AT Trip Review: My 16 Day Experience Hiking the TriStates + Some PA
Fall Trip 17’ SoBo
237 miles
16 days
6 days over 20 miles
4 states
3 airports
3 taxis
2 zeros
2 hostels
2 motels
2 shuttles
1 day over 25 miles
Day by Day Mileage:
Day 1 - Sharon Mt Campsite 13.2 miles
Day 2 - Algo Mt Shelter 19.8 miles
2.0 miles round trip into Kent. Kent pizza garden.
Day 3 - Wiley Shelter 12.4 miles
Day 4 - Wingdale, NY 5.7
Day 5 - 2 mile road walk to trail
RPH shelter 20 miles
Day 6 - Greymoor Life Center 18.8
.8 round trip back to trail
Day 7 - William Brien Shelter 16.6 miles
Day 8 - Wildcat Shelter 19.5 miles
Day 9 - Vernon, NJ 17.1 miles
Day 10 - Zero in Vernon, NJ
Day 11 - Highpoint HQ/ Moseys - 20.5 miles
Day 12 - Brink Shelter 17.9 Miles
Day 13 - DWG 24.8 miles
Day 14 - Zero in DWG
Day 15 -Leroy Smith Shelter 20.2 miles
Day 16 - Little Gap Road 10.8 Miles
Overview: A good friend and I set out for a 16 day trip starting in Salisbury, CT heading south with the intended goal of DWG. We got to see some great fall colors in New York however New Jersey and Pennsylvania were 90% green.
Overview by state
Connecticut: Starting out in Salisbury, CT going sobo the state was a different feel of trail then down south. Every state is different though… Water was pretty available, some low springs but never really needed to carry more than a liter at a time. Night 1 and 2 were pretty cold compared to the rest of the trip, down into the mid 30’s. Day 2 we went into Kent, CT for pizza and beer. Kent in general is quite pricey however the Pizza Garden seemed to miss the memo on jacking prices up and they were extremely helpful with hiker needs, allowing us to hang wet clothes up on the porch, charge our electronics, throw away trash and refilled our water as well as wrapping up our leftover pizza in a hiker friendly format of foil and tape instead of a pizza box. We got back on the trail that night and went up to Mt Algo Shelter. Water was flowing very well at the shelter.
New York: I have mixed feelings about New York…Wingdale/ Pawling were awesome along with Greymoor Life Center, Appalachian Market, Harriman SP, Bear Mountain; but if I recall correctly after Bear Mountain the water sources and the terrain really went to hell. I recall about 1 water source running south of bear mountain to the Jersey line. Last day in New York it rained, and as you walk the “rock ridgelines” we came across a big pool of water in one of the rocks that had obviously been filled by the rain the night before, I was very happy to scoop up 2 liters out of it and drink a 3rd liter. I was warned about agony grind prior to the trip and I did not pay it any attention, until I crossed NY17 and started climbing up and then.. “ah yes agony grind, indeed you are”. If it had been a day hike it would have been fun, tacking it on to the end of a 20 mile day was a little frustrating throwing in the factor of zero water in the area.
New Jersey: Uneventful really. Other then hiking the entire state in my underwear, the highlights of the state were Highpoint wooden tower, Moseys hostel, Sunfish Pond and Vernon Township. Water was slightly more reliable in New Jersey than in New York but nothing to brag about. Sunfish Pond was nice but quite a booger of rocks for a path.
Pennsylvania: We ended the trip on Thursday 4 days early, with having a flight on Sunday we had the rest of the time to burn. It was a great feeling getting to DWG as planned, but also a great feeling to, after walking the 206 miles to get there, want to keep going. So we took Friday off eating at the bakery and enjoying the Sycamore Grill. On Saturday we got back out and over Sat/ Sun made it to Little Gap, PA just 6 miles shy of Lehigh Gap. Before the trip even started I had thoughts that we would end up making it to Lehigh, I put it in the back of my head and left it there until we got to DWG. Sunday we woke up to rain, and my knee had started giving me problems. Little Gap just made more sense to us then the extra 6 miles into Lehigh. It also finished up the trip engraining into me a lesson for the trip, don’t have such a strict plan on the trip, do what you want and not what you think is the “best thing for completion”. On top of that, I was not looking forward to crawling down Lehigh in a pouring rain, and slipping ending the trip in an injury.
Notable Places/ People on the trip:
Kai/ Jesse Shuttle From Hartford, CT Airport to Salisbury, CT: I set up the Shuttle with Jesse about 2 months before the trip and this was my second time to use her in this area. About a month later she text me and said she had other obligations but that her son Kai does shuttles and would be taking over this shuttle ride. Kai was on time, social and a safe driver. Youngest shuttle driver I have had, probably in his early 20’s.
Wingdale/ Pawling NY: Wingdale and Pawling are about 7-10 miles apart from each other along a straight highway with the AT dividing them in half. Pawling does not have accommodations, and Wingdale does not have good food. A $15 taxi is the minimum in town, and after a 15 min attempt to hitch after our stay at the Duchess Motor Lodge, we walked the 2 miles or so back to the AT from the Duchess Motel.
-Wingdale offers a motor lodge and a liquor/ beer/ tobacco store all in a 2 minute walk from each other. The beer store has snack resupply but no dinner food.
-Pawling offers a couple pizza places, a couple taverns, a CVS and a deli/ gas station.
Duchess Motor lodge / Owner Billy: $89 a night, laundry and trailside pickup are described as costing extra but I think due to it not being busy, Billy did not charge us extra for trail pickup and laundry. Laundry is around back, and it was pleasant hang drying our clothes on the line on a sunny day (no dryer). I have to be honest and say that the rooms are in need of repair/ reno’s and a good cleaning/ better attention to the linens…I’ll leave that at that.
Greymoor Life Center/ Appalachian Market: We stayed at the ball fields under the pavilion, it was one of our favorite nights on the trip, very peaceful. Monastery folks walk the road until about 10pm which was neat to watch, place had a summer camp feel to it. They have a 4x charging outlet, spigot and cold shower which was very refreshing. Water pressure must have been about 200 psi lol The pavilion is a nice .4 mile walk off trail and downhill on the way in. Appalachian Market, pretty darn strong resupply, dinners, pasta sides, mountain house, full grill 24/7 and snacks.
Bear Mountain: Bear mountain offers rooms for about $200 a night, $5 beers and $3 hotdogs - $26 later we were back on trail. The walk up Bear Mountain has been one of my favorite mountains on the trail. The hours it has taken to lay all of those steps is countless. What a work of art. The zoo was depressing. My issue was the climb down into Bear Mountain on the north end of the Hudson River was the most littered stretch of the trail I have seen. I was very disappointed in that.
Vernon, NJ / Quality Inn / George Inn / Pizza Pros/ Dollar General / Mixing Bowl:
-Vernon, NJ – Is about 6 miles from the trail, and lowest price for taxi into town is $20. Appalachian Motel was sold out so that will not be a part of my trip review besides that she was very helpful and commented that it was raining So she went as far as to call all of her customers that had reserved that night to confirm if they would be staying for sure (I did not ask her to do this) however I did not get a call back confirming if there was a cancelation, I assumed that there was not and we went to the quality Inn. While waiting for our taxi to the quality Inn we went to the Heaven Hill Farm for some homemade apple cider and cider donuts. Very tasty and worth the stop for sure! I would give the Heaven Hill Farm a light snack resupply option rating.
-Quality Inn – Not much to say about this place. Stayed 2 nights to wait out the Nate Storms, $202 for 2 nights. That included a $20 discount because the water did not work half the zero day.
-George Inn – Been open for about 150 years, clean place, .75 mile from quality Inn. The owner took 30 minutes out of his schedule to talk with us and it was one of the best conversations I had on the hike. He came to the states as a baby of Greek Immigrants with no money. He now owns the George Inn and his story was very refreshing. I would however have to discourage a southerner from getting the ribs, they are not what you are expecting…Meatloaf flavored ribs is an accurate description. They have beer and liquor store here as well as smokes. Left side of George Inn is a bar, and more suitable for hikers, right side is a white table cloth kinda place. But same food can be ordered from either side.
-Pizza Pros – Basic Pizza joint
-Dollar General – Basic Dollar General
-Mixing Bowl – Deli, light resupply, nice folks, tobacco
-The longest Boardwalk on the AT is currently being replaced, they are finished up to the bridge on the north side.
-Moseys: Is a hostel finishing up its first official year being open. Mosey is a female thru hiker from 2015 and is nothing but friendly and accommodating. The hostel is inside her home, 6 bunks. $25 a night gets you a bunk w/ linens, showers, laundry, a ride to and from town, as well as free pickup at the highpoint HQ on 22 and a big breakfast of bacon eggs and pancakes. We really enjoyed Moseys because it felt like home.
-Mountain Church Donation Hostel/ DWG: Hostel provides a shower w/ towels, a shelter style bunk room(no mattress/ linens), bathroom, hiker box. 2 night max which allows you to zero. A short walk to anything in town. No alcohol/ smoking on church property. I don’t have too much to say about the rest of DWG, outfitter was somewhat useless they had zero resupply and a very tiny selection of product, most of which did not look long distance hiking friendly. Bakery and sycamore grill I give 2 thumbs up to.
-Mountain Drive In Café at Little Gap, PA: Seemed to be neutral on a hiker friendly standpoint, supposedly they will allow you to tent around back behind the diner. It is 1.4 off trail and down a steep windy road. This is where we got picked up at to be taken to Newark Airport.
-George Lightcap: One of my favorite shuttle guys out of 51 trips the past 4 years. Full of trail experience as a section hiker, trail maintainer, nothing but positive vibes and magic beads as tokens of thanks for allowing him to shuttle us! What a guy A++ to George
The trip taught me many things over the span of 237 miles. Some of those lessons…
-Take the whole day to reach a big mileage day
-Be patient with progress
-Don’t look or dwell on the big picture, take every day as the only goal you have.
-Water Source? Kill a liter
-Eat eat eat…
-You can still be goal oriented on the trail yet make the experience about the journey not the destination.
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Originally Posted by Gambit McCrae
