That’s a Series Wrap on New England

CONTENT REASSURANCE: Is that the opposite of “content warning?” I don’t know. Anyway I would like to reassure you that nothing in today’s newsletter is likely to make you cry. So you should feel confident reading it at work, or on public transit, or in front of United States Deputy Secretary of Labor Julie Su, or wherever you happen to be. If the last post made you cry, I’m not sorry and I’ll do it again as soon as possible, but that almost certainly won’t be today. Also if you replied to the last one to let me know the exact location and circumstances under which it broke you, thank you so much, that’s truly what I live for. 

PROGRAMMING NOTE: While we’re up here in the non-diegetic space, I should also say that Today on Trail will be off this coming week for travel and wedding festivities. I will return to your inbox next Sunday, from ✨Virginia✨ if all goes as planned. 

OH YEAH, ALSO: I talked to Mark Yarm for Depth Perception’s Long Lead Newsletter about what it’s been like writing from the trail and my overall lack of media strategy.

Yesterday afternoon we left New England, crossing the Connecticut-New York border for the third and final time at Hoyt Road, mile 736.1. Today we reached NY Route 22 north of Pawling, got lunch at Tony’s Deli, and then walked the mile and a half into town. That’s 743 miles of the northern trail done. Next week I’ll skip ahead to the Potomac River bridge at Harper’s Ferry, mile 1170.7, which is 434.6 trail miles from here. I put that here in the newsletter mostly so I’ll know where to look it up when I inevitably forget the exact number of miles I owe the Appalachian Trail spirits.  

743 miles is almost exactly one third of the trail. On one hand, it feels unfathomable that anyone could hike that much trail two more times. But on the other hand, it’s starting to feel normal to me to be out here. A couple nights ago I was lying in my tent and I suddenly realized I felt at home. Not that I want to live in the woods forever—I still miss the rest of my family a lot—but I felt like I was in a place I understand and belong. You know when you get home and close the door behind you and all your senses come off alert? I felt like that. I’m not sure when this happened but I think it was recently. I’ve been sleeping better too, although the inflatable pad still has me waking up with numb arms more regularly than I’d like. 

The rest of Massachusetts and Connecticut were pretty uneventful. It hasn’t rained in weeks. I had an outstanding zero day in Great Barrington, MA, which has friendly locals and many good food options, although no outfitters for gear replacement. In the brief 52 miles of trail in Connecticut, Cornwall Bridge supplied not one but two different chocolate croissants (the one at the shoppy shop was significantly better than the one at the fancy bakery, surprisingly), not one but two different iced coffees (the quality of which was exactly the inverse of the croissants), and a full gas station resupply when I accidentally ran out of food due to miscalculating how many days it would be to Kent. Kent itself, when we finally got there, had a laundromat, a coin operated shower, free restrooms, a burger and two excellent beers, and a grocery store all within about one block of each other. Kent also had several friendly locals. I’m starting to think locals in general are friendly? More research on this is needed.

Tomorrow Mica and I embark on a public transit tour of the Northeast corridor comprising the Metro North railway, the New York subway, Amtrak, and the Washington, DC Metro. Then Sunday we go our separate ways, me to Harper’s Ferry and him back up here to Pawling. We’ve had a week and about 75 miles to consider our decisions and we both feel confident we’re doing the right thing, but I am gonna miss him. I hope he catches up to me soon.

That’s it really, this is not so much a polished essay as a little update on how we’re doing, which is: pretty good. I hope you are also well, and I’ll see you in the south.