Back on the Trail

On the 14th, I did 19 miles and camped just after the South Highland Rd. On the 15th, I did 22.2 miles and camped at the Morgan Stewart Shelter. On the 16th, I did 20.6 miles and stayed at the Ten Mile River Shelter. On the 17th, I did 15.7 miles and stayed at the Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter. On the 18th, I did 2.6 miles and got picked up by my mom at the Dawn Hill Rd crossing, we stayed at a state park in Massachusetts that night. On the 19th, we drove to Gardiner and I stayed there until the 25th.

So I meant to write a post when I got picked up to get off the trail and then another as I was getting back on the trail but things came up; I was lazy and/or busy and I am just getting around to writing one now.

I learned that New York was tricky. Last post I was talking about how interesting the trail in New York was turning out to be. This did not remain the case. Apparently the state starts out with a really interesting section of trail that has a fair amount of steep sections and keeps me guessing on what is coming up. After that beginning section, the trail becomes rather boring. It transitions to mostly just a dirt track through the woods like the other states I've been in recently.

I did meet some great day and section hikers in this section though and had some great conversations. This is a good thing since, besides that, there was not much to make the trail entertaining. So, all in all, the last few days on the trail were uneventful.

On the night of the 17th, I looked at the guide book and started thinking that I didn't really feel like walking 10 miles the next day. I had been doing a fair number of miles fairly consistently and I was ready for a little break. I called my mom and arranged to be picked up at the road 2.6 miles from the shelter instead of 10. This made the last day on trail great. I got up late, slowing packed things up then hiked two miles and sat beside a river for three to four hours and just enjoyed myself. It worked out great, I felt better and the road crossing worked quite well.

Today we are getting back on trail at Crawford Notch, which is just south of Mt. Washington. This allows us to hit some of the nice mountains in New Hampshire as well as the whole of Maine. We plan on taking it relatively relaxed and have a great final month on the trail. This is also the one section of trail I feel like I might have bad cell reception. I don't know for sure but it is the most remote we get on the trail. Whatever happens signal-wise I will post something in a bit with some pictures of real mountains!