Connections

Sunday, May 6th, 2012: To me, one of the best things about the 'people-part' of this trail experience is making connections - connections with people I've only met via the internet then meet on the trail, connections between people I meet, who've met other people I've met ... even just being able to read the messages left by trail friends in shelter log books.

But today I made the first *real* connection - the one I hope to repeat often. On Tuesday, March 6th, exactly two months ago to the day, I was hiking back from Snowbird Mountain to Max Patch. I had stopped on the trail to trim toenails and remove layers of clothing when a tall strapping hiker came hurrying by. He stopped and we talked for a few minutes. I asked if he had a trail name. No, just 'Paul from New York'. Paul had left Springer February 16th and was hoping to find a hiking companion who wanted to keep his pace - about 20 miles a day. I wished him well and told him, as I have told many others since, to watch for me up north.

Well, Paul remembered. Today he saw my entry in Mashipacong Shelter's log book and knew we were close. He was worried that he might miss me - that I might be off the trail for the day already. It was 5:15PM and he was hurrying north toward NJ 23 where a friend was waiting to pick him up for a night off the trail.

I had just made my turn-around point on a short northward leg from Mashipacong Shelter. It was 5:15PM and I was hurrying back south to my vehicle, hoping to get there before dark.

And then the connection happened.

"Seeks It!!" said a bearded guy. Paul from New York had been clean shaven. I didn't recognize the face. Paul said it was the beard, but I explained to him how horribly face-blind I am (mild form of Asperger's Syndrome, I suspect). In any case, I quickly remembered our meeting in perfect (savant-like) detail when he said his name. Now Paul has a trail name: 'Parkside', which he has hand-written on the back of his shirt. Better yet, he has met and hiked with 'Iceman and Viking' and with 'Achilles'. I suppose I should have asked him about other hikers I met down south. Maybe we'll meet again tomorrow before he speeds on north. He needs to reach Katahdin by July 1st. We shook hands, took each others' picture, and each hurried on our way. What a satisfying end to a beautiful day!

The day didn't start beautiful - it was foggy, and a shower moved through after dawn, delaying my start.  Once on the trail, the highlight of the morning was Sunrise Mountain, with its expansive vista and a 1930's CCC-built pavilion right on the summit:

This stretch of trail from Deckertown Turnpike south for four miles also features a quarter mile of glacier-polished bedrock that came in strips - a hiking 'boulevard' more indestructible than any paved road.

My afternoon leg stretched north from Deckertown Tpk for about 3.5 miles.  This trail is more difficult, fairly rock and with lots of little ups and downs, some very steep.  Beside the meeting with Paul it featured Dutch Shoe Rock with this nice view of Rutherford Lake.  It also serves as a steep trail down to Rutherford Shelter, a place I don't think many AT long distance hikers visit because of the steep descent and because there are shelters closer to the trail just a few miles in both directions.  It seemed a neglected place, though it has a spiffy new privy and bear box.

If one foot was in a Dutch Shoe, the other was in a pink Lady Slipper.  This section of trail featured dozens of these semi-rare orchids, the first I've seen on my AT sojourn this year.

Lastly, trail signs are always fun.  Today, on either side of Deckertown Turnpike, I passed two that struck my fancy - two definitive messages to keep you on the right course - to keep you making those magical connections:

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Here's my route plotted on a map.  The title line is a link to where I've uploaded more photos, all tagged by location.

AT Day 116 - Sunrise Mountain at EveryTrail
EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking in High Point State Park

More morning fog

Saturday May 5th: For the fourth day in a row the fog enclosed the mountain in its fuzzy damp clutches. Fortunately it burned off by noon, and I got a chance to see the sights - a few nice views from some of New Jersey's "Balds", which are open ridge areas of exposed bedrock - areas where the glaciers scoured away so much soil that vegetation struggles to get a foothold. The best of the views was this one of Culver Lake:

By afternoon it was warm - too hot for some, such as my trail friend, 'Sun Dog', who I met again today - probably for the last time. We met while it was still foggy, and chilly by my standards - I was wearing a heavy fleece. He's from Minnesota, and works his hiking schedule so he can avoid the heat, sometimes starting his day's hike before dawn using a headlamp.

I wished Sun Dog a successful sojourn to Maine, and later found that he had left me his email address in the Gren Anderson Shelter log book, so I fired off an email to him tonight. I hope Mrs. Sun Dog will help keep me abreast of his progress. There is not a gentler man than this, and I wish him well.

Most of the other highlights of the day were little things, mostly good. But with all the damp weather the gnats are out, and so are the ticks. On the positive side, I passed a section that had burned within the past couple of years, and were the tea berries were plump, abundant and perfectly ripe. I absolutely love their special flavor. And it always reminds me of the 1960's TV commercial for Clark's Teaberry Gum (yes, I remember watching it back then).

I saw my second porcupine in two days, this one was ambling down the trail - quills bristling, warning all who might try to pass that the trail was his and his alone!

And I continue to enjoy the recap of spring.  It had hit Georgia as I hiked those mountains, now it's hitting northern New Jersey, and there are some really pretty wild pink azaleas blooming. These are 'happy trails', when they are adorned so elegantly. I look forward to more ...

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Below is a map with my hike plotted on it.  The title is a link that takes you to more photos and data about today's hike:

AT Day 115 - Culvers Gap at EveryTrail
EveryTrail - Find the best hikes in California and beyond

Friday May 4th

It rained in the morning for the 4th consecutive day. All of May! And it was foggy for the third morning. Today the rain was over by 6:30 but the fog lasted until noon. Then it got hot.

Today's bit of trail - about ten miles between Millbrook-Blairstown Road and about a mile south of Brink Road Shelter followed the ridge with lots of little ups and downs and some semi-Rocksylvaina-style rocky trail.  There was even an unexpected scramble up this cliff beside Crater Lake.  I needed to use my hands.

The best views of the day were those with lakes, now seemingly abundant along the trail (ever since we crossed Wolf Rocks, PA and entered the landscape that was carved by glaciers.  Here's Fairview Lake from a heavily used viewpoint near Blue Mountain Lakes Road.

A note about Blue Mountain Lakes Road. They have newly gated it off all the way down where it ends at Millbrook-Flatbrookville Road. I hear that there was some damage last year from Hurricane Irene, but the real reason for the closing is because of the sorry condition that govt. budget cuts have left Delaware Water Gap NRA in. The M-F Road is riddled with unrepaired potholes. This Recreation Area is huge and isolated between the mountain and the Delaware River, and nobody lives on that side of the mountain. It feels as remote and isolated as any place I passed through in Southwest Virginia, but it has a different feel - neglected, unloved.

From the rocky top of Rattlesnake Mountain you get a nice vista overlooking that wooded and wild terrain

On the trail I met two section hikers, one going north, whom I've passed multiple times in recent days.  Today we finally had a good chat.  He's 'Sun Dog' from MN, and is hiking Duncannon to Katahdin after doing Springer to Duncannon last year and getting sick.  The other is 'Kit Kat'.  She's hiking south from MA to Daleville, VA and hopes to complete the trail with further section hikes before the end of the year.

I also met two interesting critters on the trail today - a porcupine climbing a tree and this cute little guy - a Red Eft:

He's the juvenile stage of the ubiquitous Eastern (spotted) Newt. I've seen dozens of these little guys over the past few damp days. But today I finally got a good 'mug shot'.

As I said up front, at about noon the weather broke after three foggy days in a row. It got hot and humid - but also allowed for the nice views shown above. I'm unusual among hikers in that I do not mind the heat and I actually prefer humid weather to dry. I like to sweat and do it well (*grin*). Probably the same high ratio of skin surface to body weight that makes me susceptible to feeling cold also allows me to keep cool efficiently by sweating. In any case, I enjoyed the afternoon, and especially the early evening hiking when the cool returned but the humidity lingered on. All in all a very enjoyable 20 mile day, my 114th day hike of this adventure. Onward to Maine!

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Here's my hike plotted on a map, with a link to more photos:

AT Day 114 - Kittatinny Mountain at EveryTrail
EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking in Kittatinny Valley State Park

Found it ... in abundance

When I was saying goodbye to the tight-knit foursome of thru-hikers that I met north of Newfound Gap in Smoky Mtn Park, one of them said, "Good Luck, 'Seeks It'.  I hope you find it."

It wasn't the right time, so I didn't explain to him that it's not like that.  I find a bit more of it (Fellowship with the wilderness, the intertwining my self with my essential nature) every day.  But today I found a mother-lode!

On my return trip to Sunfish Pond (Thursday May 3rd) it opened up its vistas to me. There was barely an hour of nice weather, and I was in the right place. It had been densely foggy all morning.  As I approached, the fog lifted long enough for me to explore the pond and have a little lunch, and then the east wind picked up and the fog rolled back in. But while I was there, I had the entire place to myself - surely a rarity in this popular place. Human voices ruin the wilderness experience for me - children shouting, partyers laughing ... I might as well be in the city. But today the wind was calm and the whole expanse of the pond, laid out before me like a window into heaven, sang to me with only natures songs.

If you are AT-hiking past Sunfish Pond, be sure to take the Turquoise Trail on the north end, just a tenth of a mile, to the high rock point where the third photo was taken. There is no finer viewpoint from which to take in this magical setting of pristine wilderness. I had a rock seat with backrest there to witness it all -- I felt a truly wealthy man.

The ridge walk to get there from Millbrook-Blairstown Road is one of the prettiest extended sections of ridge walking I've found, and I say that even though I could not fully see the nearly constant vistas it presented from its glacier-smoothed, rubble-swept-aside bedrock walks. There was even the Catfish Fire Tower to climb if you didn't get enough of the vistas from the rest of the walk. When you're not on exposed ridge you're walking through a delightful variety of woodlands, savanna-like glades, and grassy knobs that felt almost alpine.

And after receiving all these gifts, there was an unexpected bonus waiting for me as I took a short stroll north of Millbrook-Blairstown Rd: A rock-lined lily pond that has been adopted by beavers.  What a wonderful day!

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Here's my hike plotted on a map, with a link to more photos:



AT Day 113 - Sunfish Pond at EveryTrail
EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking in New Jersey

On reaching New Jersey

Wednesday, May 2:  When I got up this morning I checked the radar and saw showers coming. The rain started soon after sunrise, so I took my time getting ready.  The rain kept getting stronger.  Soon it was 10AM and raining harder than ever.  Still the radar showed the end in sight, so I chose to wait it out.  I picked up my sewing kit and finally sewed my ATC Life Member patch onto a hat.

 

It was 12:30PM before I hit the trail, and it was still drizzling.  The drizzle never completely stopped all day, and the temperature only dropped - upper 50's at noon, low 50's by sunset.  And the mountains above about 1000 feet were shrouded in fog all day - what a contrast from yesterday!

Still I got to see everything that was worth seeing.  I finished up Pennsylvania with a walk across the I-80 bridge after a visit - just a few blocks of road walking - through the town of Delaware Water Gap (Deer Head Inn shown at left) and a climb back up into the fog on Mt. Minzi.

But Lookout Rock was beneath the base of the clouds, so the views were there for the taking.

Late in the afternoon I made my first serious foray into New Jersey, hiking the heavily used trail up to Sunfish Pond - about four miles from the Dunnfield Natural Area parking lot.  Fog encased me and this special body of water into a mutual cocoon.  I had the entire place to myself this early evening.  The wind calmed and the Wood Thrushes began to sing.  Even though I couldn't see all there was to see (the other side was a dim shadow), I knew that I was being granted a special gift.  I can keep this treasure of memories forever; and best of all I'll be back again tomorrow.

Pictures below are from the south end, the middle and the north end.

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Here's a map and link to more photos:

AT Day 112 - Delaware Water Gap at EveryTrail
EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking in New Jersey

Gettin' better by the minute

Sometimes you just have to spill the punch line up front.  Here it is:

 

This is the late afternoon view of the Delaware River from Mt. Minzi.  This was a day (Tuesday May 1st) that dawned cloudy and foggy with thunder and rain.  I got a late start but still hiked nearly 18 miles.  The day may have started lousy; but it just got better by the minute!

Morning found me traversing the difficult 0.2 mile stretch of rock-hopping on Wolf Rocks with the rocks still soaking wet.  My shoes slip on these kinds of rocks when they're wet.  I skinned my left shin before I went ten feet on the rock.  I slowed down, testing every step for its slip-factor.  But 0.2 miles of tough stuff at Wolf Rocks and a little patch at Lunch Rocks is all 'Rocksylvania' threw at me today.

Beyond Wolf Rocks I re-entered the dismal wilds where I ended yesterday's hike.  I don't like this section of trail because it is a woodland that is struggling.  I'm sensitive to that.  I wish I could explain it better.  There was one highlight - a remarkably effulgent oasis amid the drear.  Oasis indeed - the 'Seasonal Spring' on this otherwise barren section of broad flat ridge was gushing to overflowing.

This section has an intimidating look to the rock.  The trail is straight and flat and a jumble of jagged stones that often seems to stretch to the horizon. But here's some advice (worth what you paid for it):  you can't walk it all at once, so don't try.  Stop anticipating.  Look down at your next few steps and you find that there are more smooth, comfortable places to put your feet than you have feet!  As I said yesterday, put your mind on auto-pilot, shut down the angst and analysis, and let the 5 million years of barefoot-walking hunter-gatherer genes do their thing.  Suddenly Rocksylvania (all but the very limited big bad stuff where you *do* have to think about footing) is no big deal.

The weather began to improve.  Walking back across Wolf Rocks, I now found them dry.  And the fog had dissipated.  Now I could see the view - nothing to write home about really.  Back at Fox Gap I began the much more entertaining leg north.

It got good after Kirkridge Shelter.  I got to Lunch Rock and could see the next few miles of trail stretched out before me.  Actually, I could see the first half dozen miles of trail into New Jersey as well.  And by now the weather had turned perfect - calm, warm, just enough humidity to make the air feel soft, yet not enough to smother the views.

For me this is perfect - ideal weather for walking the wilderness.  So I took my time on the way back.  I found a secret vista with just a hint of a trail leading to it and sat there drinking in the experience with all five senses.  I dawdled at every other viewpoint.  I let the afternoon slip into evening.  I milked this day for everything it had.  So I got back 'home' at dusk, by now in a state of euphoria.  Today just kept getting better by the minute, right up to the very last.

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Here's the plot of my route for today's hiking.  The title above the map is a link that will take you to many more photos and other trip information:

AT Day 111 - Wolf Rocks, Mt. Minzi at EveryTrail
EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking near Allentown, Pennsylvania

The two faces of Wind Gap

"I've looked at Wind from both sides now - from south and north - and still, somehow ... It's Wind's illusions I recall.  I really don't know Wind ... at all."

With apologies to Joni Mitchell, Wind Gap was somewhat of an enigma.  My scouting report said that the north side would be super rocky.  The south side was - but the north? ... not so much.  Today (Monday April 30th) I hiked 5.5 miles of trail on the south side and 4.5 on the north side.  The more rocky south side was more  fun - the north? ...not so much.  I *can* explain that ... at least in part.

The south side had vistas that gave you a look to both sides of the ridge, including this one from the pipeline clearing about halfway through today's south-side leg.

It was on the south side that I met my second, third, and fourth thru-hikers since flipping up north.  The tide is rising!  The picture below is of Iceman.  He's from Kentucky, and his parents are going to meet him at Delaware Water Gap tomorrow, so he and his trail partner 'Viking' and a new associate, 'Achilles' did a monster 33.5 miles yesterday and will do the 20+ to DWG today.  If all works out, Iceman's parents will support them so they can slack-pack through New Jersey.  Just like 'Samus' (who they were all very keen on hearing my news about), they need to reach Katahdin by mid-June.  That's 900 more miles in just a month and a half - 20 miles every single day with no zero's - a tough haul to be sure.  But these guys were lean and fit, so I give them a good shot at finishing.  And I left them with my best wishes for success.

Finally, the south side had the Leroy Smith Shelter.  Who takes photos of the inside of privies???  This one was worthy of it.  The Appalachian Mountain Club, Delaware Valley Chapter, has done itself proud with their meticulous maintenance and upkeep of this shelter.  I've seen none finer.

My return trip through this stretch of rock taught me something valuable about 'Rocksylvania'.  Once I've done the trail one way, I sometimes let my mind wander on the way back.  And voila!  The trail goes faster, not just mentally but physically.  I put my feet on auto-pilot and they negotiate the rocks more efficiently.  It's letting the millions of years of evolutionary honing of the 'animal' instinct in us take over - the barefoot hunter-gatherer- and not allowing our human hyper-active frontal lobes to override that much deeper and more finely-tuned 'operating system'.  Eyes to feet.  No conscious thought required.  Try it ... it really works.

Now ... about the north side.  The climb up is steeper and on much more neglected trail, with old stone water-bars no longer functioning, and erosion out of control.  You get up top and the trail wanders through scrubby woods with lots and lots of invasive Japanese Barberry and even more invasive Japanese stiltgrass.  The trees are forlorn, morose, stunted, none very large, as this land has not been left to go wild for more than a few decades and looks to have been abused before that.  The ridge widens out so that there is no chance of any views; and the trail just goes on and on through this (to my sensibilities) monotonous ugliness.  The prettiest scene I could extract from all this was this 'Fangorn Forest'-like stand of twisted Sassafras growing out of the Barberry thickets:

My internet friend Dave Cullen asked me to photograph campsites through this section as a favor to him and his hiking friends who are considering doing this section on up to Fox Gap. I photographed 8 campsites today, and they appear on the Every Trail site. Based on those, you do not need to accept my judgement regarding this stretch of trail. Yes, it's all woods and wilderness. Perhaps that's more the point for many of you. I'm just "telling it like I see it".  And remember - "It's Wind's illusions I recall. I really don't know Wind ... at all."

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Below is a map showing the route of today's hike.  With it is a link to more photos.  Just click the title.

AT Day 110 - Wind Gap at EveryTrail
EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking near Allentown, Pennsylvania