The Appalachian Trail in New York extends about 90 miles, give or take. It’s not a walk in the park, being quite rocky with numerous steep sections. The days we hiked it, it was pretty warm, it was a sweat fest.
A couple years ago we came out this way to ski, and passed an access point for the AT. This was before we had really considered hiking the trail. That day we took a break from driving, and spent an hr or so hiking. We found it very challenging at the time. It was a bit of a milestone to return and hike this small section again as a thru-hike.
That small concentration of structures on the south bank of the Hudson River is West Point, also officially called United States Military Academy at West Point.
Warrior Princess and some nice trail art. She is kind of the sweetheart of the trail.
Part of the AT goes through Bear Mountain State Park. It’s a great park to hike through, but a few too many police. It appears the park has its own police force, and probably for a reason. Also at this point in the hike we are about 60 or so miles north of Manhattan. You can see it at some vistas along the trail.
It’s been awhile since we’ve come across an Eagle Scout Project. Let’s say Charles was 17 at the time of the project. He’d be 32 now. It’s still holding up, but showing a little wear.
For me, the best part of this hike is finding things to photograph. When I get bored of hiking I’ll play a game. Try to find something somewhat unique while crossing a field, or something colorful on a dreary, hot day. Im looking for something extraordinary out of the ordinary. A diversion exercises, I suppose. I captured this photo after climbing roughly a thousand feet. It was hot and very humid, and not a pleasant afternoon for hiking.
Oh my goodness, look who it is. It’s Shazam. I haven’t seen her in about a week, and she’s still smiling.
CornDog looking too cute, as he takes a break in his car. As we’ve been hiking the AT we’ve learned that CornDog loves his car. When he comes to the across his car at a trailhead, he’s super anxious to get inside.
I came across this very nice memorial while hiking. An outstanding poem is displayed. I did a little hunting online. The poem is written by Helen Steiner Rice, and I’ve added a link in case the photo is hard to read.
https://www.prodigal.org.uk/funeral-poems/when-i-must-leave-you
A somewhat rare metal Appalachian Trail marker. I’m not sure if these markers are specific to New York, but this one has “NY” imprinted.
This guy gets a call out. There wasn’t really any water near by, and where we were had suffered from sun exposure. I wasn’t expecting a frog way up on this ridge.
Actual tangible trail magic has been scarce in New York. This small cache of water was a surprise, and always, appreciated.
I realize the coloring is off in this photo, but it’s the only way I could get all the signage to display. This was quite the crossroads. I appreciated the reminder on the top sign.
I’m having fun with the camera editing tools again. Probably too much fun.
Two photos of New York City in the distance. Just incredible how far you can see on the trail. I’d guess that’s about 50 miles away.
This ladder was used to get down a steep section. No problem. The challenge was in getting Warrior Princess down. But
But like almost every other similar challenge, they tend to work it out themselves. Warrior Princess gets a reward.
And here we have it, the beginning of the final state, New Jersey.
