Day 19

​Day 19

Starting location:  Sola Hostel

Ending location: Wawayanda Shelter

Mileage today: 17

Total Mileage: 218.3 miles 

Today’s Photo

The story behind this photo ... 

We go up around 5 am to get stuff together and ready to roll since we were hiking 17 miles today. Pastor Doug made us a pancake breakfast, which the boys loved! We said our goodbyes and got on the trial at 7:45. It was unfortunately raining, so our feet and socks were quickly soaked. Thankfully it wasn’t 90’s any more, so the rain was very nice. 

For some reason there was a random chair on the trail. lol. Never know what you might find day to day. 

NJ has a lot of these boards you walk on since this area is very boggy. They were a little slick in the rain. 

These are the famous boardwalk area of NJ. It goes on for a couple miles. Sweet hiking for sure. 

We made it to the hotdog food truck by 1:30 pm to get some hotdogs, chips and a soda. They boys were really looking forward to eating there. 

On quick story. Legolas (CJ) was about to climb over this ladder into this field when he saw something big and black. He quickly ran back to us and was yelling g “There’s a bear!” I quietly hike up to film the “bear” and realized it was a cow! lol. It got quite the laugh. 

We had one last big mountain climb after the hotdogs, and it was pretty rough but fun. Thankfully the rain had ended, but the rocks were still slippery. 

Made it to the shelter by 6 pm (latest time yet). Got supper going and the boys crashed pretty quickly. Tomorrow is a shorter day of 12 miles. Going to get some ice cream for finishing NJ! 

God bless. 

Gandalf, Legolas & Bombadil 

Day 18

​Day 18

Starting location: Rutherford Shelter

Ending location: Sola Hostel

Mileage today: 12 miles

Total Mileage: 201.3 miles

Today’s Photo

The story behind this photo ... 

We woke up at 5 am and we got on trail at 6 am since it was going to be another scorching day. We had about 8.5 miles to hike to get to Amee and resupply. I love the morning sun up on the mountains. 

We got to a state park building just as they were about to open at 8 am. It has flushable toilets and water fountain. Ah. So nice! Legolas got an orange soda to go and we trekked on. 

We found this mini Washington monument on the trail. It was some monument but we didn’t get close enough to know why. lol. 

Since it felt like mid 90’s we always take time to play in the streams safe enough to play in. It was very refreshing. 

Since it was so brutal the last 4 days with heat, we made a detour to another Christian hostel. Pastor Doug runs the Sola Hostel. They were gracious enough to allow Amee and Froning to stay with us as well! PTL. He even knew who Froning was named after. Lol. 

So what does one do while in the hostel? Play the official AT hike board game! It was actually pretty fun. Bombadil won on a shortened game. 

We did attend Pastor Doug’s prayer meeting tonight and had a great time of prayer and fellowship with a few of their congregation. Doug and his wife have 3 kids and they also homeschool! Yeah! 

Also he took me up in the bell tower of the church and showed me how they have to wind up the clock every 2 weeks I believe. It was pretty cool. Same clock from like 1909. 

Finally, it seems I finally got to see what the rhododendron bloom looks like (pinkish red). So beautiful. Also my favorite flower is now in bloom, which is the amazing elderflower! 

Well. Pancakes in the morning and then a long 17 mile hike tomorrow (with colder temps!). 

Good night. 

Gandalf, Legolas & Bombadil. 

Day 17

​Day 17

Starting location: Brink Shelter

Ending location: Rutherford Shelter

Mileage today: 15 miles

Total Mileage: 189.3 miles 

Today’s Photo

The story behind this photo ... 

Since we nearly died of heat exhaustion yesterday afternoon, we planned ahead to wake up at 5:30 am and got on the trail at 6:15 am. It was already 62 degrees out. Also planning on doing 15 miles or 4 more than yesterday. 

I love the trail this early in the morning. So peaceful and quiet. Saw a few garter snakes and more toads. The downside of leaving first thing in the morning is web walking. Were you clear all the webs with your face that was created during the night. Not fun at all. Lol. 

Found some more flowers in bloom and even some coyote scat (actually a lot of that!). Good thing we didn’t hear them during the night. 

We made it up to the top of sunrise mountain and found this awesome pavilion that we thanked the Lord for providing. The shade and beeze felt amazing! We didn’t plan on taking a break here but we easily changed our mind. Great views too. 

We came to our second fire tower. There was someone up there so the boys didn’t climb the stairs. 

Stayed at this shelter for lunch. No water source here. Not the greatest shelter in our opinion. The boys had PB&J’s again. Still not getting tired of them yet. lol. Oreos and fruit. 

Made it to the shelter around 3 pm (had to walk an extra 0.5 miles to get to the shelter. Ugh.), and got some water and mattress blown up. Boys working on journaling then time for LoTR audible book. No signal out here. 

Trying for 17 miles tomorrow but not sure we can do it. High 87 with possible storms. Might find a hostel around the 12 mile mark. Will see

Night. 

Gandalf, Legolas & Bombadil. 

Day 16

​Day 16

Starting location: Millbrook Road

Ending location: Brink Shelter 

Mileage today: 11.1 miles

Total Mileage: 174.4 miles

Today’s Photo

The story behind this photo ... 

So today we woke up at our usual 7 am and got on the road by 8 am and on the trail around 8:30 am. Hindsight, we should have started earlier, since it got up to 95 degrees today. We thought we would have a nice easy 11.1 miles but we were so wrong! Man with full packs and the heat and the hills, we limped in to the shelter around 3:30 pm desperate for water! There wasn’t much on the trail today. 

We did go past this pond and saw a couple beaver homes in it, which was cool. This was super early in the day so we didn’t need any of this water. Lol. Not that we wanted it anyway. lol. 

We did see another large black rat snake that Bombadil nearly stepped on. It scared him so bad. lol. But he recovered pretty quickly. It was so cool to see it slither away. 

Now this is the trail we want to see. See how smooth it is and free of rocks and roots! Pristine! You can actually look around and enjoy yourself. 

Since I could look around, I found this gem of a plant. It’s is a pink lady slipper orchid. So beautiful. 

At lunch we finally found a stream to refill our water bottles and refuel. There were tons of frogs in the stream. Unfortunately it wasn’t super nice to play much in despite the heat of the day. 

Near the end of the day, NJ felt more like Georgia because we actually went up and down 3 different small mountains. PUDs are what we call them ( pointless up and downs). But this pic is at the top of rattlesnake mountain. Unfortunately we didn’t see any rattlesnakes. 

Finally made it to Brink Shelter and the boys got right to “school” and did their journals and nature journals. (Bombadil wasn’t super excited). 

We ate and around 6:30 pm a NOBO thru hiker came into camp. Sir Isaac Newton who started Feb 27th joined us tonight. He is British. Wonderful accent. 

Well going to bed early tonight to wake up early to get 15 miles in before the heat gets bad. Trying for 6:30 am departure. 

Good night. 

Gandalf, Legolas & Bombadil