Day 67 to 79

Day 67 - 23.9 miles

Amy made us waffles and Liam and I headed out. We came up on the RPH shelter and it was by far the nicest shelter we have seen. 

This was also the hottest day on the trail so far. It was in the 90s. I drank 7 liters of water but was also the longest day (miles) I have done so far. We made it to the Graymore Spiratual life center and camped on the ball field. We met 2 of our friends there Rhody and Matt. 

Day 68 - 12.7 miles

Hiked toward Fort Montgomery. We went over Bear Mountain bridge. 

Liam and I toured the museum about the fort and the AT goes through a zoo. All the animals here were injured or raised in captivity. The bald eagle was huge!

We had lunch at the Bear mountain inn and Liam needed to call his family and arrange travel and stay in NYC. I took a nap while he made his calls. We head up bear mountain, went up in the tower and we could see the NYC skyline. It was cool. When we got to west mountain Matt, Rhody and Puck were there. We watched the sunset and went to bed. 

Day 69 - 14.6 miles

We all woke up for the sunrise and had some fun taking pictures. 

Liam doing a handstand. 

Me doing a headstand. 

Hiked with Liam, Matt and Rhody all day. Puck decided to hitch a ride at the highway and he left us. Water has been extremely scarce in New York so we had to plan our days according to water sources. 

We went through a tight rock formation called the lemon squeezer. 

We found a great spot to camp on Arden Mountain and spent the night. Hit the 800 mile mark today!!

Day 70 - 10.9 miles

We were heading into Greenwood lake to resupply and Liam was going to catch a bus into NYC from there. Matt, Rhody and I decided to spend the night in town and head out in the morning. 

Day 71 - 13.6 miles 

Rhody and I have given Matt the trail name of "Dirty Mike" from dirty mike and the boys. He loves it (not really)! We hiked up to prospect rock. This is the boarder of NY and NJ. 

NJ my 7th state!

I was told by other nobo hikers, "Watch out for bears in NJ!" I was like, "suuuure". Well, they were right. In 6 hours of being in NJ we had seen 5 black bears and 1 rattlesnake. It was a timber rattlesnake that was about 4 ft long and about 2 ft away from my hand while we were eating dinner!!! We also had to scare off three bears from our campsite around dusk. None of us slept well that night but we had a great view. 

Day 72 - 14.9 miles

We all made it through the night and were not attacked by bears or snakes. Good day of hiking with Rhody and Dirty Mike. We stayed at Murray Property. It's private land and cabin but open to thru hikers. 

Day 73 - 18.4 miles

Hiked up to high point tower and dried our tents. This is the highest point in NJ. We spent about an hour up there hanging out. The tower is 220ft high. 

Made it to Gren Anderson Shelter and had a nice fire. 

Day 74 - 18.5 miles

We woke up at 5 am and hiked, in the dark, up the mountain to watch the sunrise from Culver Fire Tower and had breakfast. 

Then we hiked to Catfish lookout tower and camped. We met up with another friend named A-Bomb. 

A-bomb

Dirty Mike and Rhody

Looking down on our camp from the tower. 

Day 75 - 12.9 miles

We all watched the sunrise from the tower and then head toward Deleware water gap. 

Made it to DWG and got a motel room, food and washed clothes. I'm going to meet my family in NYC tomorrow!!! Pennsylvania my 8th state!

Day 76 - Zero

Caught a bus to NYC port authority, then took the metro from Grand central station to Yonkers then a cab to the condo. They arrived around 6:30pm. What a wonderful feeling! I was overjoyed. Even Mr. Henry came. 

Day 77 - zero

Mel and I headed into the city. We went to the Empire State Building. 

Central Park 

And Time Square

Day 78 - Zero

The forecast today was for rain so we decide to do errands and stay around the house. We got a little crazy. 

Day 79 - Zero

We went to the city and Mel took a yoga class. We all went to lunch and walked around the city. 

We came back to our place and went to a Persian garden. 

Mel being awesome

Mel being even more awesome

My amazing Mom

Big thanks to my Dad, Mom and Melaine. They were awesome. They did everything to make this visit amazing. I can't believe I have to leave them tomorrow. I will miss them soooo much. I'am a lucky man to have such a wonderful family.

Enjoy!

Total miles- 895.6

Day 59 to 66

Day 59 - 12.9 miles

Nice easy day. Went up Everett Mt. And Race Mt. Had some great views. I met a guy named Funk and he lived around there and had already done the AT and the PCT. He was very nice and gave me some fresh fruit and half a sandwich. 

Top of Everett Mt. 

Top of Race Mt. and that's Funk and his dog on the far right. 

Some more views of Race Mt. 

And me being silly.... 

Day 60 - 12.6 miles

Nice easy day, took my time and enjoyed every step. Made it to Salisbury, CT and went into town for some food. My 5th state! Met two section hikers with two pitbulls. I met them again at the next campsite. 

Day 61 - 12.5 miles 

Had a nice chill day of hiking took it slow. Went over this cool bridge. 

Well, I did pass..

Went through this cool rock formation it was a right fit. You can see the double white blazes in the middle of the picture. 

Hit 700 miles today! Made it to West Cornwall road and decided to call the "Bearded Woods Hostel". I had heard that it one of the best hostels on the trail and that I had to check it out. Why not? I said to myself. I'm glad I did. What an amazing place with amazing people. The hostel is ran by Hudson and his wife Big Lu. This place was great and Big Lu cooked us an amazing steak dinner the first night. Here is some pictures of the hostel. 

Day 62 - Zero at Bearded Woods

This was a good recovery day and I also got rid of 5 lb of gear out of my pack. Also made friends with another SOBO named Liam. 

Day 63 - 16.2 miles

Had an awesome breakfast of French toast, sausage, coffee and OJ. 

Liam and I decided to hike together and had a great time talking and hiking. Made it to Algo shelter and met another SOBO named Matt. We both knew him. We had a good night catching up with each other. 

Day 64 - 12.4 miles

Had a good start with Liam and saw cool animals on the trail. This awesome baby turtle. 

A cool Ribbon snake (I think). I have see a bunch of these but this one was the biggest and he didn't want to move. 

Matt caught up with us and we went into town for some food. After lunch we went to a gas station and I met Mo Rocca. He is a journalist that worked on the daily show with John Stewart. He also now works on CBS. He was a very nice guy. 

Made it to New York!! My 6th state!

We all went for a swim in Ten Mile River. 

The shelter we stayed at had a pump for water.

 We also met up with another SOBO hiker Kate. Kate and Liam were friends and had hiked together. 

Day 65 - 16.6 miles

Liam, Kate and I all hiked together today and got some good pictures. 

This is the only train stop on the AT. 

Day 66 - 3.9 miles

Liam and I hiked into town to get some food at a deli. We met a guy named Bill that had hiked the trail in 1999. He offered us a place to stay, wash our clothes and shower. Him and his wife Amy fed us and 2 of our other friends showed up too. We had a great time playing horse shoes and relaxing. 

Jaime out with the kids. 

A group shot. 

A picture of me working on intensly on the blog wearing headphones sitting in a barbers chair. 

Total miles: 755.3

Miles left: 1,430.0

Enjoy!!!