9-20-12

AT miles hiked today: 11.5
Total AT miles hiked: 1426.7
Miles to complete my thruhike: 757.5

I finished hiking New York state and I crossed into New Jersey today! I'm tenting at Pochuck Mtn Shelter after getting a later start since we all slept until after 6:00 this morning. We stopped at Heaven Hill farm for ice cream, pie, pastries, and coffee, and they were baking tomato pies, which smelled great, but sadly, I didn't get to taste one.

After the farm I hiked across a boardwalk over wetlands and saw a row of turtles in a swamp full of green algae. They were sunning on a mossy log with their necks extended. I could see the red stripes on their necks. There was a pretty, old, wooden suspension bridge and I met several nice people and it was beautiful. New Jersey has already surprised me, but I really had no idea what to expect from this state except bears. I heard that NJ has the highest percentage of bears to people than anywhere else on the AT (except maybe in Shenandoah National Park), but I saw no bears today.