Once you leave Pennsylvania you enter a scenic natural feature known as the Delaware Water Gap. It was created by the Delaware river cutting a gap through a large ridge of the Appalachian Mountains, forming a dramatic valley between New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

As you cross over the Delaware river bridge, you leave Pennsylvania and enter New Jersey at the north end of the bridge.

New Jersey covers just 72 miles of the AT, but despite its size, it hosts many wetlands and beautiful mountain views. One highlight was Sunfish Pond, a glacial lake formed around 18,000 years ago. I found the New Jersey section to be a pleasant hike overall. It was also the only place on the entire trail where I saw a bear - a small black bear. I later learned New Jersey has the highest black bear population on the AT.

While in New Jersey, I had a chance to visit friends. I stayed in a camper near the Delaware Water Gap and later stopped in Sparta, NJ, near Hudson Farm—where Benton MacKaye first proposed the Appalachian Trail in 1921.

New York on the other hand, with its 88 miles of trail, had steeper and rockier terrain with a few rock scrabbles as well. From Bear Mountain summit you got a spectacular view of the iconic Hudson River and the valley below. West Point military academy is only a stone’s throw away.

New York was mostly enjoyable, except for a short period of extreme heat, which caused several hikers to suffer from overheating with a few cases of heat exhaustion. We decided to take a day off in Greenwood Lake, NY, where we discovered the Bellvale Creamery, which has some of the best homemade ice cream in the area. Another memorable stop was in Warwick, where the local drive-in theater allows hikers to camp on a nearby hill. They even provided speakers to hear the movie.

After months on the trail, you develop intense “hiker hunger.” New Jersey and New York have a cure for this with lots of great pizza and deli shops along the way, earning the nickname, “The Deli Trail.” They also provide an option to take a break from the wilderness with several towns along the trail where you can catch a train into NYC. There’s even a train stop right on the trail in Pawling, NY.

All in all, I was very impressed with the natural beauty and remoteness that I felt at times while hiking through these two states and knowing that the Big Apple was so close. I didn’t make the side trip – but maybe next time!