Enter the Iceman

Hike plan and weather forecast reviewed, shuttle confirmed,  packs checked. We are heading out tomorrow!

Yes, it all fits back in!

Not quite ready yet

The shivering mice are tight-lipped, but flint-eyed with determination.

Huddling indoors and plotting with mice

Another snowstorm today. Not enough to close schools, though, even in Virginia. Birds and squirrels were pretty irritated, though.

Here's a list of my planned resupply stops on the way north from Delaware Water Gap. My strategy this time is to park the Ion at the next trailhead where I will need to rest and resupply, hire a shuttle back to my starting point, and hike northward.

The mice have plans for this spring that stretch up to the base of the White Mountains in New Hampshire, but my goal is just to reach Sharon, Connecticut. From there on, the ups and downs are going to get more challenging ... also, there's the Vermont Spring Mud to make things more enjoyable.

New Jersey - Connecticut

Ion parking location	Lodging (days)	Hiking days from last stop
High Point State Park New Jersey	High Pt Mtn Motel(2) Wantage NJ 973.702.1860	3
Bear Mtn Bridge Motel?	Bear Mtn Bridge Motel(1) Ft Montgomery NY (845) 446-2472	4
Graymoor Spiritual Life Ctr?	Graymoor Sp Life Ctr(2) Garrison NY (845) 424-3671	0
Bearded Woods Sharon CT	Mountaintop Market Food resupply only	2
Bearded Woods Sharon CT?	Bearded Woods Bunk&Dine Sharon CT 860-480-2966	5

Massachusetts - New Hampshire?

Ion parking location	Lodging (days)	Hiking days from last stop
Moon in the Pond Farm?	Moon in the Pond Farm Sheffield MA(3) 413-229-3092	3
Shamrock Village Inn?	Shamrock Village Inn Dalton MA(2) 413-684-0860	5
TBD	TBD Bennington VT(2)	2
TBD	TBD Wallingford VT (2)	5
TBD	TBD Norwich VT(2)	5
Next stop, Mount Moosilauke!

Spring! Or not. But, Soon!

Four days in a row of stomping around in the forest chill to repair winter's damage to the local trails. Birdsong in the trees. Arrival of the new trail center custodian from Georgia via Pittsburgh, coaxing her overburdened Fiat up the potholed dirt road. Cutting up blowdowns, shoveling out water bars.

Daffodils!

I am trying to ignore the atmospheric chugging that is sending noreaster bursts of icy stuff through the mid-Atlantic, forecasting seven inches on Tuesday. As if the forecasters know anything. It's time to get back on the trail.

The current plan is to field check everything with a four-day backpack in the Harpers Ferry region with my grandson during the first week of April, then head north to start at Delaware Water Gap and follow the AT north through New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut.

Appalachian Trail     GW Thompson Wildlife Refuge

"The cold never bothered me anyway." -- Idina Menzel, "Let It Go!"