We crushed Jersey. Did the state in 3 1/2 days, did a few 20 mile days and then a short one into Greenwood Lake, NY. Loved Jers because it was not PA.
The photo is from June 2, which was the day we got engaged. Naturally we ended up in a town with a free hostel that we did not intend on staying in but we had to celebrate. So, za and beers it was. We had done 18 miles that day and, got to a road where we were supposed to climb a mountain and head 3 more miles to a shelter. Instead, we called a cab (illegal to hitch hike in Jers) and had the driver, a funny lady who congratulated us, took us to the church hostel, and then a pizza joint. It was byob. Lucky for us, a beer store basically next to it. Sweet way to celebrate!
At the hostel we met up with our hiker friend FaceJacket who also wanted to hang, plus we had not seen him since Harpers where he had gone to DC. He had stories - so - instead of bed, we went to a local bar. Great time. Oh yeah, this is Vernon, NJ. That was Thursday, the next day we had to crush out some extra miles to get to NY, pick up a package, and meet up with Danny and other surprise guests.