The first big week

Reliving New York

I always loved hiking around Harriman State Park. So I set out on my hike the ridge before Bear Mountain with the goal of getting up Anthony's Nose, across the Hudson. It was a great day to hike...I had just forgotten what it was like to carry 30 pounds on my back.

Most of my first day was uneventful, until I started climbing Anthony's Nose. I don't know if I was sick of seeing thruhikers pass me by up the step climb or if it just was over doing it. Probably thce latter.  By the time I got to the top I had sustained several injuries, mainly my right knee. Great, as if I don't go slow enough.

I managed to camp not far from Anthony's Nose and rested up.

The next day was another nice day. I managed to pull a long day over 17 miles (which didn't help my knee at all) and camped with some hikers I met earlier in the day. My knee pain had then moved up to my hip... Not good. I'm keeping my eye on it at this point.

The next couple days, I hiked shorter distances in hopes of the knee and hip feeling better. It seemed to work.

I've only hiked about 67 miles or so, even shuttled up a bit to try make sure I stick with my schedule. I would like to be at least in Vermont by Wednesday next week. Right now I'm in Connecticut headed for Mass. I hope to be there on 2 and half days.

What I've learned so far
Lentils are tricky when you don't measure the water. I spent some time before my trip preparing to try out food on the trail. Lentils soaked in cold water took about 45 minutes to get soft...at least during my tests.

On her the other night, I was camped by myself and had open the lentils meal I prepped. First thing I couldn't help but notice was that I put WAY too much garlic salt in the mix. My bag of food was stinking up EVERYTHING. This makes me a little nervous because I didn't know what the bear situation was like around here. All I wanted to do was eat this smelly mess before I had to worry about bears.

Well needless to say my lentils would not work with me. They refused to soften up.  I waited for about 2 hours before I put the crap meal into 4 different ziplock bags to cover the odor.  The garlic was stuck in my nose, even while I tried to sleep... With one eye open all night.