New Jersey
The one thing every thru-hiker hears about New Jersey before arriving is its abundance of bears. Apparently there is a bear every square mile along the New Jersey section of the A.T. By the time we get there every hiker knows three key points of proper bear encounter conduct.
1. The worst possible combination of bears to encounter is a mother and her cub – mothers will kill to protect their young.
2. NEVER startle a bear (make enough noise that they know you’re coming first).
3. DO NOT travel alone in New Jersey.
So I cross the border – extremely excited to be out of New York. The past couple weeks have been rough after the torrential rains from Irene and Lee have turned hiking into a nightmare, and for some reason I thought that crossing an imaginary border line would bring about positive change in this regard. With an upbeat attitude I strode confidently into the rocky New Jersey terrain. Sixty seconds later I was frozen solid as a mother black bear and her cub stalked fifteen feet to my right – completely oblivious to my presence. They had come out of a group of bushes, not giving me time to alert them of my presence. I held my breath, not twitching as dozens of bloodthirsty mosquitoes ripped into my arms, neck, and face. Better to lose an ounce of blood than all of it. A minute later and the bears had passed out of range (I have not since seen one). Unfortunately my experiences with mosquitoes were far from over. New Jersey is filled with the most ravenous, aggressive mosquitoes I have ever met. DEET does not deter them. We (my buddy Framework and I) would hike twenty-something miles without stopping, grab water from a stream, set up our tents, eat, and go to sleep. There was simply no way to exist in the same world as these minions.
Pennsylvania
A while ago I posted a picture of a stick bug and someone eating a sandwich. Yes, the connection was that someone ate a stick bug. It was awesome. One of the funniest things I have seen happen on the trail. It had a roomful of twenty-something-year-old hikers jumping around like a group of girls at a Justin Beiber concert.
While in PA I went to the world’s largest Cabela’s, dined at a restaurant in my long underwear (Framework donned an elegant towel – our stuff was in the laundry), lost a pair of shoes to the sharp rocks/an out of control bonfire, and passed through more cornfields than I care to remember. PA is also the state in which I met the current group of guys that I am hiking with – so it will always be dear in my heart.
Maryland
I wore a Yankees hat on the last day of the MLB regular season. The Red Sox lost. The Yankees blew a 7-0 lead to the Rays, eliminating the Red Sox from the playoffs. I burnt the Yankees hat.
West Virginia
We had planned this for weeks – our entrance into West Virginia was going to be special – epic, even. The night before we went through the lyrics over and over – Roarshach plucked along on his Ukelele. So on September 30th, 2011, six men crossed the Pennsylvania/West Virginia border – belting out the only song that would have been appropriate – Take Me Home Country Roads by John Denver. I had verse two. What we didn’t know was that directly on the other side of the bridge was a school group on an historical field trip. Well, they got a little more than they bargained for, and as our song came to a conclusion we were not without our share of fans – or fan, rather – as one lonely child out of all the confused field trippers ventured a painfully slow clap that will remain in my mind forever. We never performed again.
WV is the mental “halfway point”, although the actual mark is a hundred miles or so north of Harper’s Ferry. All of us attempted and completed the “half gallon challenge” which saw us each devour a half gallon of ice cream. We then had our picture taken for the picture book in the ATC headquarters, which keeps track of how many thru-hikers have made it that far. I was SOBO number 79. At the time 800 NOBO’S had already passed through. By my mathematical calculations that means there are about 10% as many NOBO’s as SOBO’s out there this year. No wonder the SOBO completion rate is so low.
Virginia
Big state. Big mountains. Big views. With 550 miles of Appalachian trail running through it, Virginia is by far the largest state I will pass through. Completing Virginia alone means you have finished over a quarter of the entire AT. Virginia is a state blessed with amazing views, and the Shenandoahs have easily been one of my favorite sections. The cooler weather has finally arrived, which makes for great hiking – although recently it has been so cold that the rain has turned to sleet/freezing rain. At these times all I can do is put my headphones on and listen to my iPod. Thankfully, Kristen recently updated the songs on it, so I can listen to great hiking hits such as “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus and “We’re All In This Together” by High School Musical. All joking aside, The Climb” is actually a perfect song to think about while hiking…
”There’s always gonna be another mountain” – check.
“I’m always gonna wanna make it move” – yes.
“There’s always gonna be an uphill battle” – you bet.
“Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose” – well…hopefully not, but you get the picture by now. It’s the most topical song I own (was given – thanks K).
On a side note, the best song rhythm-wise for my stride? - “Miami” by Will Smith. Who knew?
I have 615 miles left. Six-one-five. It doesn’t seem like much, but with less than a month to finish, it’s going to be one wild ride. Which reminds me, I’ve been told that there are wild horses in southern VA, just miles away from here. Maybe I’ll try to tame and ride one…
And lastly…one more entry of THINGS THAT MAKE ME SHAKE MY HEAD ON THE AT…
- ----People that go to campgrounds and buy bags of sticks at the camp store. They’re sticks, just like the ones you find on the ground. If this is some sort of rising market that has somehow avoided the recent economic turmoil – count me in… I can sell sticks. I can be that guy.
Thanks for reading, and until next time…God Bless!
