Date: 2015-07-28
From: North Adams, Massachusets

To: North Adams, MA
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: moderate rain

North Adams Post Tuesday July 28Written at Northbound milepost 1592;   600 miles to go to Katahdin, Maine.I have uploaded my pictures from July, covering Pennsylvania (the northern part), New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.   (I was wondering if I hiked at all in Delaware, but I think not!   Also wondering if I hiked in other states recently that I failed to list, but I think not.) I did a separate post on Scott Jurek and his infractions on Mt Kathadin/Baxter State Park. Today I am in North Adams, in northern Massachusetts, 5 miles from the southern Vermont border.   Doug O¢Neill, (David O¢Neill¢s uncle) has graciously let me use his pickup truck and I will join him for supper then stay at his house tonight in Vermont before hiking the AT tomorrow into Vermont. This is a mish-mash of things that I saw and did on the AT since the June 27 post from Mount Holly, Pennsylvania. The northern part of Pennsylvania had the fearsome rocks that we had heard so much about prior to reaching them.   They were worth the reputation - They were bad. Fortunately, then did not go on for a real long time.   New Jersey was an easier state to hike. New York was initially tough, due to walking along ridgelines on rock, but then became easier. Connecticut was relatively easy, as far a not much vertical. Honestly, this part of the AT (Pennsylvania to Massachusetts) is a kind of a blur.   I know which state I am in when I¢m in the state, and I keep a record of where I camp each night, but, looking back, these states are already fuzzy. Perhaps because we are moving fast enough (and we really have to to get done by mid-September) that things get fuzzy real fast. Or perhaps just because of my less-than-perfect (IE, bad) memory.   But also because it really is a slog. The weather is either hot or just warm.   We would like it to be 20 degrees cooler. But it IS summer, so it should be warm. And soon enough, in New Hampshire, we may wish it was NOT SO COLD.   The terrain in these middle states is semi-flat.   Not completely flat, but flatter than Virginia and flatter than we expect from Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.   To be sure, there are some good views, and I have taken more pictures of the views than other states.   But mostly it's just woods.   I have been on the hike now for 3 12 months, so the thrill of hiking is gone away long ago.   I dream of being done, and not having to hike anymore.   But, with 600 miles to go, I can¢t quite start getting ¢parking lot¢ fever yet.   We expect Vermont with the picturesque Green Mountains will be pretty. And I hope the verticals have switchbacks, something that these middle states don¢t have much of, perhaps because the vertical is not a lot. .   We expect New Hampshire with the infamous White Mountains will be a memorable challenge.   Then finally comes the last state, Maine.   Then we can get parking lot fever. Assuming we get there. My health has been OK.   No significant aches or pains.   Just sore feet in the morning, and often the same sore feet in the late afternoon.   I got some ugly skin disease on my arms 10 days ago.   It is better but not gone away.   My right knee has very brief flashes of discomfort, so I try to be as careful as I can.   My weight is mostly steady at about 152.   I don¢t want to lose anymore.   I try to eat as much as I can when in town.   MY chief complaint is that I get tired.   So I have to slog on, sometimes. I continue to hike ¢Slow¢, meaning that I am often on the trail at 6:30 AM (after getting up at 5:10AM), and I am sometimes still hiking at 8PM. So it makes for long days. And it has been hot at times.   What else would you expect in summer but heat? But it makes for tougher hiking conditions.   It has not been as hot as it could be or has been in past years. As previously mentioned, with the usual full tree cover, we get 10 degrees of heat relief.   I saw a sign in Pennsylvania that read ¢Are you tired of hiking in the 100 degree heat? Then take a break and join us for a one day raft ride down the ? river¢ We have NOT had that extreme heat, for which I am thankful.   I¢ve heard others in past years would split hiking and hike 4AM-11AM, and 4PM-10PM. We have not had to do that, nor will I hike in the dark. It¢s just too dangerous.   The bugs are buggy, but not as bad as mosquito's in the BWCAW in July.   The gnats often fly just in front of my face.   There are some mosquito¢s.   For several weeks we suffered the bugs without any mosquito repellant, but we just got some, including 3M¢s Ultrathon, as well as 99% deet, from Target.   So I now have it if I need it. But usually I just put on my bug headnet when the bugs bother me. Saw a bear July 10 in New Jersey. Finally.   Seems like everybody else has seen several. The bear was a smaller one, and posed no threat to me.   I tried to take a picture of it, and got several, with a brown smudge in the pictures.   It¢s also true that I spend much of the day with my earbuds in listening to the radio or music, so a bear would have to run into me for me to notice it. Gear breakdowns. As mentioned I bought new Asolo boots in Washington DC, then mailed them to Delaware Water Gap, at Pennsylvania/New Jersey border. I sent my old boots home.   So I will wear just two pair of boots for the trip. Not bad. But I have had some gear breakdowns, including:REI air mattress; A seam has come loose in the middle, so I have a big bulge in the middle, so I slip off of it. Diane is sending me a replacement. REI Leatherman scissors/knife. The scissors part broke. DIane also sending me a replacement. But this is not a big deal, since I rarely use it. Tent zipper, for Big Agnes Solo tent, for the screen layer failed. This could be a big deal.   One way, the screen zipper fails to shut.   But it zips shut completely the opposite direction. I brought my tent to EMS to see if it could be fixed, and they said it could not. REI head lantern. The clip holding the batteries broke.   I secured it with a rubber band for a week, then bought a new flashlight, which I like much better. REI 2 liter plastic water ¢canteen¢. The seam leaks.   I sort-of fixed it with Leruko tape, and expect it will get me to Maine, or I hope so. I lost my pre-filter for my 1 liter Nalgene water bottle.   This is my problem, not the fault of my equipment.   I use a bandana instead, or do without. I guess that is all that has broken.   My backpack, heavy as it is, is still working OK, except that the crossing strap has always been way too high, at my neck, so I just use a piece of rope, which is kind of amusing, doing that for 2000 miles. Badly behaved hikers close backyard camping at Natural Exteriors in New YorkThis was sad. Some merchants allow hikers to camp in the back of their property. But at one place, a ¢homeless hiker¢ went off his meds or something of the sort, the police were called, and the owner has said no more thru-hiking campers will be allowed.   He says ¢No fires¢, but some still have fires.   Others say no smoking, no alcohol and no drugs, but a few hikers ignore those rules, and wreck things for everybody.   Perhaps it's just the case that a few bad actors wreck things for the majority. One rule that I don¢t always obey is no camping in the woods.   I justify it by ¢I can¢t help it¢.   I can¢t walk 10 or 20 miles to the next shelter, so I stealth camp.   But I am very stealthy about that, camping at 8PM, going by 6:30AM, and camping 50-100 feet off the trail if I can. The kids vanished, but have returned. One strange thing - The 20-30 year olds vanished from the trail from about July 3rd to July 8th or so. But they have returned.   I suspect they made plans to go to towns July 4th to party. OK, it is 4:15. The computers shutdown shortly.   This library gives me 15 minutes of computer use, then I have to ask for more. I asked for 12 hour multiple times, so this will have to be ¢Good Enough¢.