THE DELI WALK

We were so thankful to be out of the rockiest state on the trail, PA, but the rocks continued for quite a while into New Jersey.

We ended up finding a lot of our trail friends in Delaware Water Gap and while chatting with them, we realized we would all end up at the same campsite that night. Hiking past Sunfish Pond, a National Natural Landmark created by the last ice age, we met a few new trail friends who were also heading to Rattlesnake Campsite. After a long day and a quick stop at the Mohican Outdoor Center for some soda and ice cream, we made it to our destination. "Tent city" formed here at Rattlesnake Campsite. Rumors of a storm to come had us setting up a quick camp (finding a spot where trees looked strong enough to withhold any storm to pass) and starting up a fire for dinner. We had bought ingredients to make fajitas in celebration of leaving PA, so we had to start cooking quickly. While fajitas might seem like an easy dish to make in your kitchen, it's a little different with one camp stove and one pan. After a lot of dirt covered onions and peppers, our meal was better than any ramen noodle we could have made much more easily, and was shared around a fire with at least 12 fellow hikers. These are the times on the trail we will remember for a long time. The storm (which was hardly as bad as expected) held off until it was time to get into our tents.

The storm was not the most frightening thing of the night, however. A loud voice in the middle of the night awoke us. "Come on you guys, don't do this to me. Come on give me the knife. Stop messing around with me." We wondered what was going on when we heard these voices. Then we remembered, our dearest trail friend Alpine, talks in his sleep. Once my heart slowed down a bit, I was able to laugh at the situation until he really started yelling... "BABS! DON'T DO THIS TO ME! BABS!!!!!" and then a loud crash was heard and it was silent.

I woke up early in the morning to find Fifol (another dear trail friend) waiting outside his tent for Alpine to wake up. He had heard this sleep talking in the past and was waiting anxiously to retell the events of the night to the sleep talker himself. After lots of laughs, we all packed up and headed further into our 8th state.

New Jersey was less rocky than PA, but still challenging. It was full of boardwalks and swamps. We had 2 bear encounters here, which we had heard would be the case. One of the times was right at our campsite while cooking dinner. This large bear was hardly afraid of us and Teton chased him (or her) off further into the woods. We were glad to see the writing on the rocks that we had entered our 9th state, New York.

I don't know about you, but when I had previously thought of New York, Manhatten and city-like things came to mind. However, New York was one of the most beautiful, wilderness-like states, we had encountered so far. It's majestic and fairytale-esque forests humbled us and made us remember why we were on the trail. It was also an awakening to the challenges to come. Our small rock, straight terrain, ended and we encountered steep rock slabs and hard climbs. However the beautiful state parks, bodies of water, and magical forests made this state one of our favorites.

New York was also full of awesome trail magic! The water sources in New Jersey as well as in New York were small and dirty. Hiking a half mile out of our way in these states became the regular. We were so lucky to encounter so much "water magic" as hikers liked to call it, where trail angels would leave gallons and gallons of clean water at road crossings. We'd fill up our drinking water bottles as well as our cooking water bottles and carry 64 oz of water each until we found our next campsite. Without water magic, we'd get to camp a lot later and a lot thirstier.

Other instances of trail magic in New York include: the man from Campmoor who handed out free Darn Tough socks as well as dehydrated meals, fresh fruits, and sodas. The same night, another man hiked into our campsite and brought with him loafs of bread, granola bars and even beers! It truly is amazing how much locals do for the hikers in their area.

New Jersey and New York hosted the "deli walk" for us hikers. At least every other day (if not more often) we would encounter an opportunity to go off the trail to eat at a deli. This allowed hikers to carry a lot less food and spend a lot more money, if desired. But the sandwiches... yes, it was hard to resist the pastrami, mustard and cheese. It was hard to resist the bagel sandwiches with fresh coffee. The deli walk was something I'd like to do again...

Bear Mountain was one of our biggest obstacles in the Empire State. However, we soon realized that this mountain was very touristy which allowed for an easier trail led by stone steps instead of rock slabs or steep climbs. When we got to the top, there were tons of people visiting the area including hikers and drivers (there was a parking lot) to see the views. A bit overwhelmed by the crowds, we headed down quickly, only to discover more people at the bottom of the mountain, weekending at the state park which had concessions. Tons of families, reunions, and parties were here to celebrate whatever it was they had to celebrate. The strong food scents of all different cultures filled our noses. We had raced up the mountain this day in order to make it through the zoo. Yes, the zoo. New York is home of the lowest point on the trail, speaking to the elevation and the morale. The Trailside Museum and Zoo is white blazed (official trail territory) and is only open until 4:30. We made it in time to stay pure on the trail and to see the sites. The caged in bears were a change to the wild ones we'd seen in the forest. It was a sad sight to see these animals in such a small and confined space. We exited the zoo after a little exploration and soon hit the Bear Mountain Bridge, over the Hudson River. Our stresses of making it that far landed us at a quick campsite and we were asleep soon.

We had plans to resupply at a market that our book said would be great for a full grocery. Once we arrived, we realized this was more of a gas station/deli. In need of some real food, we were at a loss. However, we did have a great meal. French fries with veggies and a fried egg on top, bagel sandwiches, yum. We heard rumor of a trail angel who was making a photo book of hikers and who would also take us to resupply, so we gave him a call. He gladly picked up Teton and I, as well as a fellow hiker: On Purpose. While this seems a bit shady, we had heard of other hikers who visited this place and did not regret it. Stan picked us up from the gas station and took us to his home. He offered us an array of refreshments and then took us each into his studio for his photos. While the others we waiting, the were allowed to help themselves to rice and chili. If you view our instagram at the bottom of the page, you'll find the photo of the two of us taken in his studio. We hope to get a copy of the book he releases when he's finished. Once we were done with the photos, Stan took us to the local grocery store. We got everything we needed and then headed back to his house to pack everything up. He dropped us back off where he found us, and with warm hearts and full bellies, we said goodbye.

Since our day was mostly taken up by trail magic, we didn't make it too far that day. We planned to hike to a place called the Greymoor Spiritual Center, where our book told us we could camp for free. But, there was some sort of party/celebration going on there which took up the whole field. Many other hikers had this plan as well, so we all ended up in a small field near the trail. Fresh from the market, most hikers brought beers and food, so we had a little party.

A couple of days later, we encountered a very nice swimming hole called Nuclear Lake. It doesn't sound like the safest place to swim, but the water was beautiful and clear and and it was HOT out. Myself, Teton, Alpine, Johnny Walker, and Babs all hung out and swam there for a while. This was one of the best swimming holes we came across and another time we will always remember from the trail.

New York was full of food, fun and friends. But, it was time we crossed the border into Connecticut. Mosquitos welcomed us in full force. Welcome to summer.

**We have COMPLETED THE ENTIRETY OF THE TRAIL as of the current time. I will continue to do blog posts following our journey. Sorry I haven't been able to keep up. Many surprises and life changes have come my way and I'm trying to keep up! Stay tuned for more exciting stories! Thanks for following :)