Appalachian Trail Thru-hikers: Beware of New York
A lot of northbound Appalachian Trail thru-hikers hit the trail back in February and March and are in or near New York in the summer.
If you’re still out there, you’ve got your trail legs now. You’re likely cruising along, thinking “I’ve got this.”
If this is you, then I want to give you a heads up: Beware of New York.
Here’s why, plus two tips to help you get through this state.
I was first warned about New York from a former thru-hiker named Risk.
We sat on the veranda of The Mill restaurant in Damascus, Virginia. I was calculating miles, seeing how many I needed to do in order to finish my thru-hike in time to start graduate school.
Risk had thru-hiked the year before, so I ran my numbers by him to see if he thought it was do-able.
I’d only met Risk a couple times, but he was one of those constantly peppy people.
Where I was precise and goal-oriented, he hiked by feel.
Where I forced myself to get up and get marching pretty much around dawn every day, he slept in as late as he wanted, even if that meant he only had enough daylight hours to…
