GOODBYE NY, HELLO NEW ENGLAND

HI all from the very cute and very posh town of Kent, Connecticut. I have only a half hour left of library time and lots to cover, so here goes...

Since I last wrote at Delaware Water Gap, we entered the "deli-to-deli" portion of the hike which was nice in that almost every day there were stops for ice cream or fresh produce or thick sandwiches, but it also meant not bothering to stop in towns - therefore no internet. Strange too, since this is the most urbanized portion of the trail - basically circling the New York City suburbs. New Jersey, as Elizabeth mentioned, was indeed nice. The rocks petered out as we went north to High Point, where the AT takes a right hand turn and follows the NJ/NY boundary. This is a very pretty area of New Jersey, climbing small ridges and passing over many flat marsh areas on boardwalks. Many perceptions of the Garden State were changed. lizabeth's parents also discovered the beauty of the area when they visited me and a hiking buddy named Zen at Vernon, NJ. We had holed up at a motel for a day, watching copious amounts of bad TV (a redundant phrase really) and taking a needed rest from the heat and humidity. The Burlings were nice enough to take us both to dinner and drive us to a supermarket and several other places as I looked for a NJ keychain. No success in that endeavor, but a few days later, another hiker found a frog keychain left behind by some Jersey schoolkids that I have written "NJ" on, so it counts.

Then we hit New York and life changed. The location of the New York portion of the trail is an oddity, in that its far from any traditional definition of "wilderness footpath". When the AT was first conceived, they used older trails already in existance like those in the White Mtns of New Hampshire, or the Long Trail in Vermont. The first section purposely built to be part of this new Appalachian Trail was built in the brand new Bear Mtn State Park, offered up as a location by the New York City Hiking Club in the 1920s. Naturally, the AT organizers at that time were happy to accept that location to get the ball rolling on their dream trail. Thus, New York hosts the oldest (purposely built) section of the AT, and 90 years later this section runs thru suburban NYC. The mountains are mountains in name only really, more like foothills, and we cross endless ridges to reach Bear Mtn, and then "course correct" across more ridges to get to the Berkshires of Massachusetts. Not many impressive views, and lots of interaction with suburbia and NYC residents, which leaves hikers sometimes wondering what exactly we are doing. Furthermore, sometimes it seems the local trail clubs purposely route the trail over punishing rock climbs just to make it tougher. Some of us geography buffs wonder if relocating it further north thru the more impressive Catskills wouldn't be a better choice.

But the AT is what it is, and I follow it faithfully. The weather has been nice with little rain, but the classic mid-Atlantic heat and humidity day after day can wear one down. Everyone was ready for Connecticut and the mental progress into New England it brings. We are now heading almost due north, with only 50 miles of Conn. and 90 miles of Mass. before crossing into the bigger mountains of Vermont. Hopefully as we move, the humidity will drop. After 50ft of climbing, I'm totally soaked, and over the last 3 days a mean hurting rash has developed on my inner thighs from rubbing with my, ahem, bits and pieces.

So, a welcome break here in Kent, the first true town since Del. Water Gap, even if its a bit posh for hikers. (Our fine colonial inn starts at $175 a night...) From here, the AT follows the Hoosatonic River north, which is a welcome flat section after so many ridge climbs.

I should mention that NY wasn't all bad. Bear Mtn. Park is absolutely beautiful, an asset which NYC is very fortunate to have. And there is direct train service from there and a few other places to the City. I took advantage of this to meet Elizabeth for one last rendevous before heading north for the final 2 months. We stayed overnight in Manhattan, and I can't describe the headtrip of moving from the woods to New York. Its almost so completely opposite the trail. No one looked twice at me, and when I mentioned to a few people that I had been hiking for 4 months they never reacted like it was anything odd. Seen it all, I guess. More and more, our interactions with the real world are strange - TV and shopping and cars and the waste and boredom in regular life all seem so unneccessary. A fellow hiker named Burrass once wondered if we're the only sane people out there. More on this later - Kent Library is closing!