Headed into New England today

Linda drove Dave and me to the trailhead and we headed north.

We hiked 12 miles with a couple challenging climbs and had great weather.

One dramatic event from the day involved our observation of a predator/prey interaction. We saw two mammals rolling around in the leaf litter. At first I thought it was two Chipmunks playing. Then it became clear that this was an adversarial interaction – and one of the participants had a long tail. Dave intervened to stop the fighting and the long tailed mammal scampered off. Only then did we realize that it was a weasel (which was preying on the chipmunk).Another interesting thing was that two birds ( one of which was a woodpecker) were dive bombing the mammal skirmish. Seemed that the birds didn’t want the weasel around either.
Can u find a snake, a toad, and some nice flowers?

A river shot for Puffy

Some nice views

  

Happy Summer!

j

Near Pawling NY the AT passes the Dover Oak, a white oak which is the largest in New York 

My trekking poles are nearly 4 feet long

The branches reach across Dover Rd
This beautiful boardwalk crossed a lowland area with great birdwatching 

Note the writing on the chair 

There’s actually a passenger train that you can take from NYC and get dropped off right here on the AT

While I was hiking two days ago, a local day hiker offered to share with me (as trail magic) an excerpt from Henry  David Thoreau. I gladly accepted, and he recited this wonderful bit of advice:

Enjoying some live trees, 

J

After 9 days of hiking, and 110 miles covered, I was rescued by my relatives Linda and Dave, who live in New Hartford, CT. I’ll take it easy at their place tomorrow. They picked me up at a road crossing just as I entered the state of CT. I was born in Bristol, CT and lived in this state for about 8 years – nice to be back!!

Visited the most amazing store, which was right on the AT, as it crossed a road:

Ate some apples and had ice cream and iced tea (it was 90 and humid  today).

Look what was hanging in the bathroom

I’m adding the next three photos to see if you can find the animal.

On the ground:

In a tree

In the bush in front of the rock

Answers – momma bear, cub, bobolink.

Happy Solstice!!

It’s a hot day today. And water is not too plentiful in this part of New York, so I have to carry a lot. The forest is quite cool where the canopy is thick. 

It seems like everything quiets down about noon (birds stop singing and animals disappear). I’ve been trying to grab a siesta rest each day as well. 

Here are a few shots from this morning

Lots of 9/11 monuments on the trail near NYC

Saw this enticing state park beach scene yesterday

Truckin’

J

Two more days until I hit the CT border. Weather has been great. Lots of berries blooming:

Some wildlife:

Garter snake

A few nice wild flowers

A gorilla?

Rolling on, 

Junco

Crossed the mighty Hudson yesterday

The mighty tulip tree: 

With a little leaf coming off the trunk

The stone walls are so impressive – and often 4-5 feet wide. Now they look like ancient ruins

A few more

Happy trails, J

Moments ago I just had my first encounter with a black bear.

Had just taken this picture

Heard some loud rustling to the left – sounds like one of the many deer I’d seen. Walked past the sound and looked back. The bear was staring at me. My plan regarding bears is to photograph one if the situation permits (didn’t happen here). He grunted a couple times ( he was about 20 feet away). I knew that he was sending me a message. All I could think about was finding a big tree to hide behind if he approached (also not part of the bear reaction plan book). After about 10 seconds he walked laterally (not exactly away from me) and I took my show on the road.

I was reminded of the advice/wisdom my brother Tim gave me as he dropped me off for this section of the trip- “Junco, remember this – Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face”. Mike Tyson may have had a point.

Maybe I’ll be more poised at my next bear encounter.

Island Pond:

Interstate 87

Can’t get enough mountain laurels:

A cool toad

Enjoying NY but steering clear of NYC

What a day!!!

j

The trail here in New York is quite technical. Some of the climbs and descents require the use of your hands – good thing I spent some time in the climbing gym this past year:

The blue symbol below indicates danger ahead and if you follow the blue blazes, you are offered a safer route ( you can see that the white blazed option might be tricky)

There are lots of stone fences in the woods – a reminder of when this area was clear cut for farming:

Minute rice with beef jerky and rehydrated carrots, beets, and turnips (one of my regular meals)

A few more from today:

I drove from Boston (with my brother Tim) to Unionville , NY – it took about 4 hours. The AT actually then dips back into New Jersey. 

I’d been on the trail no more than 10 minutes when I ran into “Recon” who I’d last seen in the Smokies. She covers 20-30 miles a day  – yikes!!!!

Got 10 miles in on a beautiful day. Camping tonight on a ridge at 1200 feet. 

A few shots from the beautiful scenery here.




Great to be back!!

I’m flying to Boston today and planning to catch a ride with my brother Tim to Unionville NY tomorrow. I’ve been busy preparing for this next section – anticipating warmer weather, more bugs.

I dried a whole lot of fruit and vegetables for the next few weeks:

The thought of being able to see the NYC skyline in a few days is intriguing. I’m very curious to see how the trail designers negotiated this part of the journey.

The fact that we have undeveloped and protected public lands that continue for over 2000 miles near some of the most densely populated areas of the US is impressive.

I read this interesting article on the plane:

While hiking the southern Appalachians I met several Germans who noted that  the US is known for its efforts to manage public lands as wilderness (Thanks, Teddy R!). This article reminds us how fragile the support is for that protection.

I am so thankful to be able walk in the wilderness once again.

J