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Appalachian Trail – High Point, New Jersey

New Jersey
High Point

“Mr Madison, what you just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I’ve ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having heard it. I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul.”

- Guy in Billy Madison

Another form of trail magic is when “angels” leave water in sections where water is scarce.

Journal Entry 6.12.00
“6pm at the Gren Anderson Shelter. 18 miles today in the rain. I survived the thunderstorm last night. And no bears got to my food. My tent and much of my gear were totally soaked this morning (I had to set up my tent IN the rain). But I was happy to be alive. It was slow moving this morning in the rain. Then I met Fenway and Rushmore and after I passed them I got more energy. I stopped at the Worthington Bakery to find it closed. Then I tried to get a soda but the soda machine wouldn’t take my dollar and boy was I upset. Then it poured for the last 3 miles to the shelter. I hope the rain stops and the sun comes out tomorrow.”

Masha and Missing Link

Journal Entry 6.14.00
“3pm at the High Point Inn. Wow, what an experience I had yesterday. It rained all night at the shelter and I didn’t start hiking until 9am. I had NO motivation to go out into the mist, rain, and fog. It was a slow day of hiking and all my gear was either wet or damp. I wound up running into 2 day-hikers on the trail – Masha and Kenny and they invited me back to their house for the night! I opened up the invitation to Missing Link and we all went home and it was AWESOME!!! They made the BEST dinner – pasta, bread, tons of cheese, and watermelon. Kenny lit a fire and Masha did our laundry. Such wonderful people! They had never met anyone who thru-hiked the entire trail before and were totally amazed that we had been hiking for over 3 months from GEORGIA to get here! They drove us back to the trail this afternoon after a fantastic Russian breakfast of potato pancakes. It was cold (50˜F), rainy and misty and being as it was late in the day Missing Link and I decided to bag it and we are now sharing a hotel room for the night. So here we are and it’s so nice to be warm and dry! ”

WonderGimp and Missing Link at Masha and Kenny’s house

Journal Entry 6.15.00
“8:30pm at the Church of the Mountain Hostel in Vernon, NJ. 22 miles today from High Point. It was difficult peeling away from the comforts of the hotel, but we did it, and hit the trail at 8am. There are lots of people here – Goodwheels and Kara, Two-Stepper, L’Escargot, and Hedgehog. This hostel is so AWESOME! It is clean and spacious with a great kitchen and free laundry. Every church on the entire trail should have a hostel like this.”

trail fact: Oldest female thru-hiker. Emma Gatewood, better known as “Grandma Gatewood,” mother of 11 children and grandmother of 23, was 67 when she first hiked the Trail in 1955. She completed her second thru-hike in 1957, and became the first person to complete the Trail three times when she finished a section hike in 1964.

Journal Index

Georgia – Overview And the poop on the Trail Divorce

0 (miles from Georgia) – Springer Mountain, Georgia Whose idea was this again??
87.7 – Georgia / North Carolina Aint no all-inclusive package vacation story…
161.7 – Fontana Dam, North Carolina No Rain, No Pain, No Maine
204.6 – Great Smoky Mountains National Park I My deodorant gets the heave-ho!
268.7 – Great Smoky Mountains National Park II The Food Appreciation Trail
336.5 – North Carolina / Tennessee & Trail Names How the Gimp got her name
390.7 – North Carolina / Tennessee The famous Roan Mountain hitch
452.9 – Crossing into Damascus, Virginia 3 states down, 11 to go!
516.7 – Grayson Highlands State Park Roughin it at Partnership Shelter
573.3 – Bland, Virginia My wonderful trail angels!
665.3 – Pearisburg, Virginia The switch from boots to sandals
767.4 – Catawba / Troutville, Virginia Heat wave in Virginia
839.4 – Montebello / Rockfish Gap, Virginia ‘Hiking with Gimpy Sr.
920.0 – Shenandoah National Park Rattlesnakes, Jack Daniels, and bears – oh my!
988.3 – Front Royal, Virginia Invasion of the Boy Scouts
1001.1 – Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia The mental half-way point
1061.4 – Maryland / Pennsyltucky Y’all done drank enough beer!
1123.8 – Duncannon, Pennsylvania The Half-Gallon Challenge
1208.9 – Port Clinton, Pennsylvania $1 Yuengling drafts and the rocks of PA
1283.9 – Pennsylvania / New Jersey Friends and family visit WonderGimp
1334.2 – High Point, New Jersey Rain, rain, rain, trail magic, and more rain
1440.7 – Bear Mountain, New York Hike Naked Day!
1486.1 – Kent, Connecticut Gimpy Sr. and Barkeater hike with W.Gimp
1543.8 – Great Barrington, MassachusettsWelcome to Mosquito Hell
1618.0 – Massachusetts / VermontPhoton and strobe lights for the 4th of July
1687.3 – Killington, Vermont The Inn at the Long Trail
1738.1 – New Hampshire Live Free or Die!
1794.4 – North Woodstock, New Hampshire Gettin’ above treeline
1814.4 – AMC-land, New Hampshire Entering the White Mountains!
1854.0 – Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire Mooning the tourists on Mt. Washington
1869.2 – Gorham, New Hampshire My first Moose sighting!
1920.7 – Andover, Maine The way Life should be…
1979.3 – Rangeley, Maine Closing in on the end
2015.6 – Kennebec River, Maine Eye of the Tiger!
2095.7 – Monson, Maine 100-mile Wilderness
2152.0 – Abol Bridge, Maine Katahdin is in sight!
2167.1 – Baxter Peak, Mount Katahdin, Maine Goodbye Capilene – Hello Cotton!!

Other Pages:
Map – Yep, 14 states
Gear – What to Bring
FAQs – See for yourself
Glossary (learn the AT lingo)
Links to Additional Info
Trail Injuries Everything from blisters to swampfoot
Trail Privies Bring your own TP
Class of 2000 Katahdin Thru-Hiker Pictures