1556.6

I'm in Dalton, Massachusetts taking a zero day tomorrow. We passed the 1500 mile mark a couple of days ago and are still meandering along. New Jersey was beautiful - still a little rocky, but beautiful. I will now defend New Jersey as "The Garden State". New York seemed to pass quickly and had some great views and climbs. Before I knew it we had crossed the line into Connecticut and New England. The short bit of the trail that runs through Connecticut was gorgeous and we stayed in Kent, CT overnight to restock, do a little laundry, and fortunately for us there is a fabulous coffee and chocolate shop in town, mmmm. As I sit now, I'm about 28 miles short of the Vermont border.

It's hard enough to conceptualize the fact that I've walked over 1500 miles through the woods and over the mountains with my world on my back, but it's harder still to believe that I'm only 619.6 miles from the end of the trail. That being said, the biggest mountains are ahead of us. Most people out here are still moving along okay. There have been a couple who have walked off due to Lyme disease or broken bones, but the rest of us are okay. A few bumps, bruises, bug bites (New England has mosquitoes capable of carrying my pack for me!), and new scars, but the rest of us are moving along.

We've been meeting a lot of southbounders, which just adds to the multitude of characters out here. Additionally, I have had the pleasure of meeting numerous people local to the areas and towns where we've been walking who have helped us out along the way or honked their horns and shouted "Good luck!" when we've crossed a road. One could even argue that people, in general, are still good. There are more people out there than I thought who are willing and happy to help out a smelly hiking stranger and refuse anything in return other than my promise to keep heading northbound.

Sorry - again, no pictures. I'm not allowed to plug my camera into the library's computer, but I promise I'll put up a bunch of photos as soon as I can!