So it’s not quite the Promised Land….

I’ll readily admit to being one of those people whose experience of New Jersey was limited to the turnpike. So I was a bit surprised to discover that beyond the highway, Jersey is a honking big swamp. With vampire bats cleverly disguised as mosquitoes, who enjoy a little DEET aperitif before they suck the life right out of you.
Here are some pix to catch up from the last, image-free post:

Coming across the Knife Edge (PA). Just before Pancho
snapped one of his hiking poles.

Looking down into the Lehigh Valley.

Crawling up Lehigh Gap.

Filbert BnB, Danielsville, PA. A great old house, run by
Kathy, who really takes great care of the hikers who come through.

The old general store inside the Filbert, really perfectly preserved.

Our buddy Brew-ha, from Alpharetta, outside the Eckville shelter in PA.

Deerhead Inn, Delaware Water Gap, PA, home to a
pretty amazing little jazz bar.

The first bait vending machine I've seen, in Delaware Water Gap.
According to Beanpole, from Alabama, these are not uncommon.
I have a number of logistical questions about the operation of these
machines, most of which really creep me out. 

A bit of trail arcana for y’all: the most bear intensive areas on the AT are the Smokies, Shenandoah (where we had 2 encounters, without actually seeing the bears), and—yep, you guessed it—New Jersey. Within the first 10 miles in Jersey, I look up and spot two big black heads in the brush, about 20 feet away. After I snap a couple of photos, a third casually walks by us, across the trail. Love that we had to come all the way to New Jersey to see the most bears….

Bear, NJ.

Barcaloungers, AT-style. PA.

We also stayed at our favorite place so far in Glenwood, NJ—the Glenwood Mill BnB. Sue and her husband did a wonderful restoration of a 206-year old grist mill, and she takes great care of the hikers coming through town. Check them out online, and stop in if you’re in the neighborhood. Leaving Glenwood, we hit one of the really unique sections of the trail—a boardwalk running through a marsh and over a cool wood suspension bridge.

Glenwood Mill BnB, NJ.

We headed from Glenwood to Greenwood Lake, NY, a neat little vacation town on a beautiful lake. Just as we approached the NY state line, atop a ridge, we got a parting gift from NJ. I glanced up, and right in the middle of the trail was a huge bear. We looked at each other and he ambled into the bushes and sat there, about 10 feet away, watching as we passed by. In Greenwood Lake, we stayed at another awesome place, Anton’s on the Lake. The Anton family—Patricia, Robert, and Matt—are some of the most hiker-friendly folks we’ve met. They slackpacked us for a day, drove us around town even though they’re in the midst of a major renovation, and were generally fantastic.

Heading out onto the boardwalk, Glenwood, NJ.

Boardwalk suspension bridge, NJ.

After Greenwood Lake, we descended into the Hudson Valley. It was one of those days, when both of us felt awful at the same time, just not feeling strong and energized. We ended up staying at the Bear Mountain Bridge Motel, a cute old-school motor lodge in Fort Montgomery, NY. The next morning, we crossed the river on the Bear Mountain Bridge, with some pretty amazing views of the Hudson.

Approach to Bear Mountain Bridge, NY.

Originally, we planned to head into NYC for a couple of days, from the AT railroad stop near Pawling, NY. Since we’ve fallen a bit behind schedule, we changed that plan. Instead, we ended up at the Dutchess Motor Lodge in Wingdale, NY, former home of a massive psychiatric hospital (which conducted human experiments according to Wiki). Though the lodging was a touch sketchy, we did have some damn fine Q in Wingdale, much to my surprise, at Big W’s Roadside. I was originally suspicious of pulled pork served by anyone with a heavy NY accent, but they had a pit running in the yard, and served some awesome smoked meats and mac-n-cheese.

Nothing too eventful in Connecticut, though I did put on a show for some dayhikers. Late in the day—around 7, when I thought only other thruhikers would be out and about—I headed to the stream for a little wash. So I’m standing on a rock, in the middle of a rushing brook, wearing only my purple Patagonia panties and a pair of Keens, when a happy little dayhiker couple appear. Guess they weren’t prepared for what goes on in the woods late in the day…. For all I know, I’ve already gone viral. J After we blew through the 52 miles of Connecticut, we were back among the Massholes. And discovered that Mass is an even bigger, more mosquito-infested swamp from hell than New Jersey. I have been marinating myself in DEET since we crossed the state line, and I still feel besieged by the blood-sucking bastards. We also learned that Massachusetts needs to take some lessons in boardwalk construction from New Jersey. It’s like being in a funhouse, with the walkways tilting every which way, some totally underwater, in some truly nasty, stinky swamp muck. It’s also challenging to eat when there is a swarm of 15-20 mosquitoes flying around your face and into your mouth. Ick. Really? How bad will the side effects of spraying the DEET on my face be?

Definitely had some more bear action here in the Bay State. A couple of nights ago, some guys at our campsite had seen a bear in camp the night before. Then I headed to the stream in the morning, and saw a cub taking off through the brush. Oy. Filled the water bottles and hightailed it back to camp. NEVER good to see the baby when you don’t know where mama is…. After we hit the trail that morning, we saw some very large tracks in the mud.

At the moment, I’m blogging under the influence, in the bar at Applebee’s in Pittsfield, MA. We’re taking our first zero since Delaware Water Gap in Dalton, but had to take the bus to Pittsfield to hit the Walmart. And the Applebee’s was too tempting to pass up—a scary statement, but too true.

Tomorrow morning, we head to the top of Massachusetts, planning to stay at the lodge atop Mount Greylock. Then we have a tough week, heading into Vermont and up in elevation. Hopefully, we won’t have such a long break before our next post, and the delay hasn’t sent y’all looking for more interesting online pursuits.