From Southern New York, through Connecticut and in to Massachusetts with about a week of sweaty, rocky, mosquito buzzing tramping…
https://youtu.be/J7h9M4XYjUA
(Above – the fun continues)

Scared up a turkey hen with 8 (or so) chicks…

Mountain Laurel finally starting to bloom…

New York City skyline from about 35 miles away…

Outstanding! Pristine campsite within 50 miles of around 20 million people…

Bear Mountain…trail maintenance in action. This crew is nearly finished with transforming a few miles of nasty, dangerous & eroded steep stuff by transporting and setting thousands of heavy, pre-cut rocks (see next pic) into steps…


The AT goes through a “native plant & animal” zoo…free admission!

The lowest point on the Appalachian Trail (124′) is right next to the zoo’s black bear enclosure…

Getting ready to cross the Hudson…

Trail magic! Got picked up by Internet friend Bill, who treated us to a Greek diner breakfast and a relaxing morning tour of his beautiful Hudson River town. Bill even hiked some miles with us…great to get to know Herr Ziebal! 🙂

Site of a plutonium spill in the 70’s. We decided not to take the scenic, glowing side trail…

Nearing the Dover Oak…the oldest oak along the AT (over 300 years)…

Yup, pretty durned big…


A local landscaper allows hikers to tent on the edge of his property…good stuff. Unfortunately, the plot is also adjacent to a New York City commuter train line. We were awoken by the (we think intentional) shrill blast of a train whistle at 5am…


Ahhhhhh…

Oven Bird with chicks…

For several weeks, we were wondering what these air-filled pods were we found on the trail. They are galls produced by gall wasps on oak trees. Alfred Kinsey avidly studied these wasps before deciding that human sexuality was a far more interesting field of study…

Sculptures & relaxation in pastoral & lazy Kent, Connecticut…


Wood Frog…

Mmmmmmmm! Cool, sweet mountain spring water filtered (don’t want parasites giving us the shits) through our gravity system…


Housatonic Falls…

The best water is attained from cemeteries…high calcium content…

Ski-jump (from across the valley) above Salisbury, Connecticut, used in US Olympic trials…


Site of the last battle of Shays’ Rebellion, a series of protests of unfair taxes immediately following the revolution, resulting in a swift tyrannical smack-down by our Founding Fathers…
wow! thanks for posting pics with such great explanations. enjoyable but makes me thankful i’m clean and comfy and bug-free. saw a thru hiker in the waynesboro starbucks this morning and offered to give her a lift and thought of ya’ll. be safe! vera
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I’m really enjoying your journey vicariously. The photos are great!
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A friend told us the mountain laurel are in full-bloom in West Virginia mountains as well! See you soon! 🙂
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Great pictures! It’s fun to follow on the map and see where you have been.
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Nick says you have someone on your tail! Look for this guy to come up from behind. 🙂 http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/updated-before-retirement-scott-jurek-attempting-appalachian-trail-record
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Steve that looks like so much fun. How much weight have you lost and how’s the feet holding up? Your the man!
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Hey Jon…lovin’ every minute! Feet are doing well…had to switch from the toe-shoes to regular runners as the achilles & arches weren’t feeling good. Have lost about 40 lbs thus far!
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Guys at the Y told me the train engineers used to stop the train to walk to Dunkin Donuts blocking roads throughout the city and the mayor almost got into a fist fight with them ( referring to your post about intentional horn blowing).
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