Category: Appalachian Trail 2021

Start: Fort Montgomery, NY (AT mi 1406.1) Stop: Dennytown Road Campsite (AT mi 1421.2) Today’s miles: 15.1 miles. Total AT mileage: 396.5 miles

Today was a good day! I set an alarm for 7:05 but woke up sometime after 6:30. I got ready and packed, jealous of Lizard and her chance to sleep in. I ate the free breakfast downstairs at the hotel, walked to the gas station and got a fresh water bottle and a monster, then walked the rest of the way to the motel.

The motel guy wasn’t thrilled with me coming for the ride, I didn’t realize it was an issue seeing how he definitely got $50 from me from the previous night. He still gave me a ride with Cholula, Curmudgeon, and another guy, then came back for Derby and someone else. He was a little strange about the bed of his truck, too. He could have easily taken all of us in one load, but it wasn’t my gas.

We walked over the Hudson River and the views from the bridge were beautiful. Once on the other side, the trail went straight up.. but not for long. Right as we were crossing the road to start the climb, a black truck slowed down and honked.. it was Tie-dye, TBird, and TownLegs! I couldn’t make out anyone else in the truck, but Tie-dye’s wife has been slack packing them the last few days! A slack pack is where you take just the stuff you’d need for a day hike, like water and a snack and/or lunch.. and someone picks you up at a road crossing to bring you back to your stuff. It makes for getting big miles quickly, without killing yourself.

I was afraid the terrain was going to be like it had been for the last few days. My feet ache, but that’s nothing new.. this terrain was mostly easy going, soft and gentle. I did have a, “What in the Pennsylvania is this?!” Moment at a trail slap full of soccer ball sized rocks.. but otherwise it was great! We stopped at a deli for lunch, I walked and typed up my zero day post for the blog and still was barely lagging behind the 3 ahead of me.

Lizard text me that her shoes came! She was able to get out of town and knock out 6-7 miles (I could be shorting her some, I’m not exactly sure of the mileage). I hope to see her soon. HotSauce and FarOut are camped out somewhere within a mile or two of us. This group tonight is quite large. We have the 5 of us (Derby, Cholula, Curmy, Towely, me) and then PolkaDot (we met WAY back during my first week or so), Squirtle (who I quickly met in Duncannon), and HungerStrike are here, plus the guys that Towely has been hiking with, Ben, Beaver, and ShotSki (I could have his name wrong), plus Strapon, and a couple with him, and a duo of very young section hikers just learning the backpacking ropes.

We all ate dinner, a local hiker came by and shared cokes, Gatorade, and wine with us. There’s picnic tables galore and a nice fire going to try to get rid of the bugs. My rash is still ridiculous and Im learning my new bathing/sponge routine lol I even changed my clothes afterwards to help dry out better. We’ll see if I start making some progress!

Tonight is my first night on my new pad, and I’m so stoked to go to sleep. So far so good just laying on it! I’ll update you tomorrow!

Start: Dennytown Road Campsite (AT mi 1421.1). Stop: RPH Shelter (AT mi 1431.9). Today’s miles: 10.8 miles. Total AT mileage: 407.2 miles

My new pad held up great.. but I still tossed and turned all night anyway. There were a lot of people camped nearby and I had trouble getting comfortable because of my rash. Awesome, I know. But the pad was definitely not the problem. And today is the first time I could say that in like 2 weeks.

I got up just after 6 to go to the bathroom (this campsite had legit port-a-potties), and then everyone started moving so I got my food bag down from the tree, packed half my stuff, and ate breakfast. Once the sun came up and dried the condensation off my tent some, I finished packing. I didn’t get started until 8am.. and only walked maybe 300 yards to the water spigot and was promptly offered a Gatorade by a guy and his cute pup. They were waiting for his wife to come through, she is thruhiking, he’s being the support. Pretty awesome!

The terrain from yesterday continued today. The gentle slopes and mostly quick miles. I finished up an audiobook and before I knew it I was catching up to Cholula who was getting ready to go down a side trail to the lake with a concession stand. Derby, Towely, and Curmudgeon were already there, and text us to inform us that the lake was swimmable with a beach, but the concession stand was closed. Well, damn.

We went anyway. Cholula, Towely, and I jumped off a dock and swam in gross looking lake water with way too many long plants touching my body than I’d ever prefer. But ya know what? We were getting to swim. So, I happily took what I was offered. Squirtle, HungerStrike, and PolkaDot were there, too. They had already swam and were drying out. Once we got done swimming, we did the same.. and ate lunch, too.

Getting moving again after that was hard. Mainly because the water (however dirty it was) was so relaxing! We were planning to go 7 more miles today, but decided we’d get to the next shelter and make a decision then to stay or carry on. This issue with carrying on means toting water the 3 miles from the shelter, because there are no more water spots from here to the place on the ridge where we’d camp.

The last 5 ish miles went by smoothly, but my feet starting to ache like crazy. Each step started hurting, like I was walking barefoot. I turned on some music and tried to literally tune it out. Three days til new shoes! God, I pray they fit.
I made it to the shelter and a good chunk of the people from last night are here. Of course, Cholula, Curmy, Derby, and Towely.. but so was FirstGear, Ben, and Beaver, and a NOBO hiker who’s name I don’t know. This shelter is pretty awesome and a trail angel left us trail magic: cold drinks and awesome snacks. Everyone decided to stay.. and I decided to order Chinese food off of DoorDash. My fortune, “Today could be almost perfect. Enjoy it.” Ok, you got it. Lol

While we were all eating our Sesame chicken and General Taos, HotSauce walked up! He and FarOut were going to stay tonight, too! She was just behind a little at the creek getting cleaned up. They ordered food, and more and more hikers kept appearing. Disco, Portrait, and 3-5 other people who’s names I didn’t catch. It was a good group.

Everyone sat around at the tables outside the shelter talking as the sun sank in the sky.. We aren’t allowed to have fires here, so everyone dispersed to bed around 8-8:30. Derby and I are the only two in the shelter, which has 6 bunks. They even have little foam mattresses! Haha
It’s almost 9pm and I’m wiped.. tomorrow will be a long day for us since we cut today short. I’m hoping Lizard catches up to us soon. I’m also hoping the terrain remains kind. I’ll know soon enough.

Start: RPH Shelter (AT mi 1431.9). Stop: Telephone Pioneers Shelter (AT mi 1448.7) Today’s miles: 16.8 miles. Total AT mileage: 424 miles

I tossed and turned last night because of the gnats.. once I’d drift off, one would suicide dive into my eyelids. I’d swat, shimmy down under my covers.. then, 30 minutes later, I’d wake up sweating and come up for air.. for another suicide dive into my ear. I could hear Derby just a snoozing, happy as a clam with not a single bug near him. So not fair.

I finally started snoozing sometime after 4am, and got woken up by heavy footed hikers coming and going through the shelter for the trash can. I got up at little after 6:15 and headed to the privy-there was a line, so when the guy in front of me went in, I looked around and popped a squat right where I was. I couldn’t wait for buddy to poop, I just couldn’t.

Once I got my pack on, it started raining. It was in the 60s and rained off and on all day-and you know what? It was glorious. I hiked quicker than I usually do, because I wasn’t stopping to sit on rocks or take pictures. The trail was once again smooth going, nice and gentle slopes with a few random rocky spots mixed in. It was seriously incredible.

I got to the first shelter for lunch at 11:30, and had already knocked out 10 miles! I had passed Ben and Beaver at the road before the road to the deli, and then Derby caught up to us, too. Derby and Ben went to the deli, Beaver and I continued on.. I had too much food in my bag to buy anything else! It’s still so heavy! So, Beaver beat me to the shelter, we ate lunch there, stretched.. then Derby reappeared.. good lord that dude hikes fast.

He left out before us, and before I left Cholula and Curmudgeon caught up and stopped for a break, too. Around 12:30 I headed back out. The day continued the same as was in the morning. I did have an ankle slip, but I was able to keep walking on it the whole time, so I’m calling it a win. I got to the shelter around 4pm, and Derby was at the stream. He said there was a ton of people at the shelter and camping, and if I wanted a spot to hurry up and claim it. I decided on the shelter (bugs and all) so I wouldn’t have to pack a wet tent in the morning.

I got my spot secured.. and holy Moses. It’s packed. There’s NayNay, a 72 year old section hiker who has quite literally not stopped talking since I’ve met her lol. Then there’s Pete, an over nighter out for some fresh air and relaxation. He’s a high school history teacher here in NY and got here with Derby earlier today. They met down at the gorgeous lake we passed on the way up. Then there’s 2 separate groups with children/teens.. one is a church group, the other is an outreach group from the Bronx.

I tried sending a text to the group about how full it is, but my service is sketchy.. one second I have it and one second I don’t. I went down to the creek to bathe and get water. I made dinner when I got back, like 5pm ish-LOL.. and that’s when Curmy, Cholula, Beaver, and Towely got here. They didn’t get my text, and man did they look so deflated that there’s no where to put up a tent with all the little tent cities going on already.

Beaver stayed and set up his hammock, but the other three went back to the trail to find a spot for their tents. I’m sad there wasn’t room here. Derby, Beaver, Pete, NayNay and I have been chatting all evening. Now it’s almost 9 and NayNay is still just a chatting. She’s real sweet. We’re real tired. Looks like it’s time to do the tuck and roll with my earplugs in. Hahaha

Goodnight, y’all.