New York State of Mind

Day: 102 (July 5)
Starting location: Vernon, NJ
Ending location: Wildcat Shelter
State: NY
Miles today: 17.1
Miles total: 1,364.8

Today was the last day we would see Kristen's parents until we reach Maine. They dropped us off at the trail head in Vernon, NJ and we said our goodbyes. After only about an hour on the trail the metal stay on the side of my pack snapped. This is pretty critical part of a pack but thankfully it broke toward the bottom. The great thing about being a thru hiker is the gear companies will cater to our every need. The last thing a company wants is a thru hiker bashing their equipment all the way to Maine. So I called Osprey and told them we would be in Kent, CT on Tuesday and they said they would happily overnight a replacement.

Water has become quite a problem on the trail. This year has been a below average rain fall on the AT and many of the water sources are beginning to be dry. Rain can often be miserable on the trail, but it is critical to have good water sources. Knowing you need water and finding a dry water source is an unsettling feeling. Worrying about water can make for stressful days, so we have begun to carry 3 liters of water each.

Today we also crossed into New York. It is always exciting to cross through into another state. Kristen and I are both excited to take a train into New York City on Sunday. Stay tuned for that.

We ran into Ichabod and his parents that were doing trail magic. It is always funny how trail magic works. It always comes at times when we really need it. When we reached the trail magic at 5:30pm we were almost completely out of water and on the verge of dehydrationThanks so much to the Lambert family.

Today was the first day that we finished in the dark. We hiked the remaining 2 miles under headlamp. Hiking in the dark is interesting. You always have the feeling that someone is watching you. We prefer not to hike in the dark but sometimes you have to.



We got ice cream at Bellvale Farms at 7pm. The line was 30 people long. A nice couple bought our milkshakes

Conan + Backwards