Into New England

I'm in danger of providing an endless stream of positivity that will make even the most soft hearted of you start to gag.  Every time I leave a state I tend to start a new post with "Why hey there, STATE! You were awesome! I loved you!" and I recognize that for some of you, this might be getting a bit old.  But, sadly, it's both earnest and true.  Having had no expectations for any of the states other than New Hampshire (which I've hiked extensively in), I've been finding myself pleasantly surprised all the time by the topography, diversity of scenery, and flora and fauna.  New York was no exception, and I encourage you all to go hike the section of the AT between the NY Thruway 87 and the Bear Mountain Bridge.

 

Island Pond is one of the most beautiful places to camp that I've seen.

I wanted to take a photo of the pond at sunset, but unfortunately the 

bugs got BAD.

 Island Pond Mountain at 6:15 in the morning.  I wanted to stop to camp, 

but didn't think it prudent to call it a day after 25 minutes of hiking.

Volunteers must have put in thousands of hours to create the well graded and 

beautiful hiking trails up and down Bear Mountain. If you've ever volunteered

with a trail crew before, thank you! 

 Crossing the Hudson River on Bear Mountain Bridge.

One of the things I've loved the most about New Jersey and New York was the ability to camp in unusual places (having, ahem, decided to willfully ignore the camping restrictions described in my guidebook).  I spent the night at an AMC camp, a fire tower, on 80 acres of private property (with an awkwardly placed outdoor shower- Hello, people sitting on the shelter porch!  Don't mind me!), a park in the middle of a village, at the fringes of a remote pond, and on a Franciscan monastery ball field.

I'm currently holed up in Connecticut, having crossed the border into New England yesterday afternoon.  I'm taking two days off to visit family and rest my body (and, hopefully, let some friends who fell behind catch up).  My uncle Mark and cousin Chelsea met me near Kent with a large cooler filled with things they thought I'd want: sandwiches, sushi, juice, fruit, vegetables, etc.  And while that was certainly wonderful and extremely thoughtful, my favorite part is getting to spend time with my family, relaxing and laughing.  Tomorrow I'm heading over to see my aunts and to put in some time in the pool, hopefully evening up the weirdest tan lines I've ever had.  I hope all of you are having a similarly wonderful weekend.