u/Sucelos

Finally hiked the Escarpment after a few years of thinking about it.

We did it in 3 days // 2 nights with a super short day one, hiking into the Elm Ridge Lean To in the evening of our first day, then doing a ~14 mile day two and ~9 mile day three.

Windham to Kaaterskill absolutely feels like the right choice here. I liked saving the best views for last, and I liked getting to ascend Blackhead from the north rather than having to descend that section.

The water situation wasn't as bad as I expected. Behind the Batavia Kill shelter we had plenty of clean, flowing water, and the spacing to the next stop at Dutcher Notch was fine.

The biggest surprise was how dynamic the weather was. We swung from like 80°F during some of the days to 38°F at night near North Point. I know the Catskills are famous for this but I was surprised at how swingy the temps were in mountains that are only like 3500 feet tall.

The flip side of that weather was some really dramatic sights. We got a beautiful rainbow near Stoppel Point, and a lot of really picturesque clouds in the blue skies.

The biggest highlight for me were (expectedly) the views. The view from North Point is unreal, and Newman's Ledge was like viewing a panoramic painting. There were plenty of nice views closer to Windham too but I really dug how dramatic it got near North-South Lake.

The biggest downside was probably traffic jams from dayhikers, dog walkers, families in that same area though. This isn't a complaint about them - we were out there too and I'm happy to see people outside - but it's a bit anticlimactic ending the hike in traffic jams. I would not do this again on a holiday weekend.

Overall, really nice hike though. Great sampler of what the region has to offer without being too challenging.

I have a full writeup here: https://primitivepines.com/escarpment-trail/

Happy National Hot Dog Month!

Over the past two years I worked up the NJ Hot Dog Index to catalog the different style of hot dogs available in the great state of New Jersey, along with representative examples of each.

There's 14 styles in the table including a number which are native to the area (Rippers; Texas Weiners; Hot Onions; Italian Hot Dogs; Easton Dogs) plus more.

Each example is laid out in the style of a periodic table with technical information about each dog (toppings, brand, etc.)

For a high res version: https://primitivepines.com/new-jersey-hot-dog-index/

Union Pacific 4014 "Big Boy" is in the East Coast right now and I couldn't resist heading out to shoot it on film. What an experience - the scale and power are awe inspiring.

The Italian Hot Dog is a New Jersey gem that's as polarizing as it is overstuffed. Invented in 1932 in Newark by Jim "Buff" Racioppi, the core features are as follows:

• A fried, all-beef frank (typically Best's)
• Fried potatoes, onions, and peppers, with mustard and often ketchup
• Served in a "pizza bread", a quartered (for a single) or halved (for a double) circular roll made of pizza dough and shaped like a fat bagel.

These hot dogs are usually fork-and-knife affairs, and in some ways resemble a sausage and pepper street sandwich more than a typical hot dog.

The original and iconic option is Jimmy Buff's, which retains two locations in West Orange and in Kenilworth. Open 7 days a week, JB's has been sourcing their franks from Best's since they started making hot dogs, and uses pizza bread from Sorrento Baker.

Tommy's is another great IHD stop, located in Elizabeth since 1969 near other local icon Jerry's. They serve their potatoes as fat, scalloped slices, and pack so many into a double that the bread bursts. Total fork-and-knife situation, and some of the nicest owners I've ever met.

Rounding out North Jersey, Dickie Dee's in Newark has operated in the Upper Roseville neighborhood since the 1950s and fries their franks and toppings in peanut oil, giving a notably less greasy experience than some of the other IHD's out there. I loved how perfectly browned the potatoes here were.

The style shifts farther South in the state. While die-hards will hold that a true Italian Hot Dog has to be served on a pizza roll, Trenton-style IHD's are served on hoagie rolls and typically don't have onions. Also known as "Casino Dogs" for the restaurant that invented them, the longest running purveyor is probably Ray's Market in the Trenton Farmer's Market. My favorite is at Jeppy's II, a small family-run pizza shop in Hamilton, NJ. With garlic-forward Nathan's beef franks and a long sub roll, this substyle is far easier to eat handheld than the traditional Newark variant.

Finally, there's nonconformists in the style that deserve mention too. Maui's Dog House in North Wildwood NJ breaks almost every Italian Hot Dog rule but does it so superbly that it'd be a terrible omission. Starting with a super premium beef-pork-veal frank from Hofmann, they crank up the fancy with a white-wine deglaze, perfectly fried potatoes, and a sprinkle of sharp provolone. It is truly remarkable.

Whether you want a Newark original, an easier-to-eat Trenton variant, or a fancied-up version like Maui's, if you are in NJ and interested in hot dogs, you owe it to yourself to try the Italian Hot Dog.