M-M overnight hike, day #1

Friday, September 9, 2016
Start: Cross St/Rt 2 - Farley
End: Fall Brook shelter, MA/NH line
Miles: 25.4 (with ~6,700 ft elevation gain)

I started out at 8am from Cross St. I climbed Rattlesnake Mountain, Hermit Mountain, and Stratton Mountain. I stopped for lunch around 11:30-12 at the Richardson Cabin. It had a beautiful view with Mt Monadnock in the distance. It had two picnic tables and a Porta - potty,  as well as two tent pads, a cabin that sleeps ~6, wash tub for dishes, a laundry line, and a fire ring. Unfortunately, the only water was in a 5 gallon jug locked in the cabin so I couldn't resupply here. I then climbed over Little Mt Grace and Mt Grace, where there was a fire tower at the summit.

I stopped briefly at the Mt Grace Shelter from 3:15-3:30pm, which recently had a new roof installed since the past one was leaking. Initially I thought there was no water source but as I left, I found the small creek and resupplied there before heading out towards the Fall Brook shelter 9 miles away. I passed by Richards Reservoir inside Warwick State Forest on my way to the shelter, and used an old road walk portion of the M-M to cut off 1.3 miles of the new M-M trail so I could arrive at my evening's destination before dark. I arrived at the shelter by 7:15pm. While there is no privy, there is a water source for the shelter, though it is stained orangey brown by the dead pine needles that have fallen into it.

I've had a nice, relaxed dinner of a Rice Side, Cabot chedder, fruit snacks, cool ranch Doritos, and Oreos. And it turns out Rice Sides will cook quite nicely if you dump them into a freezer bag, add the boiling water, and let them sit for maybe 20-30 minutes. It's a super easy, no-mess way to make that kind of dinner. It left me with no pot to clean which made me happy.

I've decided to sleep in the shelter as it might rain tonight (also, there's nowhere to tent not on a sharp downward slant with rocks). It's pretty nice and no one else is here. There's a porch and two bunk beds, each bunk able to hold 2 people (so 8 people), in addition to a loft with another sleep area accessible by wooden ladder.

Tomorrow, I'll hike from here to Mt Monadnock (~18 miles). On the way, I'll hike directly through Troy and I'm hoping to enjoy some Thai food in town for lunch!

NY-NJ AT solo section hike #2, day 5

May 5th, 2014

Start: Gren Anderson shelter
End: Delaware Water Gap (Presbyterian Church of the Mountain Hostel)
Mileage: 31.4

I started out my hike this morning at 6:25am. I would have been out even earlier but my feet needed to be bandaged. Throughout the course of the day, I climbed Rattlesnake Mountain (1,492') as well as up to the Catfish Fire Tower (1,565').

South on the AT - direction I went after the tower

North on the AT - direction I came from; you could just make out the NJ High Point Monument between the two power line poles in the distance.

Large portions of today's hike were pretty easy. Once you climbed to the ridge, it was mostly flat and made for good cruising.

I passed by Crater Lake and Sunfish Pond.

Sunfish Pond

I then hiked my way to the town of Delaware Water Gap and the hostel there, Presbyterian Church of the Mountain.

Originally,  the plan had been to stop for the night at Mohegan Outdoor Center at 20.9 miles and then hike an additional 10.9 miles tomorrow morning before catching a bus back to CT. The problem with this plan was two fold: 1) I'd have to be out hiking at 5:30am to make sure I got to the bus station on time;  2) My feet were not going to withstand another day of hiking. So I made the decision to hike through the MOC and hoof it into town. While painful,  I think it was the better choice. I clearly need to invest in some more (and better) socks.

On the trail today, I met two different hikers who are expecting to go through CT; "Bark" who is ending his section hike at the CT-MA border and Kelly from Staten Island who's hoping to hike through to Maine. I'm also sharing the hostel tonight with a recently retired thru-hiker from NY (Mike/"Cannonball" - #18 NOBO through Harpers Ferry).

After showering at the hostel and changing clothes, I headed to the Apple Bakery where I got a few snacks (I'll probably be back for breakfast tomorrow) and then headed to the Water Gap Diner next door. The food was standard diner food - cheap but lots of it.

 

I'm now bedded down on the couch for the night and will be taking a bus home in the morning!

View of George Washington Bridge in NYC out the bus window

Local post office on my morning walk to the bus station