New Jersey

[JLorenzo77]

So, my friend and I have realized that we won't thru-hike the entire trail. We are kind of old, enjoy being clean, and prefer reliable beer sources. That being said, we have decided to tackle it one state at a time. We've done WV and MD, in addition to Southern PA and northern VA. We decided that NJ would be a good state to knock out in one trip.

Anyone done this and if so, how much time would you dedicate for it?

[Gambit McCrae]

I walked from Salisbury CT to Little Gap, PA in 14 days this October (240 miles). We walked out of NY and into NJ in the morning and our days went as follows:
Wildcat Shelter to Vernon, NJ 17.1 Miles
Vernon, NJ to High point NJ: 20.6 Miles
Highpoint NJ to Brink Shelter: 17.9 Miles
Brink Shelter to DWG: 24.8 miles

So 4 days. However I would suggest starting At Bear Mountain Bridge which would add about 35 miles to your trip, but you would get to see Bear Mountain and Harriman SP. Both are awesome but you it does not come without a price. Agony Grind is in that 35 mile stretch and as I like to say, it really got my attention lol

A side note, My buddy and I enjoy our beer as well. There are ample opportunities for a beer break in this section. I would say about 1 a day. As well, If you enjoy a bed vs shelter/ sleeping in the woods, there are ample accommodations in this area as well. Some that we used/ could have used are as follows:
Bear Mountain, NY
Vernon, NJ
Highpoint NJ at us23 is a hostel called Moseys Place - highly recommend this
DWG is in need of a pay hostel. They have the donation church hostel and can get ya by but they have rules, and it is an open door policy so while we were there I woke up to a homeless man rummaging around

[Slo-go'en]

The AT bounces back and forth between NJ and NY for a while so you might as well kick out a piece of NY too and end at the Hudson. It's 110 miles between the Delaware and the Hudson. I would guess between 7 and 10 days.

[ChrisMek]

I did from NY/NJ State line to NJ/PA state line SOBO last year. I took my time and had a slow partner for the first couple days. took me 7 days, but could have really done it in 5. For Beer stops, go to Gyps Tavern on Route 206 in Culvers Gap and Wit's End Tavern in Unionville NY. Both great sources of Beer and Burgers.

[Bansko]

Unionville, NY, right on the NJ border, was a great stop too, as I recall. There's a bar/grill that some frequent (forget the name), but the town is very hiker friendly so about six of us pitched tents in the city park (permitted) and bought some pizzas at the pizza place across the street and some beer at the thoroughly old school and wonderful general store, which was less than 100 yards away. We had a great time, but kept things subtle. Technically, there is no beer in the city park, but we were told that as long as we kept it on the lowdown everyone would turn a blind eye.

[Berserker]

So, my friend and I have realized that we won't thru-hike the entire trail. We are kind of old, enjoy being clean, and prefer reliable beer sources. That being said, we have decided to tackle it one state at a time. We've done WV and MD, in addition to Southern PA and northern VA. We decided that NJ would be a good state to knock out in one trip.

Anyone done this and if so, how much time would you dedicate for it?
Man, I've been at this so long (or maybe it's because I'm in my mid 40s) I had to look back at my records because I forgot. Anyway, I did it in 2012, and did the whole state in one shot. The trip I did went from Delaware Water Gap to Arden Valley Rd. and was 95.8 miles. I did it in 7 days.

So to answer your question, depends on your shape and how many miles you like to do per day. My recollection is that NJ wasn't super hard. There are a lot of short steep ups and downs, and a lot of rock ridges you walk across. What sticks out in my mind is that it rained a good bit of the 7 days I was there, and that made it kinda suck, which was a bummer because those rock ridges were pretty neat.

As for "old, enjoy being clean and prefer reliable beer sources", old...yes, enjoy being clean...totally agree, prefer reliable beer sources...might I suggest whiskey, it's more compact if you want to carry it along with you and I personally like it a lot better than beer.

[Gambit McCrae]

As for "old, enjoy being clean and prefer reliable beer sources", old...yes, enjoy being clean...totally agree, prefer reliable beer sources...might I suggest whiskey, it's more compact if you want to carry it along with you and I personally like it a lot better than beer.

I resupplies my 16oz whiskey bottle 3 times on my trip thru there, could have a 4th time at Bear Mountain, NY but knew what was ahead (lack of water/ agony grind) and chose to use my whiskey bottle for another 16oz of water, which was quite the smart choice if I say so myself.

[colorado_rob]

The AT bounces back and forth between NJ and NY for a while so you might as well kick out a piece of NY too and end at the Hudson. It's 110 miles between the Delaware and the Hudson. I would guess between 7 and 10 days. This is a great plan.

BTW, NJ was overall a fantastic AT hike. As many say, maybe it's just because for most folks it comes right after PA.... but still, nice hiking through NJ. NY was OK, but for some reason the AT through NY has a ton of little trail jogs to go over stupid little rocky areas. It's like the trail routers back in the day were looking for SOME way to make the hike through NY more interesting, so they made sure to catch every little rocky bump. All good though.

[Feral Bill]

40 is not old. You'll earn that title in due course.

[Slo-go'en]

This is a great plan.

BTW, NJ was overall a fantastic AT hike. As many say, maybe it's just because for most folks it comes right after PA.... but still, nice hiking through NJ.

Yep, a lot of people remark how nice NJ is and indeed a lot of it is the compassion with what they just went through in PA. You also start coming across little ponds that you can swim or wade in to cool off on a hot summer day. (check for leaches when you get out...) And in NY it does seem like they went out of their way to route the trail over every rock scramble they could find.

[Old Grouse]

40 is not old. You'll earn that title in due course.

Amen to that!

[Berserker]

I resupplies my 16oz whiskey bottle 3 times on my trip thru there, could have a 4th time at Bear Mountain, NY but knew what was ahead (lack of water/ agony grind) and chose to use my whiskey bottle for another 16oz of water, which was quite the smart choice if I say so myself.
Your problem is you are carrying weak stuff, you could totally be saving weight here :D

If I remember what you said in another thread you carry Jack Daniels. Go get ya some Old Granddad 114, and you can save yourself several ounces whilst getting the same bang for your buck (i.e. 16 oz of 80 proof stuff is equivalent to 11.2 oz of 114 proof hooch)...and taste is in the eye of the beholder, but I think OGD tastes much better than JD. Heck if you don't like OGD then maybe you like Wild Turkey 101...that'll save ya over 3 oz. Don't like WT, then there's a bunch of cheap but decent bottled in bond offerings (100 proof) such as Evan Williams White label, Rittenhouse Rye, etc.

[BuckeyeBill]

40 is not old. You'll earn that title in due course.

You said it. If 40 is old then I'm ancient.

[Sandy of PA]

Time of year is important, I got eaten alive by mosquitos in NJ. Big Bear Swamp Sanctuary really is a swamp! End of June was bad and hot enough to make my full bugsuit and headnet miserable.

[Slo-go'en]

Time of year is important, I got eaten alive by mosquitos in NJ. Big Bear Swamp Sanctuary really is a swamp! End of June was bad and hot enough to make my full bugsuit and headnet miserable.

Back in '08, I started north from the DWG on the first day of an eleven day heat wave. End of July. It was brutal. That kind of heat and humidity just snaps the energy out of me. Normally I'm not much of a water person, but I did enjoy every pond we came across and there were bushes and bushes full of blueberries, so there was some reward to the suffering.