We made the long bridge crossing and entered NJ which was instantly more beautiful than I expected since the only side of the state I've ever seen is the industrialized 95 corridor that smells terrible. We passed the Kittatinny visitor center, hiked out of the Delaware River valley, chilled at Sunfish Pond for a bit, and most of all, enjoyed the non-rocky trail. It was baffling how the rocks instantly stopped at the state line.
Rock Sculptures / Cairns at the north end of Sunfish Pond.
Frogs like the cairns too.
The trail mostly followed ridgelines this first day which offered amazing views and the weather was perfectly cloudy. We got to one of the few fire lookout towers which was fun to climb up but left us disappointed when we found the top hatch was locked.
First Jersey Firetower, locked.
The video below contains some naughty language after I bumped my head climbing the towers:
How many deer can you spot?
On night #2 in Jersey, we stayed at the Mashipacong Shelter, which we nicknamed the "mashed ping pong" shelter for easier recall, where a big group of Outward Bound kids were also camping. They bombarded us with questions and I was delighted to answer them, hoping that their week in the woods would instill a love for nature throughout the rest of their lives.
Five-Lined Skink.
The next day (July 13) we stopped at High Point State Park to enjoy the lake, concession stand, and views from a small lookout platform. It felt great to go for a swim but as soon as I got out the clouds blocked out the sun so I gorged myself on cheap snack food. Later in the day we passed through a farm field and then Easy Going, Newt, and I escaped to a small tavern called the Wit's End right before some heavy rain hit. We camped at a the town's playground that welcomes hikers and since there were only a handful of trees spaced really far apart, I had to hang my hammock from a swing set. I hoped no kids came by early in the morning planning to swing.
This sheep was looked so derpy I had to give him a photo
Thank Easy Goin' for this photo
New Jersey only carries 72.2 miles of the AT so it was tackled in just four days. It was raining when we woke up and continued to do so even after we had a long breakfast at the deli across the street. I pulled ahead of the crew as the trail remained flat and looped around the Wallkill preserve, a huge marsh area with tons of wildlife; storks, ducks, frogs, etc. Later in the day I passed through a cow field where they were all standing in the path and didn't care to move until I tried to pet them. Right after that, Newt caught up to me and we arrived at "The Stairway to Heaven" which is an extremely steep climb up rocky stairs to an overlook. I blasted Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven and we sprinted up the stairs and reached the overlook in 8 minutes and 3 seconds, exactly as the final notes of the song faded out.
View from the top of the stairs
Cue the boardwalks! Tons of these through NJ and NY
We had dinner and hung out at the Wawayanda Shelter where a group of hikers were holed up all day to avoid the rain (I despise this kind of thru-hiker) but I decided to push for the border. Throughout the day I realized that there were a few significant milestones: it was my 100th day of the journey, I was about to complete the 8th of 14 states, and it would've been my dad's 62nd birthday. After crossing into New York, in the waning minutes of daylight, I set camp at a nice stealth spot in small canyon where I reflected on my trip, finished reading the Hobbit, and slept amazingly well.
LEVEL 8: COMPLETED!