Day 117
Start: Brink Road Shelter
End: High Point Shelter
Miles Hiked: 19.7
Miles on AT: 1342.0
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Today started like any other. I woke up, packed my things, and had breakfast while I chatted with the section hikers from last night. I hit the trail around 8 am to tackle more of NJ’s flat ridges.
From the map, it appeared that today would be a lot like yesterday. But, as a bonus, there was a state park coming up at the end of my day that had a lake, showers, and outlets. Nice!
On my first ridge, I found a grassy view of the valley down below as I had yesterday and I also happened upon even more wild turkeys. NJ is definitely the state with the most wild turkeys.
The day was mild, still a little cloudy, which kept the heat at bay. At my next road crossing, there was a BBQ place that came highly recommended by hikers, but because the day was still firmly in breakfast territory, it wasn’t open yet. I guess I wouldn’t get to experience NJ BBQ.
I didn’t have to stay disappointed for long because I happened upon trail magic! Michael, known as Big Van Mike by hikers, had his big van full of fruit, snacks, and drinks as well as chairs set up for hikers to sit in and enjoy the magic. He had hiked the AT in the 70s and had been hosting trail magic and caching water for hikers for years.
A few minutes after I sat down, Miles and Skittles walked by and joined us. It was the beginning of the day and I still had miles to cover, so I didn’t want to stay too long, but I ended up sitting for 30 minutes, eating snacks and listening to trail stories. It was great.
After leaving, I climbed up my next ridge and spent miles up there. I passed another fire tower and eventually came to a really nice mountain top pavilion. It was the perfect place to eat lunch and enjoy the view, so that’s exactly what I did. I laid on the benches, enjoying the breeze passing through the open space.
When Ieft, the trail continued as it had before; I climbed up a ridge and stayed there for a while before descending and climbing another one. I passed the hours with an audiobook, eagerly looking forward to arriving at the state park to swim and take a shower.
And let me tell you, High Point State Park did not disappoint. The lake had a sandy beach, clear water, and plenty of fish. Today was a ‘no swimming’ day because there was no lifeguard on duty, but because it was already around 5:30 on a weekday, there were a few families swimming in the roped off waters.
My sore feet desperately needed relief and I was too tired to change my clothes for swimming, so I opted to walk in the water instead, letting my hot feet cook down. After a while I found a less sandy spot on the sidewalk and lie down, happy to be off of my feet for a few minutes.
It was still early in the day and the shelter was less than a mile away; I could spend all evening here! Once I recovered and regained some strength, I gathered a few clothes and headed to the showers. What hiker can pass up a free shower? I also got a little trail laundry done and hung my clean-ish clothes on the banister to dry in the sun.
This was the life! Families were having cookouts together, kids played in the water, the sky wasn’t threatening rain. Life was simple and beautiful and I loved it. I was grateful to be here experiencing a small but mighty moment of joy, peace, and love.
As I made and ate dinner, I video chatted with Janitor so we could share our meal together. The setting sun, still relatively high in the sky, warmed my back. I was carefree and relaxed.
After I said goodbye to Janitor, I packed my things up and headed to the shelter. It was almost sunset and there was an observation deck about 0.2 miles away, so I climbed up there to catch my last views of the fading sun.
When I arrived at the shelter, a few tents were set up and Miles and Skittles had established themselves in the shelter. With not a lot of time for small talk left, I set up my tent and crawled in, content with my full, relaxing day.
And that’s day 117.
A version of this post originally appeared on TheTrek.co.