This was my fourth attempt to complete an unsupported effort of the full New York section of the Appalachian Trail, and my first time completing it successfully.
On Thursday, April 23rd, 2026 at 5:20 a.m., my husband dropped me off at the State Line Trail near Greenwood Lake, NY where I hiked alone up to the NY/NJ border on the Appalachian Trail. I was greeted with the chorus of wild turkeys roosting in the trees celebrating the dawn. When I reached the border marker, I took a few minutes to soak it in before I headed northbound. At 6:10 a.m., I pressed the start button on my watch and was off. Being a Thursday and early in the season, the trail was quiet and I didn't see many other people on the trail. The day started damp and slippery, so the first few miles were a bit slower than expected. Once the sun came up, conditions were warm and dry with temperatures reaching the low 70s.
Harriman State Park was especially beautiful with the spring ephemerals in bloom (Columbine, Anemone, and others I couldn't identify), active bumble bees and several different species of butterflies. I was also excited to see and hear a number of American Woodcocks near the top of Bear Mountain shortly after nightfall.
Water sources were lower than expected, with most of the small springs dried up later in Harriman. I had to start rationing my water intake on the descent of Black Mountain and ran out around Anthony Wayne Recreation Center. I was unable to find a source to refill until the descent of Bear Mountain and was feeling quite parched before that point. There was a detour around Hessian Lake at the bottom of Bear Mountain due to construction, adding about a mile to the usual route.
I crossed the Bear Mountain Bridge in the dark and was feeling strong on the ascent of Anthony's Nose. I kept moving through the night without stopping to sleep, which went smoothly until I took a wrong turn on Canada Hill and went off course about a mile down the Osborn Loop Trail before recognizing my error and sprinting back to the turn, which cost me about 40 minutes in all.
Crossing the Albany Post Road around mile 46 felt like a victory because this was the point where I had stopped on my three previous attempts. I took a short break to sit on a log and have a snack before South Highland Rd. and heading into Fahnestock Park. On this next section, I was greeted by the full-throated HOOOOO of a Great Horned Owl. Dawn arrived when I reached Dennytown Rd., where I took a short break to listen to a spectacular chorus of birds.
At this point, I was feeling the effects of sleep deprivation and fatigue, and began to experience some transient hallucinations. I had been dealing with chafing from my vest throughout the run, and when the sun finally rose, I was able to see how severe it had become. I applied some lubricant and Band-Aids, and hoped for the best. I decided this was a good place to lay down on a patch of moss for a twenty-minute nap before continuing.
After crossing Route 52 and stopping to filter some water, my watch suddenly shut down without warning. Fortunately I noticed it immediately and plugged it into my Kogalla battery, but this too was mostly depleted which started a cascade of technical problem solving. When my watch powered up, I had to restart a new session. It lasted another 1h:29m:40s (3.32 mi) before it shut down again for good. Both of my external batteries were now dead, and I couldn't recharge my watch. I activated a third session directly from the Strava app on my phone. Fortunately, my Spot tracker was also active as a backup throughout the full effort.
I felt relieved and motivated when I finally crossed Route 22 into the final section. The sun was going down as I headed up into Pawling Nature Preserve, and my head lamp battery was running low from the night before. I know this section well, but the combination of low light, overgrown prickers and downed trees made following the trail a challenge. I took a pretty dramatic faceplant here, but fortunately avoided landing on any rocks and only got a mouthful of loose dirt.
The excitement of the approaching finish motivated me to go faster when I crossed Duell Hollow Rd. I soaked one of my feet crossing Deuel Hollow Brook where the bridge is currently out of service, but picked up the pace in anticipation of seeing my family waiting at Connecticut Border sign, where I finished at 9:51 p.m.
Gear List:
- Altra Lone Peak 9 Shoes
- Ultraspire Traverse Hydration Pack
- Ultraspire Mountain Racer Waist Pack
- Garmin Fenix 7 Watch
- Spot Gen4 Satellite Tracker
- Petzl NAO+ Headlamp
- Kogalla RA Light
- Kogalla BatPAK 1 battery
- Kogalla BatPAK 3 battery
- Leki Ultratrail FX1 Superlite poles
- 2x 500 ml soft flasks with HydraPak filter caps
- 1x 800 ml Ultraspire 800 ml Softflask with locking cap
- Montbell Plasma 1000 jacket
- Patagonia DAS Light Pants
- Various snacks, chews, electrolytes