Date: 2014-07-24
From: Wawayanda Shelter

To: Fitzgerald Falls
Miles today: 13.9

NEW YORK!! NEW YORK!! I am proud to be writing this from my home state of New York camping near one of my favorite places, Fitzgerald Falls. I didn't think if be this excited to be here but I'm giddy like a schoolgirl and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Being from New York had shaped my experience on the trail quite a bit from the trail name I was given to the many one lines that are apparently 'New Yorker' so to be out on the trail is an amazing experience.   So we left late yet again from camp, Atlas and I were about to leave when Delaware showed up to the shelter so we stayed there for a bit talking to her then left and she stayed behind to take a nap. The trail wasn't too bad for awhile and then it progressively got rockier and hillier and while up on a ridge line behind a rock was the NJ/NY sign painted on the ground. It was a rather anticlimactic event but I made the best if it by jumping back and forth over the border and then stayed on the New York, I was done with Jersey and didn't want to go back. I celebrated the occasion with Atlas and another hiker named Irish by passing around a small bottle of Jim Beam, not sure why I keep asking for Jim Beam,that stuff is deadly. As we kept on hiking, I had a smile on my face as big as the Cheshire Cat, I was proud to have hiked home and to show the people I'm hiking with what New York has to offer. Since it's just Atlas and I moment and she's never been here, I need to impress her and show her how awesome a place this state is.    It was a real rocky start to New York with up and downs and some rock climbing, we even had to climb up a ladder that was bolted into the mountain,there's a first for everything. The weather was beautiful, low 80's with some cloud cover. I've hiked the NY section many times in July and it's ways been brutal so I'm a but worried how it's going to play out for the duration that we hike through it hr for now, I have no complaints. We got to Route 17A which is the place I always parked my far when I went on day hikes and there is now a hot dog stand there so we celebrated with some hot dogs and soda. There we ate with Rowdy who we met in the Shenadoah's, a real nice guys who's probably in his 70's and has a a real quick pace,it's impressive. We also met a last named Conundrum who attempted to thru hike last year and was bit by a black widow and actually died in the hospital before they brought her back to life, it was a real interesting story to hear whole eating a hot dog. She told us about a creamery down the road so after stuffing ourselves with hot dogs we waddled down for the creamery and for some delicious ice cream, I got Calf Trax which had peanut butter bits in vanilla ice cream, it was a great way to wind down the day.   We still had a few miles to go so we hopped back onto the trail. This was a nostalgic moment for me because this was the first section I ever hiked on the trail about ten years ago and now here I am hiking it on my thru hike, I sat at the trailhead for a moment, took a deep breath and entered the woods. It was a relaxing hike that took us past my favorite spots, the Eastern Pinnacles and Cat Rocks, at each spot I took a moment to reflect on the many memories I had in each place. We got to Fitzgerald Falls which is a beautiful waterfall when it's running, unfortunately it was a mere trickle when we got to it, it was still beautiful though. The shelters are spaced out in this section so we found a spot near the top of the falls, made a fire and set up camp.   It was an eventful first day in New York and can't wait to see what the rest if the trail has in store. Atlas and I are going to take a few days off next week to visit NYC so the next week or so is going to be an exciting time for us.