I would like to encourage all of you reading my blogs at some point to either comment, send me an email or a real letter. I have very little idea of whether my bogs are being red. When I talk to people I have gotten a very positive response, but it would be nice to get some encouragement while on trail. My next definite mail stop will be in Hanover, NH. So if any of you feel like writing you can send something to
Jeffrey Berliss
General Delivery
Hold for AT Thru Hiker
Hanover, NH 03755
I am aiming to be there around July 28. From there it is about a month more to Katahdin and I have not figured out mail drops for anything beyond Hanover.
I think my Pa tale needs to restart in Duncannon. I stayed at the historic Doyle Hotel which around 1905 was a five star hotel. It does not look like any money has been spent to improve the hotel since then. I was able to get a single with no AC and shared bath for 25 a night. I am pretty sure the sheets were clean. However this is where all the hikers coming through stayed, the food was good and the beer cheap. I happily spent the night hanging out with other hikers and enjoying cold local refreshment. Peacock and I enjoyed a late start and breakfast at Goodie's the next morning and hit the trail at around noon. PA continued its trend of long flat ridges with lots of rocks and no views. At this point I am not remembering too much of interest before Port Clinton.
The shelters in PA have a tendency to be very close to roads. 501 Shelter which was right off of PA 501 was not an exception. However it did have bunkbeds and a solar shower. The general idea with a solar shower is that the holding tanks have an opportunity to warm up during the day. This concept was lost on whomever built this one. It did have soap, but I described the temperature as "I have bathed in colder streams." The water also came from the same holding tanks, so the drinking water was warm and the shower water was cold. This was also a shelter where you could order pizza. I was starting to have NYC on my mind and I had too much food so I just cooked but I was offered a slice of someone else's pizza. I did not miss anything by not ordering my own. It may have been the worst pizza I have had on trail.
We decided to hike the 24 miles into Port Clinton the next day. Peacock and Daddy-O set up a slack pack while Shadow and I felt cheap and decided to hike our packs down. Shadow and I set out early and we were in the local outfitter by 3 enjoying Ben and Jerry's. The last 1/2 mile into town was straight down a 45 degree loose rock slope. I have never been happier to have trekking poles than that descent. If I had a piece of cardboard to slide down on, it would have been much better. Since it was Monday nothing else in town was open. For some reason the entire town shuts down on Mondays. We stayed at the town pavilion and hung out with local trail angel Bag O Tricks. We had a rain storm and then it got cold. I had to borrow a fleece sleeping bag from Tricks.
The next morning we paid the shuttle to the next town to get our resupply. When we came back we decided to visit Cabelas. Cabelas is a huge monument to killing animals. Whatever you might need for hunting or fishing you can get there. They have stuffed wildlife displays and they sell postcards of their wildlife displays. Within the huge confines they even had a cafeteria, with no vegetarian options other than french fries. I did need more sunscreen and I bought my own 25 dollar fleece sleeping bag in order to stay warm at night. It turned out to be a very useful investment. For the next couple of days I slept in my fleece bag and lent my fleece throw to Shadow whose sleep system was not up to the task of keeping him warm.
The trail after Port Clinton was back to PA normal until we hit Lehigh Gap and the Palmerton Superfund site. Lehigh Gap starts a stretch of about 20 miles with no water closer to the trail than a 1/4 mile. Also the first 9 miles are almost devoid of tree cover. Palmerton used to have a zinc smelting factory and the next ridge was downwind of the factory. In 1980 the EPA closed down the factory and in 1982 started rehabilitation for the area. It still has a long way to go. Shadow and I started early to make the first climb before the sun crested the ridge. It made for a very steep interesting climb. At one point I need both hands to pull myself up. Around the next two gaps on the ridge different trail angels left water so we were able to stay hydrated. We continued on for about 24 miles that day to put us in position for getting to the Delaware Water Gap on Saturday before the Post Office closed and in time to find a bed at the Church hostel in town. Shadow was very interested in getting his mail because he was expecting new shoes. His shoes were dead by Duncannon but he had put off getting his new ones sent until too late, again. His new shoes were supposed to have been in Port Clinton, but his mom sent his Chaco sandals instead. So he had been hiking the last four days in sandals, not real shoes. Turns out that the shoes were not there on Saturday and we had to wait until the post opened on Monday anyway, but we did get the last two bunks in the hostel.
Delaware Water Gap is only 90 minutes from NYC and luckily my brother was in town that weekend. So my parents and my brother were able to come out and have brunch with me. The other highlights of town were a free Jazz concert Sunday night at the church and a bakery that had a $1.50 hot dog and a slice of pie special. I only had two, one with chili. It was the hot dog, not the pie that had the chili. Shadow ended up with 6 over the course of the weekend. There was also a Greek diner in town and after Geoff and Emma's comments I had to get the moussaka. It was good. That Monday we were back out on the trail and into the promised land of NJ. Or maybe just out of the hated PA.
That should bring us up to date even if the narrative ended up out of order.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Random Pictures
This is a view of the James River between Big Island and Glasgow, VA. I was going quickly at this point because I had heard that there was trail magic at the trail head. I was able to make it in time for breakfast.
This is me on McAffee Knob. This is the most photographed spot on the AT. We were slack packing from Catawba to Trouteville. We got a late start and did not leave the knob until noon. At that point we had done 4 out of the 20 miles we needed to hike. We were able to finish at 7pm and went right to a Mexican restaurant to celebrate Cinqo de Mayo.
As we hiked through one gap we came across a campsite with a swing. I could not resist taking a little break.
Between the Shenandoahs and Harper's Ferry is the Roller Coaster. We had been hearing horror stories about it for several weeks. Because of who owned what land the trail had to go straight up and down 10 hills without views in 13.5 miles. However most of the climbs did not have more than 500 feet of elevation change and it was not that bad.
In VA there were lots of railroad crossings and most them had warning signs to be careful while crossing the tracks.
NJ-NY
I am sitting in my parent's apartment in NYC. We got off the trail 1,408 miles from Springer and a short 767 miles to Katahdin. I have not been able to update for a while so I am now trying to go back and put in some photos and fill in the missing gaps, but not really in order, so bear with me. This entry will cover my time in New Jersey and New York, and then my next update will be the end of PA. However since the most recent post is always first you will probably have just finished reading about PA when you get to this disclaimer.
When we (Shadow, Peacock, Daddy-O and Toad) left the Delaware Water Gap we were very excited to leave PA. None of us had enjoyed the rocks or the lack of views and we were ready for something new. We also knew that we had a relatively hard 7 days of hiking before a week off in NYC and we were looking forward to that. Immediately NJ was better than PA. The trail was nicer, and we started getting views. We caught back up with Jack Frost and then came across lovely Sunfish pond. Toad and Peacock stopped to catch frogs while Shadow, Daddy-O, Jack and I continued to the Mohican Outdoor Center. In the hiker box there was a 2lb can of baked beans which we were able to heat up for lunch. We hiked up a fire tower with a great view and cell phone reception, ran into a black bear and stayed that night at an old YMCA camp. There were two very sketchy screened in shelters with camp beds and a horrible tasting faucet to get water from. The one redeeming quality about the location was the beach and lake. After a hot 18 miles of hiking we had one of the best swimming holes on the trail.
The next day we started out with a blue blaze back to the AT instead of a mile back tracking and pushed on for a 22 mile day. The shelter we stopped out was not a great one, was a steep descending .4 off the trail and had the worst privy I have used. There were no walls just a box covering the hole. However, the box was rotting away and you were not sure if the seat would hold you.
Our next day was a planned resupply. 11 miles to Unionville, NY and then another 6 afterwards. When we got there we saw a sign from the mayor offering laundry and showers at his place so Shadow called up. We were picked up and also offered a free place to stay, free dinner and breakfast and the first beer free, the next 3 25 cents each and then you were cut off. We decided to stay. Previously the most guests the mayor had in one night was 10. That night there were 25. All the beds were taken, all of the floor space and most of the lawn. It was a wonderful night, but meant a couple of more long days coming up.
From the mayor's house we pushed a 21 mile day. Around lunch time we came to Heaven Hill Farm. We had heard that they had ice cream and water for hikers. As we walked in we came across Ron Beatty (Shakedown Cruise). He said hello and offered to treat us to ice cream, up to a quart. So I decided to have a quart of ice cream for lunch. Cookies n Cream, Raspberry Blast and Java Chunk make a great combination. That enabled us to continue on to NY and Prospect Rock. Prospect Rock is the highest point on the AT in NY. We decided to cowboy camp there with a sunset and sunrise view. We were able to watch the lights come up on Greenwood lake and we could even see the orange haze of NYC.
When you are driving from NJ to NY the quality of road changes for the worse. This was copied on the trail. The trail planners in NY do not believe in switchbacks. They go out of their way to take the trail up and down ever single viewless ridge. On top of this the weather turned hot and humid. In NJ and NY most of the streams are not good for drinking so we go from faucet to faucet leaving with 7+ pounds of water. Currently NY is pushing Pa for the honor of worst state. 17 miles into the next day after descending Agony Grind we crossed the NY state Thruway and came across Paddy-O. Paddy-O hiked in 2000 and has been doing trail magic for the last three years. He cooked us Hot Dogs and gave us Gatorade and offered use of his full bar. We accepted and had "Trail Bombs." An Irish car bomb, but on the trail. That enabled us to continue on the next 4 miles to the shelter. NY does not space shelters well, nor do they have all the amenities like picnic tables, privies or water. I was the only person sleeping in the shelter that night, and I wondered why we even bothered to go there since there had been better camping spots on the actual trail.
The following day was Saturday and we made to Bear Mountain. Lots of other people on the trail and we were able to help out 5 day hikers who had taken the wrong trail down and were now very far away from their cars. The trail then took us to Hessian Lake which is a very popular picnic spot and was very crowded. I felt out of place in the party atmosphere with my stinky shirt and backpack and continued on to the zoo. The trail takes us through the zoo to Bear Mountain Bridge. In the zoo we were able to see all sorts of things we had seen on the trail, such as three bears at the lowest point on the trail. We hiked on to another campsite with no water. We were feeling pretty miserable at this point. Two days of hiking without being able to even take a bandana bath at the end of the day. We were sticky, stinky and not very happy.
Our last day on the trail took us to Clarence Fahnestock State Park. We left early in the day because we knew we had showers and a swimmable lake waiting for us. We made a questionable choice of filling up water which ended up being very foul tasting and turned my stomach. With our bad water the trail took us over some wood planks and a bees nest. Peacock, Daddy-O and I each got stung 3 or 4 times. Shadow was hit 13 times. We ran through there then stopped at a road just down the trail and took Benedryl. This slowed us down even further. It is mazing how you feel tired after taking Benedryl. However we made it to hot showers at the campground just as it started to rain. I spent the entire rain in the shower then set up my tent and went to sleep. We cooked some food and then were driven into NYC in time to see my parents and have some more food.
I am now spending the week in NYC visiting my grandparents and other friends, running errands and catching up on sleep. After the last couple of days hiking through NY I was very ready to take some time off the trail. When I get back on the trail just 767 miles and eight weeks to Katahdin.
When we (Shadow, Peacock, Daddy-O and Toad) left the Delaware Water Gap we were very excited to leave PA. None of us had enjoyed the rocks or the lack of views and we were ready for something new. We also knew that we had a relatively hard 7 days of hiking before a week off in NYC and we were looking forward to that. Immediately NJ was better than PA. The trail was nicer, and we started getting views. We caught back up with Jack Frost and then came across lovely Sunfish pond. Toad and Peacock stopped to catch frogs while Shadow, Daddy-O, Jack and I continued to the Mohican Outdoor Center. In the hiker box there was a 2lb can of baked beans which we were able to heat up for lunch. We hiked up a fire tower with a great view and cell phone reception, ran into a black bear and stayed that night at an old YMCA camp. There were two very sketchy screened in shelters with camp beds and a horrible tasting faucet to get water from. The one redeeming quality about the location was the beach and lake. After a hot 18 miles of hiking we had one of the best swimming holes on the trail.
The next day we started out with a blue blaze back to the AT instead of a mile back tracking and pushed on for a 22 mile day. The shelter we stopped out was not a great one, was a steep descending .4 off the trail and had the worst privy I have used. There were no walls just a box covering the hole. However, the box was rotting away and you were not sure if the seat would hold you.
Our next day was a planned resupply. 11 miles to Unionville, NY and then another 6 afterwards. When we got there we saw a sign from the mayor offering laundry and showers at his place so Shadow called up. We were picked up and also offered a free place to stay, free dinner and breakfast and the first beer free, the next 3 25 cents each and then you were cut off. We decided to stay. Previously the most guests the mayor had in one night was 10. That night there were 25. All the beds were taken, all of the floor space and most of the lawn. It was a wonderful night, but meant a couple of more long days coming up.
From the mayor's house we pushed a 21 mile day. Around lunch time we came to Heaven Hill Farm. We had heard that they had ice cream and water for hikers. As we walked in we came across Ron Beatty (Shakedown Cruise). He said hello and offered to treat us to ice cream, up to a quart. So I decided to have a quart of ice cream for lunch. Cookies n Cream, Raspberry Blast and Java Chunk make a great combination. That enabled us to continue on to NY and Prospect Rock. Prospect Rock is the highest point on the AT in NY. We decided to cowboy camp there with a sunset and sunrise view. We were able to watch the lights come up on Greenwood lake and we could even see the orange haze of NYC.
When you are driving from NJ to NY the quality of road changes for the worse. This was copied on the trail. The trail planners in NY do not believe in switchbacks. They go out of their way to take the trail up and down ever single viewless ridge. On top of this the weather turned hot and humid. In NJ and NY most of the streams are not good for drinking so we go from faucet to faucet leaving with 7+ pounds of water. Currently NY is pushing Pa for the honor of worst state. 17 miles into the next day after descending Agony Grind we crossed the NY state Thruway and came across Paddy-O. Paddy-O hiked in 2000 and has been doing trail magic for the last three years. He cooked us Hot Dogs and gave us Gatorade and offered use of his full bar. We accepted and had "Trail Bombs." An Irish car bomb, but on the trail. That enabled us to continue on the next 4 miles to the shelter. NY does not space shelters well, nor do they have all the amenities like picnic tables, privies or water. I was the only person sleeping in the shelter that night, and I wondered why we even bothered to go there since there had been better camping spots on the actual trail.
The following day was Saturday and we made to Bear Mountain. Lots of other people on the trail and we were able to help out 5 day hikers who had taken the wrong trail down and were now very far away from their cars. The trail then took us to Hessian Lake which is a very popular picnic spot and was very crowded. I felt out of place in the party atmosphere with my stinky shirt and backpack and continued on to the zoo. The trail takes us through the zoo to Bear Mountain Bridge. In the zoo we were able to see all sorts of things we had seen on the trail, such as three bears at the lowest point on the trail. We hiked on to another campsite with no water. We were feeling pretty miserable at this point. Two days of hiking without being able to even take a bandana bath at the end of the day. We were sticky, stinky and not very happy.
Our last day on the trail took us to Clarence Fahnestock State Park. We left early in the day because we knew we had showers and a swimmable lake waiting for us. We made a questionable choice of filling up water which ended up being very foul tasting and turned my stomach. With our bad water the trail took us over some wood planks and a bees nest. Peacock, Daddy-O and I each got stung 3 or 4 times. Shadow was hit 13 times. We ran through there then stopped at a road just down the trail and took Benedryl. This slowed us down even further. It is mazing how you feel tired after taking Benedryl. However we made it to hot showers at the campground just as it started to rain. I spent the entire rain in the shower then set up my tent and went to sleep. We cooked some food and then were driven into NYC in time to see my parents and have some more food.
I am now spending the week in NYC visiting my grandparents and other friends, running errands and catching up on sleep. After the last couple of days hiking through NY I was very ready to take some time off the trail. When I get back on the trail just 767 miles and eight weeks to Katahdin.
Some Pictures
We got up early the morning before going to Duncannon, PA. This is Daddy-O overlooking Duncannon and the Susquehanna river valley. We were able to arrive before the Doyle Hotel opened so we had breakfast across the street at Goodies, which is my favorite breakfast place on the trail.
A day or so out of Port Clinton, PA we crossed a road and then a couple of minutes later came across this sign. I assume that it is a road to someone's private property. The sign quickly cleared any misconceptions about which way to go.
Just after Palmerton, PA we came across the Palmerton Zinc Superfund site. For about 100 years there was mining and a zinc smelting factory in Palmerton. In 1980 the EPA shut it down and in 1982 started rehabilitation. The area was devasted. So we started the day with a steep climb with absolutely no tree cover. We then crossed over the ridge downwind of the factory and after 25 years of help it was still not doing well. It made for some interesting terrain. Not a place where we wanted to sample the blueberries. When we get back on the trail we can compare it to Nuclear Lake by 10 Mile Island.
In New Jersey I came across 3 bears. This is the first one. Once we saw him and he saw us it took about 5 minutes before he got off the trail and we could pass. This is the only one of the 7 bears I have seen on trail that I was able to get a half decent picture of. All the bears in VA and PA ran away once they noticed me. In NJ they just waited and checked us out before slowly going on their own way.
Just as we entered Harriman State park in NY we met Paddy-O. Paddy-O hiked in 2000 and has spent the last three years as a Trail Angel. It was a very humid day and while I was well hydrated on water, I did not have any gatorade or other type of drink mix. We had just finished about 17 miles with 4 more to go, and our spirits we a little down. He provided us with gatorade, hot dogs, snacks and Frank Sinatra singing "New York, New York." Then he mentioned that he had a full bar. So we opted for his specialty, Trail Bombs. These were Irish car bombs (a shot of Jameson and Irish Creme dropped into Guinness and then chugged), but on the trail. Shadow, Daddy-O, Peacock and I all had one then finished off our day of hiking.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Trails Days Pics
At Dot's Inn in Damascus we were able to buy beer by the pitcher without a need for extra glasses. L to R we have Peacock, myself, Stamp and Daddy-O. Stamp was a southbound section hiker we picked up in Catawba. His feet did not smell as bad at this point as they did in the car ride down. The keg finished on Stamp's pitcher and he was then given the first pitcher from the next keg for free as well.
I borrowed one of Daddy-O's kilts for the weekend. At this point Shadow has finally received his kilt and is wearing it with pride. I found the kilt comfortable, but I missed the pockets from my cargo shorts and I decided to stay with what I had.
I am not sure who the person on the right is. However just before the hiker parade he came by with two dresses and said they were free for anyone who would wear them for the parade. Peacock and Vagabond stepped up to the challenge. Luckily they fit well. Peacock and Vagabond then added water balloons for artificial implants.
At Hardcore the Sunday and Monday after trail days we did some trail work. We completed around 1,700 ft of new trail. I was able to paint my own blaze on Sunday's section right before Iron Gap in TN. 
On Monday we worked on a section just North of Jane Bald in the Roan Highlands. On the way back I got a picture of me with my tools, a nice big Pulaski. Unfortunately I did not get an action shot.
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