New York, New York

Sadly Gravity is no longer hiking with us for the time being. A few days ago he got sick and was really dragging. He decided it was best to get off and get checked out by a doctor. Normally we would have gotten off with him but we were on a time limit to meet up with phlegms parents. So we parted ways for now, he should be catching up with us at some point.

The day before we met with phlegms parents we had a big day planned and all day we were worried how we were going to get the 3 miles from the trail to the motel because we were already hiking 22 miles that day. Then 5 miles from the end of the day we stopped by a road and found a cooler filled with water left by a nice couple. Water by the roads have been pretty common because water is hard to come by in this area and its been really hot. This cooler had cards in it from the people who left it with their number in it inviting hikers to come stay with them. We decided to call and ask them if they could just drive us into town. When we called they said we would be happier staying with them and they came to pick us up. They had a wonderful house and they offered for us to take showers, do our laundry, and they made us dinner. They grilled us steak asparagus and eggplant and they made extra so we could all have our fill. Their names where john and Susan and they were some of the nicest people we have met. And they refused to take any money from hikers.

The next day we took a zero and spent the day with phlegms parents. They were wonderful! They brought us up some awesome food from NYC and we had a picnic. They also drove us around and helped us run all our town errands. Phlegm was very excited to see them.

But then the heat wave hit.... the temp went up into the high 90s with a heat index of 110. It made it very hard to hike. We struggled to do miles that would normally be easy. (But we did get to hike through a section of trail that went through a zoo.) So we decided to cut our days down to very short days to wait out the heat. Today we only did 8 miles and stopped early in a field next to a road. We were able to order pizza and we had a great time relaxing for most of the afternoon. We did however get a surprise when a guy in a pick-up came and did a bunch of doughnuts in the field kicking up a huge dust cloud and driving off. It wasn't 5 minutes before he came back and said he was sorry and didn't see us before. It was very odd.

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We love New Jersey!

First day in NJ and I saw a bear! Austin didn't get to see it tho cause he was a bit ahead of me. But it has been beautiful so far! Wonderful views, nice lakes, pretty little ponds.
We camped at Mahican Outdoor Center lastnight and tonight we are at Bren Anderson Shelter. Making our way to meet up with parents :)

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finally leaving pa!

Pennsylvania has been... rocky. But we have had a good time. We past the halfway point. Austin completed the half gallon challenge (eating a half gallon of icecream in one sitting). We were able to meet up with our friend Night for a day. We stayed with gravity's aunt for three and a half days over the fourth. Went to lots of family cookouts and were able to relax and recover from a cold we all got.
But the past week we have really pushed huge miles and wore ourselves out. So we took a zero to recover and today we are hiking out of PA finally! The trail has been really rocky and really rough so everyone can't wait to get into new jersey! We hear there are lots of bears there so we will keep you posted!

Here is a funny pic for you to enjoy.

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