Nothing like starting the day off with a Lemon Squeezer.

At least it gets you to a gorgeous view of the Berkshires of Litchfield, County, CT.

So New England.

The falls of Falls Village

This is the ridge line I will be hiking tomorrow (highest peak in CT !)

Hanging out at the Twin Lakes boat house with my German fiends Toxic Foot and Robin.

A late afternoon swim.

Dinner with our great hosts Nancy and Rob !

It was a very pleasant morning for hiking…some farmland, some small climbs with views…here’s a great view of the Berkshires.

This is the bottom of St. John’s Ledges…hard to capture the vertical height (100′ ?)

There was a fantastic 4 mile stretch along the Houssatonic River.

My Aunt Nancy and Uncle Rob met me at a road crossing near Cornwall, CT and took me back to their cabin on Twin Lakes 20 minutes away. I will post some pics of the cabin and lake tomorrow.

The next two days I will hike and stay at their cabin since it’s such easy access to the trail… and sleeping on a porch swing bed is the best!

This is the oldest Oak tree on the AT….
over 300 years old.

Early morning boardwalk hiking at its best.

Near Pawling, NY you pass the AT Metro North train stop which will take you to NYC in about 2hrs.

An interesting looking water tower/rocket ship.

I Officially made it to New England and passed the 2/3 mark today. Only 723 miles to go.

There was a lot of trail side Trail Magic today…nothing better than an ice cold soda in the middle of the woods on a warm day. I met Croc n’ Roll in PA (but not his parents).

What’s New England without a covered bridge?
Does anyone know why they needed to cover the bridge? I don’t…these are the things I think about while hiking.

The bridge was a short detour off trail as well as a nearby convenience store (ice cream sandwich, a bagel and iced tea hit the spot). These guys (the Sam’s) were up for the day from Chappaqua, NY (current home of the Clintons and next door to the town where I grew up) and gave me a short lift back to the trail.

A view of the Houssatonic River Valley.

Tonight’s home was a first…I’m the only one here! Quite a difference from even just a couple weeks ago.

My leg felt much better today and the swelling is about 90% normal. The only real pain comes when my toes are pointed down…usually when I misstep on a big rock. Luckily, the poles help mitigate this most of the time. I’m hoping this can be fully healed by the time I get to the White Mtns which have a lot of gnarly climbs and descents. I have about 300 miles and two weeks to get myself better.

Rich was kind enough to drive me back to the trailhead at 5:30am. Thanks for being such great hosts (Amy, Cubby and Emma too).

This is lake Canopus. Rich tells me the locals call it Lake Can-O-Piss. If it were in Colorado it would be called Lake Cannabis.

The Catskills on the horizon.

The BPH shelter made a fine stop for a mid-morning break.

I love the rolling farmland views through the trees.

This is one of the more impressive Maple trees I have ever seen. Wish I had someone standing next the trunk to give it some scale.

Not sure of the story behind the name, but Nuclear Lake looks pristine.

Home for the night…The Telephone Pioneers Shelter (not sure of the story behind this name either). Only one other person at the shelter and another camping near by. Unfortunately, the water source I was counting on was dry But Luckily, things had cooled off and I could make do til morning on the tiny bit I had left (a water spigot is 1-mile up trail tomorrow).

My leg did ok today…not great, but nothing terrible. Luckily the terrain was modest and it should continue this way for the next bit.

This is Babs who was kind enough to give me a ride back to the trail at 5:30am…Thanks so much!

The Bear Mtn. Bridge from the other side.

This is Dave from VA who was section hiking for several nights and has covered quite a bit of the AT already. We hiked and chatted for about 1/2 my day. I’m Hoping he feels better tomorrow as he had a long first day in hot and humid conditions which took a toll.

I didn’t take many pics today. Unfortunately, my leg seemed to have regressed by lunchtime and I was hobbling. Needless to say this had me concerned. A cold water compress, some elevation and Advil somehow made for a miraculous lunchtime recovery and I was fine the rest of the day!

Rich picked me up again today (~5pm) and I stayed with them (Amy, Cubby and Emma) in Granite Springs (Somers, NY). It was great to have one more night to relax and shower again before hitting the trail tomorrow bright and early.

Not a ton of pics today from my day off trail. There a couple I should have taken that I forgot 😦

Jeff made some incredible waffles using my favorite recipe (key ingredient = yeast).

Ellie was a good taste tester.

Jeff’s electric stim machine was good for my leg. My foot is really swollen from gravity induced edema while I was sleeping.

Later that night Jeff’s dad, Lew, and my longtime friends, Simon and Josh, came over to watch Game 7 of the NBA finals.

Tomorrow I will be back on the trail at Bear Mtn, but not removed from civilization just yet. Rich offered to pick me up at Faunstock St. Park and put me up for the night then drop me off the next morning.

The Lemon Squeezer was a fun little section in NY:

Baby Raccoons in NY:

Rhododendron tunnel in VA

Juan Dürrer in Banjolele

The Sunrise view over the Hudson and NYC from inside the shelter.
The skyline all lit up.

Mountain Laurel in full bloom with the Hudson in the background.

At the top of Bear Mtn. (very easy destination from the metro area) there was every hikers dream…a Pringles vending machine! (I passed on this as it was only 8am).

A selfie from the top with B-Hiker and Mother Goose.

The beach at the bottom of Bear Mtn.

…and a pool.

…and a zoo!
When you are “the Bear” at Bear Mtn. State Park zoo you can just hang out in your hammock all day.  

Crossing the Hudson on the fantastic Bear Mtn. suspension bridge. My friend Rich met me here then took me back to their house 20mins away.

It was a great day for seeing all of (almost) the Weins (Babs, Lew, Amy, Cubby, Emma, Jeff, Libby, Declan, Ella). This is a selfie with baby Emma.

I’m also taking a full day off tomorrow to recharge, rest and recover! Less than 800 miles to go.

I hiked almost the whole day with B-Hiker, a soon to be 50yr old German woman now living in NJ. Here she is working hard to get up and over one of the many rock obstacles we faced today.

It’s amazing to see such pristine wilderness so close to NYC. The faint white strip you see here is the NY State Thruway cutting through the mountains.

A baby turtle.  

Today’s miles were very demanding. Luckily my leg feels significantly better with Next to no serious pain and only modest discomfort.

The ice cream vending machine at the Lake Toriati beach was a welcome treat at our lunch stop.

Our first view of the Hudson River.

If you look closely you can make out the NYC skyline.  

Crossing the Palisades Parkway…

only 32 miles to NYC.  

The West Mtn. Shelter with the Hudson and NYC skyline in background. 

 
…as the sun sets.

NYC skyline lit up as seen from the shelter.

Although the 24 miles looks like a lot of the other days, distance wise, today was very demanding. I left at 6am and got in at 7:30pm with only two stops just about 90 minutes combined. Luckily, my leg is feeling much better, otherwise there was no way today’s miles would have happened. I’m definitely looking forward to the extra rest and recovery I will get this weekend as I will be staying with friends in NY after a short 7 miles to Bear Mtn. tomorrow AM.

The morning started with a small climb then a very impressive mile long boardwalk through beautiful marshlands.

There was even a cable suspension bridge over the creek and swamp area.

Rain showers came and went several times but not a big deal because it was fairly warm.

I made a mid morning stop at the roadside Heavin Hill farmstand.
They were nice enough to give me a bag of ice which made a huge difference for my leg. I walked almost normally with minimal pain for the whole afternoon.

It’s great to see lakes and ponds again.

These little guys were right in the middle of the trail eating something. I shot a short video I will try to post later.

Welcome to NY !

A lot of rock scrambling greeted us

This section was so steep they bolted in a ladder.
It had just rained for 45 minutes which made things even dicier navigating the boulders.

Luckily, the end of they day took us by another roadside farmstand…with homemade ice cream. (Unfortunately, no ice for my leg?!)

But they did provide a hiker charging station.

An impressive view for eating ice cream over the Warwick Valley.

My leg made big improvements today so hopefully I’ve turned the corner. There’s still discomfort and swelling but the pain was minimal and my range of motion was better.