About 700 Miles to Go!!

NotBad here stopping in to say hello to everyone. Duchess is on her own adventure to Boston right now visiting a friend, and I'm in Upper Westchester in New York staying with a fellow thru-hiker; Olive Oil. She is letting some of us stay at her place and we got to shower and do our laundry here as well.

After getting off the trail for about a week, Mom and Dad came to visit, and then I took a trip to New York to see some friends and go to a music festival. I've had a great time thus far, and I'm glad to be back on the trail. It was so much fun seeing everyone, but I'm happy to be back.
Dad, me, Mom & Lucy saying our goodbyes after a great visit at the Delaware Water Gap. As sad as it was to see her go, they took Lucy with her to head home while I finish the trail. She did around 700 miles and did a great job!! I miss her and mom & dad sooo much. Thanks for everything!!

After I got back from New York, it was down to business. I have been hiking with a few different people along the way and meeting a lot of great friends. But after about a week back on the trail, Olive Oil came to pick a group of us up to head to the Jersey Shore for a night of Old Crow Medicine Show..(really great bluegrass band of our time that was playing close to the trail so we decided to hit it up!!)

Above is the crew I went with to see Old Crow ...Griz, me, Studmuffin, Olive Oil and Rabbit Foot. We took this picture after taking a walk along the Jersey Shore. Too cold to go swimming, but it was the first time I had seen the ocean in over 4 years! Good times with great friends.

It has been such a great overall experience thus far, and I am looking forward to New England and the rest of my hike. We only have a little over 700 miles to go, and each day I wake up I get a little sad thinking about leaving the woods and all the amazing people I have met along the way.
After crossing over the state line, I had a hard hike because New York is full of rocks and rock cliffs. Been doing a lot of climbing up the rocks and it has been quite hot. I am loving life and going to be crossing into Connecticut soon! After crossing the state line I bolted down the mountain to the Bellvale Creamery and had a hot fudge sundae and orange soda. It was a hot day and the ice cream was perfect. I met up with Rabbit Foot after that where we watched the sun set and slept on top of the ridge line.

Duchess and I will be meeting up again very soon, and I am excited to see Katherine (Duchess' mom, who is going to come out and hike for a little bit)...Also excited to see Tracie, (my sister), who is also going to come out hopefully around New Hampshire and tackle the White Mountains with me..which is supposedly some of the most beautiful hiking along the AT.

Well, I hope that is an update for all you readers and hopefully the next blog Duchess and I will be able to share more of our experiences together!! Miss and love you all.

NotBad