the past few months had us rethinking everything we knew about hiking. I took a slow approach to overhauling my system and wouldn’t trade out my freestanding tent for a UL shelter for another year. Alex was a bit quicker to embrace the minimalist philosophy and start pushing for bigger miles. Our first day we went 18 miles, which for us at the time, was a big day. Obviously, we were both worn out but also excited to see how far we could push ourselves.

Again on day two we pushed fast and hard. By midday with most of the elevation gains behind us, we knew we could finish the section in 3 instead of the 4 days planned. Once you cross into Jersey and get through Wawayanda Park you come to a large swamp. Luckily it’s all board walked out for miles making for some extremely easy walking. Feeling really beat at the end of the boardwalk I was ready for camp but unfortunately the next camp wasn’t for another 3 miles and we were in a rural neighborhood. This wouldn’t have been too big of a deal but those 3 miles were mostly uphill. Up we went till the sunset and our headlamps came on. Once again we were doing something that a year before would have sounded extreme. For a mile we pushed through the dark till finally arriving at the shelter.

With only 13 miles left till High Point and beautiful weather it seemed we would have an easy day of hiking to finish out the trip. By lunch I started to notice a little pain in my lower calf but didn’t think too much of it. A bit of pain is to be expected when pushing this hard. As I hiked further the pain started to get worse. With only one mile of trail left I found myself in extreme pain that seemed to be getting worse with every step. I had never encountered something like this and fearing longer-term injury did not want to push through it if I could avoid it. A park service rescue would have been overkill though and after experimenting with what caused the pain I found a way to walk that felt ok. For the last mile I side-stepped with a majority of my weight on my trekking poles. By the time I reached highpoint Alex was baffled at why I had fallen so far behind. It was sad the trip turned so bleak for me at the end because it truly was a lovely section of trail.

When I got back home I spoke with a PT specialist and some long distance runners who instantly recognized my pain as achilles tendonitis. This trip left me shaken having never experienced an injury that could grind me to a halt like this.

High Point NJ to Delaware Water Gap PA

43 miles | 3 Days | May 2017

A month later we were back at High Point. This time to walk south to the Delaware Water Gap on the border of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. After sustaining an injury on our last section I was hesitant to put in big miles. Lucky for me one of Alex’s friend Joe decided to join us. For him this hike would be a physical comeback as well having battled an ailment the year prior. This meant we would be going slow and easy. Perfect.

The southern section of NJ basically walks a ridgeline from HighPoint to the border. For me, there is nothing better than hiking the ridgeline with its minimal elevation gains and abundant views. Our first day was an easy one finishing at Gren Anderson shelter.

Day 2 was again filled with easy walking and great views. By midday, the weather started to turn and rain clouds started moving in. The rain held off though, allowing us to find and set up a nice stealth site for the evening. A large fire was built and many beers were had.

There’s never a harder time to get out of your tent than a rainy morning. A quick peek from my rain fly let me know that the others had not gotten up either. Both being hammock campers with tarps on the smaller side I could only imagine how they were feeling right now. The entire night had been filled with high winds and even harder rain. On top of that we still quite high in elevation. Knowing they wouldn’t be ready to go for a while I proceeded to enjoy breakfast in bed.

After an hour or so of waiting for the rain to let up we decided to get going. What normally would have been spectacular ridgeline hiking with views on all sides was instead a foggy trudge. Once we got to a spot that set us up for an easy hike out to finish, we decided to set up camp. Again I could imagine our campsite would have been gorgeous with views on each side but with the rain it was a just a windy wet mess. Sad attempts at starting a fire were made before having dinner and getting into bed. Once again I woke to windy rain. This time when I poked my head out and the others were up and already breaking down their hammocks. Apparently, the wet air at this elevation had rendered their rain flys useless and they spent the night wet and shivering. Getting to the Delaware Water Gap was an easy enough trek and we were rewarded with an amazing bakery to cap off the trip. Joe’s family, NJ natives picked us up and brought us back to the train station to return to Brooklyn.

Dalton MA to Great Barrington MA

48 miles | 3 Days | October 2017

When we got to end of the Long Trial we were faced with the option to continue on the Appalachian Trail. Having been beat down from serious foot fungus on the LT I decided to head home. Alex put in another 2 days on the trail and bailed just after Mount Greylock. A few months later when we felt the need to head back to the AT we decided to pick up where Alex had left off in Massachusetts. We caught a bus to Dalton MA and the one Uber driver in town gave us a lift to the trailhead. Most of our day had been spent on a bus leaving little time for hiking. The first shelter we hit was camp for the night.

A very mellow hike on day 2 got us to Upper Goose Pond feeling great. This was the perfect hike to do after the rough go I had on the Long Trail. Mostly flat and well maintained with the added benefit of ending at Goose Pond. The pond itself was gorgeous and the camp was the nicest I’ve seen on any trail. The “shelter” if it can be called that, is more of a small home tended to by a caretaker. It’s most famous for the blueberry pancakes the caretaker makes for hikers every morning. When we got up the weather went from calm to full downpour so we relaxed on the porch and enjoyed the hot breakfast. When the rain let up we headed out and made our way through the famed Berkshires. This section of the hike was really lovely even in the rain. A bit more difficult than the previous day with more elevation gain. We made it to the road by 5 and caught a hitch to the bus station. Overall I found the Mass section of the AT very relaxing with its low elevation and well-maintained trails. For most thru-hikers it’s an uneventful stretch but walking it in the fall was really lovely. A perfect section to regain my confidence as a hiker.

To be continued