World Cup Blazing

New York was a rollercoaster ride of a state. We entered NY after camping on top of a rocky ridge line 2/10’s of a mile from the NJ/NY border. Upon entering the state we became immediately frustrated. We were greeted with extremely technical and slippery rock scrambles for the first 8 miles. The terrain slowed us down to about a 1/2 mile/hour pace. On top of the trail being physically challenging it was poorly blazed, so we were constantly loosing our way. This would prove to be the case for the majority of the state. The first couple of days in this state were a slow struggle, which only led up to one of the most disturbing experiences we have had on trail so far.

We set up camp relatively early for the day at a campsite close to a water source. We used our extra time to dry out our tent from the stormy night before. We cooked dinner quickly and turned in for the night once our tent was passably dry. We fell asleep quickly around 8:30. At 12 am on the dot we were abruptly woken by what sounded like a bomb going off right next to our tent. Within a minute of the first blast, another rang out so close to our tent that I could see the muzzle flash of what we can only assume was a shotgun. In our groggy state of mind we chalked it up to someone hunting, kept silent, and waited until we heard more shots further away from camp. It wasn’t until giving this situation more thought the next day that I became more and more troubled by it. I kept thinking; if I could see the muzzle flash, then this person must have been right next to our tent, this person definitely could see our tent, no one hunts at midnight, was this person just trying to mess with us or provoke a real response from us? In retrospect I am thankful that our tired confusion lead us not to confront this individual, no matter what their intention may have been. It did also make me think, the only wild animal to really be feared in these woods are American citizens practicing their 2nd amendment rights.

napping behind a pizzeria in NY

The NY section of the trail felt much less wild. We were often walking right next to suburban backyards, and constantly within earshot of a highway that feeds into  New York City. This area had two redeeming qualities; there was a deli at every road crossing (which we took full advantage of) and that every town has a commuter bus to the city. We were mentally fried from our first few days in the state, and with a heatwave about to hit we decided to take a break. Peak’s birthday was coming up so we decided to ride the bus into NYC from Fort Montgomery. We all know that Peak loves a surprise and she got a plate full of them in New York. After refusing an emotionally fraught invitation to hang out in the city for the weekend, Maria surprised Peak with a visit to Manhattan. On top of that, their cousin Grace happened to be in town also. We had lots of fun running around Brooklyn trying to find air conditioning, listening to Brazilian jazz, drinking champagne, and watching the World Cup. All in all it was a much needed break and nice to be able to sit out some of the heat which apparently slowed everyone on the trail down.

Speaking of the world cup, our trip to the city had gotten us emotionally invested enough in the tournament to use it as motivation to hike. We had watched Mexico loose to Brazil just before we left the city, but England was actually doing well. For the next week in a half we hiked our asses of just to get to the next town where we could watch the game. We called it World Cup Blazing. At this point in time the trail had started to feel a little monotonous. It was not offering much elevation gain, the views were not particularly spectacular, and in general it was feeling less and less wild as it skirted the suburbs. We were often feeling as if this part of the trail only served to connect Virginia with New Hampshire. Following the World Cup may seem like a superficial motivation but at least we had 2 hours of air conditioning, good food and beer to look forward to every 4 days. We also met a fellow English hiker called Honeybun who we would meet up with to watch the games. England eventually lost (surprise surprise) but we covered a lot of ground whilst following the games.

new shoes to finish out the trail

The trail gradually became more interesting as we started to knock off states like wildfire. Connecticut and Massachusetts really started to provide some beautiful trail that made us remember why we wanted to be on trail in the first place. After a lot of deli pastrami sand-witches had, and world cup games watched we finally made it to Vermont. We had planned to meet up with my mom who was nice enough to treat us to a hotel room while we took a zero day in Bennington VT. Thanks Mom!!! On our way into town we had made a new friend Mittens. He too was headed into town for the night. As we all hiked down the hill to the trailhead my mom was waiting ready to drive us into town, not knowing we had volunteered the last seat in her tiny Fiat for our newest buddy Mittens (about 6'5" of pure unwashed hiker trash). I will never forget the look on my mothers face as she drove us all into town, cheeks puffed out, as she attempted to hold her breath for the entirety of the ten minute drive into town. What a sport. Only 3 states left to go!!!