Tag: New Jersey

Up at 7:10. Overkill is still asleep and needs it. Had a great breakfast prepared by the owner, Pete. Did another load of laundry. Attempting to dry out packs and shoes before tomorrow.

Ordered new insoles and my next pair of shoes. Will have Dana ship them to me next week once we figure out our route plan. Worked on blogs and uploaded a week’s worth of photos.

Walked into the village for lunch and a few snacks and dinner for today from CVS (body armor and hot pockets). I spent the afternoon working on blogs and Overkill slept.

Figured out our plan for the next 7 days into CT. Dana will ship a supply box to us in Kent, CT.

Walked down the road to the ice cream shack with Overkill and Dying. Goooood ice cream!

Here is an update on mileage per week. Last two weeks were lower than expected due to rocks and rain, but not too shabby.

• Days 105 to 111 – 107.7
• Days 98 to 104 – 103.3
• Days 91 to 97 – 1128
• Days 84 to 90 – 93.5
• Days 77 to 83 – 100.9
• Days 70 to 76 – 117.1
• Days 63 to 69 – 104.8 
• Days 56 to 62 – 99.1
• Days 49 to 55 – 88.6
• Days 40 to 46 – 84.3
• Days 39 to 45 – 69.6
• Days 32 to 38 – 58.5
• Days 25 to 31 – 74.6
• Days 18 to 24 – 63.4
• Days 11 to 17 – 51.7
• Days 4 to 10 – 61.3

I recently weighed my pack. With 1.7 liters of water and 3.5 days of food, it came in at 38 lbs. That’s 6 lbs heavier than I started with, but I’m eating about .5 lbs MORE food per day, and this new pack is at least 2.5 lbs heavier than my ULA pack. Overall, it’s fine as this new pack lets me carry heavier loads much more easily. Still, I need to lighten my load a bit.

On a related note, I’m hovering at 189 lbs. That’s surprising given calories in/out, but maybe my calories burned numbers are high?

I’m trying to get re-energized about the trail after 2.5 weeks of drudgery. The upcoming week of rain isn’t helping.

Technical Notes:

• Bacon x3 161
• Eggs x2 180
• Home fries 300
• Toast x1 170
• Dr Pepper zero 0
• Pizza 700
• Hershey Bar 360
• Body armor 120
• Ice cream 300
• Body Armor 35
• Hot Pockets x2 550
• Body Armor 35
• Chips 600
• Water liters 0
• Miles 0
• Time 24
• Elevation gain 0
• Calories consumed 3700
• Calories burned few

“I’m singin’ in the rain,

Just singin’ in the rain,

What a glorious feeling,

I’m happy again!

I’ll walk down the lane

With a happy refrain,

Just singin’, singin’ in the rain!” – Gene Kelly

Up at 5:40. Packed and headed out at 6:30. We have 16.6 miles to go today. 

Mid-80s, humid, 25% to 55% chance of rain. Radar shows a storm blowing through at 8:00 a.m. then 15% chance of showers till late afternoon, then good chance of storms around 5:00 p.m.

Walked to the general store for breakfast and supplies. Great sandwiches. I’m probably oversupplied, but we have 3.5 days till our next town stay. 

Killed a little time to let the storm go by before heading out. We have about a mile of road walk before we hit the trail. Headed out at 8:20.

Walked through meadows and wetland game preserves. A few small road walks on country roads too. Raining lightly and heavily, but no wind. Just straight down. That makes it easy and the umbrella chest rig works perfectly in these conditions.

Stopped for a break in a wetlands game preserve about 10:30. Rain finally stopped….for now! Getting humid but there is a slight breeze. Had a nice phone call with Dana while walking in the rain 🙂

OMG, did it get hot and humid once the rain stopped? Nastiest I can remember since Virginia. And this climb isn’t helping! Stopped at a shelter to use the privy and take a mid-climb break.

It’s insanely hot and humid out here! Stopped at 1:45 for water. The extended family showed up a little after we arrived. We have 3.9 miles to the farm store. I’m pushing ahead alone to get there before the store closes at 4:00. I’ll buy some Gatorade and stuff for both of us and wait for Overkill. Back on trail at 2:10.

Finally got to the famous NJ boardwalks!

YouTube video of NJ boardwalk.

Stopped at 3:45 at mile 11.8 at Heaven Hill Farm store at NJ 94. Water, baked goods, fruit, bathrooms. https://heavenhillfarm.com/

Turns out they don’t close till 6:00, so I busted ass getting here by 4:00 just for my health. Oh well. Great ice cream and the apple cider slushy is awesome!

Overkill arrived about 4:40. We planned to hang out until the next thunderstorm passed. But it moved in slower than expected. It started storming about 5:30. Very nasty storm. And there are 3 more waves coming. 

YouTube video of thunderstorm.

We decided to call it a day. We would have had 5 miles to go and the first 1.4 were VERY steep and rocky. Too dangerous to try that with this much rain and our last hour would likely have been in the dark. We Ubered to a Quality Inn for the night. We got the last room. It’s huge. We have stuff spread everywhere drying out.

Ordered a pizza and Cokes and worked on blogs and route planning for the next week. In bed at 10:30.

 Challenging day. Started off very nice with breakfast, and the initial walks in the rain were nice as it was straight down and refreshing. Got stressful as the day progressed with nasty heat and the rain slowing us down. Growing dread of making it the final 5 miles to camp with looming storms. Very glad we called it and got lucky finding a hotel room with pizza delivery. If we had tried those last 5 miles we would NOT have made it before dark and likely gotten injured on the climb up. Unfortunately we have miles to make up. 

Technical Notes:

• Breakfast sandwich 700
• Hostess cupcakes 330
• Coffee 30
• Hostess cupcakes 330
• Coffee 30
• Skittles 100
• Ice cream 400 
• Apple cider slushy 170
• Gatorade 140
• Cider donut chips 1000
• Pizza 1500
• Soda 300
• Chips 500
• Water liters 4
• Miles 11.8
• Time 7:30
• Elevation gain 3159
• Calories consumed 5600
• Calories burned 5500

“I’ll never be your beast of burden

My back is broad but it’s a-hurting

All I want for you to make love to me

I’ll never be your beast of burden

I’ve walked for miles, my feet are hurting

All I want for you to make love to me” – The Rolling Stones 

Up at 6:15. Out of camp at 7:30.

It’s very humid out here today. Heat index is mid 90s.

Stopped at Sunrise Mountain for a snack at 6:45. Topped off water at a small water cache at the parking lot for Sunrise Mountain.

Stopped at Mashipacong Shelter at 10:30 and 5.8 miles. Excellent water cache.

We have 6.6 miles to High Point state park where we will stop for lunch and to dry clothes from last night.

Stopped at High Point State Park NJ at 1:50. Dried out clothes, filled up water, and got soda from vending machine. Woo hoo! Hung with the extended tramily for about 30 minutes. They went to the beach to swim and we went to the observation tower and high point monument. 8.8 miles to Unionville.

Nice water cache and Gatorade and snacks at mile 16.2 Ferguson Road. Topped off on liquids and had a snack. 3.2 miles to go to the general store in Unionville. Hope to be there about 7:30.

We got to the Unionville General Store at 7:20. Registered to camp behind town hall and got Dr Peppers. Great little store! Pizza place is right across the street from town hall and the tavern is one block away. Set up tents and got cleaned up before walking across the street to the pizza shop at 8:00. Had dinner with the extended tramily. Good food and lots of it!

It’s really cool that town lets us pitch tents behind the town hall and provides a porta potty, water faucet, and a nice gazebo for sitting. Thanks Unionville NJ!

Very humid again tonight and a chance of rain, so I must use my rain fly, which means even more humid. My little USB powered fan will be a life saver tonight. God I love that thing!!! In bed at 10:00.

Technical Notes:

• Pop tarts 270
• Brownie 170
• Oookies 400
• Cookies 240
• Cookies 240
• Skittles 75
• Snickers 250
• Soda 150
• Zero sugar sausage 120
• Skittles 75
• Peanut butter crackers 200
• Trail mix 270
• Doritos 150
• Gatorade 80
• Peanut butter crackers 200
• Root beer x3 750
• Veal parm 1400
• Hot wings x7 490
• Water liters 6
• Miles 20
• Time 12
• Elevation gain 2416
• Calories consumed 5600
• Calories burned 7500

“Now Amos Moses was a Cajun.

He lived by himself in the swamp.

He hunted alligators for livin’.

He just knocked ’em in the head with a stump.

The Louisiana law is gonna get you, Amos!

It ain’t legal huntin’ alligators down in the swamp, boy!” – Jerry Reed

Up at 6:30. All packed and ready to go at 6:50. Breakfast starts at 7:00. Nice breakfast. On the trail at 7:50.

Overcast, humid, mid-80s, chance of rain on and off all day.

We have 20.6 miles to go to teach Gren Anderson Shelter this evening. Hoping to be there by 7:30, but that depends on  how rocky this part of NJ is.

Stopped at an ACTIVE fire tower at 8:50.

Beaver pond and two beaver lodges.

Climb up to the ridge we will follow most of the next 4 hours.

Cute little guy all alone on the trail.

Stopped for lunch at 11:30 by a spring. Back on the trail at 12:10.

Tried to get water at 2:30, but the water was stagnant and nasty. Will push on another 2.5 miles to the next shelter which may have water.

Stopped at Brink Road Shelter at 4:00 for water. Had to scoop from a weak stream. We have 3.8 miles to Culver’s Gap where we can have dinner at a tavern before continuing on another 3.2 miles to our final destination.

We got to the Mountain House Tavern in Branchville, NJ at 6:10.  Very nice place! Ordered a burger with egg and bacon and pastrami! Boom!

Back on trail at 7:15. We are road walking to a trail that connects to the shelter. It’s more direct, less steep, and not rocky. It’s an experiment/adventure. It’s a small country road, but we should be okay. Call it 2.2 miles. 

Got to shelter at 8:30. The extended tramily is here. So is a group of 15 middle schoolers and 3 camp counselors. It rained a bit and drizzled on and off, so we stayed in the shelter. It’s very humid with no wind. Yuck. In bed at 9:30. 

Technical Notes:

• Toast 170
• Sausage patty 280
• Two eggs 235
• Home fries 200
• OJ 150
• Skittles 100
• Turkey stocks 180
• Peanut butter crackers 200
• Zero sugar sausage 120
• Cookie 60
• Skittles 50
• Cookies 240
• Seltzer 100
• Hamburger 1000
• Fries 500
• Pizza x2 500
• Water liters 5
• Miles 20.6
• Time 13
• Elevation gain 3000
• Calories consumed 4000
• Calories burned 7500