Appalachian Trail - Day 085 - Mashipacong Shelter to Louemma Creek

Day: 085

Date: Tuesday, 18 July 2023

Start:  Mashipacong Shelter (AT Mile 1334.3)

Finish:  Louemma Creek (AT Mile 1356.0)

Daily Kilometres:  34.4 (Ascent 2940', Descent 3566')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  2275.4

Weather:  Very warm, humid, hazy and partly sunny.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts

  Lunch:  Egg salad subs, ice-creams

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals.

Aches:  Dave - some niggles and very tired; Julie - reporting a lot of mosquito bites.

Highlight:  In mid-afternoon, for several miles, the trail passed through the Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge, a vast marshy area.  It was very peaceful, with birdlife and other animals present.  Julie even spotted a bear as we were leaving.

Lowlight:  Some late afternoon rocky trail, heat, humidity, and mosquitoes were the lowlights today.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We packed up and left the shelter camping area at 6:30am hoping for some easier trail today.  It started well, and we had some excitement when Julie spotted three bear cubs climbing a tree near the trail, though by the time Dave got there only some fleeing black behinds were visible.  That seemed a good omen but, alas, we were soon back on very rocky trail going up and down over ledges and outcrops, and no views.  It was a little irksome knowing that a multi-use trail, the Iris Trail, was paralleling our course and was much easier.

Despite the rocks we made reasonable time to the Highpoint State Park HQ which was our target breakfast stop, arriving by 9:00am.  We purchased some cold drinks to go along with our pop tarts which we consumed on a nearby park bench.  Very pleasant!

After breakfast the trail continued to be rocky as it climbed to a lookout near the Highpoint Tower atop the highest mountain in New Jersey, but the views were very hazy.  From there, after a long descent, the trail became much easier walking and our pace and enjoyment improved.  The terrain became relatively flat and we passed by farms and houses through some meadows and very pleasant forest, though the low-lying trail was very boggy in parts.

Around 1:00pm we reached the road going into the village of Unionville, and detoured to the general store there to buy some supplies and get some lunch and cold drinks.  Other thru-hikers had had the same idea and we were greeted by several we knew who were already enjoying food and drink on the store's verandah.  Soon we joined them and joined the social chat.  There was a German girl there who had been bitten by something while she slept last night and had a massively swollen eye, but was being quite stoic about it.

We had more miles to do, so left before the others, some of whom did not seem keen to walk any more miles today.  We roadwalked back to the trail and then followed it through the beautiful and peaceful Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge (see above), before finishing the day with a long rocky climb over a mountain before descending to a creek where we got some water and decided to camp illegally.  There are roads and houses nearby and we can hear traffic, but don't think anybody can see us.

Appalachian Trail - Day 084 - Fairview Lake View to Mashipacong Shelter

Day: 084

Date: Monday, 17 July 2023

Start:  Fairview Lake View (AT Mile 1313.6)

Finish:  Mashipacong Shelter (AT Mile 1334.3)

Daily Kilometres:  33.2 (Ascent 2772', Descent 2874')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  2241.0

Weather:  Hot, humid, hazy and partly sunny.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts 

  Lunch:  Ham & cheese rolls, other snacks and ice cream.

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals.

Aches:  Dave - some niggles and very tired; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  The trail magic that we received when we passed a trailhead at lunchtime.  Unfortunately, there had been a lot of hikers in front of us and the superbly stocked spread had been severely depleted.  In particular, no cold drinks left.  But we did find other things to eat and enjoyed the unexpected treat.

Lowlight:  A toss-up between too many rocky tedious sections of trail and too many mosquitoes.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We were hiking soon after 6:30am on a misty humid morning.  Our tent is pretty good, but the misty night has left things in the tent damp and the constant dripping from the leaves of the trees overhead had left our tent fly quite wet.

The morning's hiking, with a breakfast break atop Rattlesnake Mountain, mostly followed a ridge through a nice mix of deciduous and conifer forest.  It undulated a lot, climbing up and down rocky outcrops and ledges, and was a mix of very good and very bad trail with everything in between.  There were.no views initially because of the mist, but gradually that cleared and we had very hazy views for the rest of the day.

Our morning goal was to reach Culvers Gap and the tiny hamlet of Branchville, 12 miles from where we had camped, in time to have lunch at a pub there and perhaps pick up some insect repellent and a new gas canister at the hunting and fishing store there.  With a couple of miles to go, a thru-hiker told us there was trail magic at the trailhead just past Branchville and that there was a huge spread of food but it would be closed by 2:00pm.  That created a bit of a dilemma for us, as we didn't want to skip Branchville then find slim pickings at the trail magic.  We decided to check out Branchville first, picked up our supplies, decided the food options there weren't great and bought some cold drinks to take with us just in case there were none at the Trail Magic.

This turned out to be a wise move as the Trail Angel had run out of drinks and a lot of other stuff as well (see above), but we found enough to eat and were very grateful.

After lunch we had to climb back up onto a ridge from Culvers Gap in very sweaty conditions and the rest of the afternoon was a bit of a slog, made worse by mosquitoes and some very rocky sections.  There was a nice old pavilion at the top of Sunrise Mountain where we took our afternoon break and Julie did manage to stir up a large black snake she hadn't seen which reared up, but didn't strike.  Subsequently she worked out it was non-venomous.

In New Jersey we are only supposed to camp in designated areas near shelters which is a pain in the butt, so we stopped Mashipacong Shelter around 6:30pm and found a spot to camp amongst a few other tents.  We may not always observe this rule!

Appalachian Trail - Day 083 - Delaware Water Gap to Fairview Lake View

Day: 083

Date: Sunday, 16 July 2023

Start:  Delaware Water Gap (AT Mile 1296.9)

Finish:  Fairview Lake View (AT Mile 1313.6)

Daily Kilometres:  27.6 (Ascent 2657', Descent 1532')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  2207.8

Weather:  Very warm and humid, overcast and gloomy with occasional light rain.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Breakfast sandwiches 

  Lunch:  BLT sandwiches 

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals 

Aches:  Dave - the usual niggles and a couple of falls; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  Probably our wildlife sightings.  While negotiating the rocks bordering Sunfish Pond we came on two different snakes very close to each other and beautifully marked.  We think one was a Northern water snake and the other was a rattlesnake which was not in a hurry to get out of our way despite the rocks around him being banged repeatedly by Dave's trekking pole.  In the end it got off to the side enough for us to get by and showed no hostility.  The other sighting was a beaver patrolling his beaver pond quite close to shore though we could really only see the snout.

Lowlight:  Still plenty of rocks on the trail today, and many of them exceptionally slippery, making progress slow and tedious for long stretches.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We slept in until 7:00am then packed,  checked out of our motel, and walked down to the town bakery arriving soon after it opened at 8:00.  We bought some breakfast sandwiches to eat on the tables outside and some sandwiches to take with us for lunch.  While we ate breakfast we chatted with the father and daughter thru-hikers we had met a few days ago on the trail.  They hadn't enjoyed their stay at the crowded hostel in town.

Soon after 9:00am on a very gloomy morning we rejoined the trail at the eastern end of town and followed it onto the long bridge across the Delaware River which also carried the freeway and a lot of traffic noise.

Once across the bridge we entered the Delaware Gap National Recreation Area and a trail which followed Dunnfield Creek upstream.  It had rained very heavily in the early morning hours and everywhere was wet and the stream was a loud torrent of white water.  Tributaries were also overflowing and the trail was often a stream itself.  It was impossible to dodge the water so Julie's feet were soon very wet while Dave, with his Goretex boots, remained relatively dry though the water was often almost deep enough to flow into his boots over the top.

The trail was also rocky again, so we haven't quite left the Pennsylvanian rocks behind us even though we crossed into New Jersey as we crossed the Delaware.  The humidity was high and it was sweaty walking as well.  We had hoped for easier walking today but it did become a bit of a slog.

After about six miles we reached the pretty Sunfish Pond and hiked along its very rocky and slippery northern shore encountering a couple of snakes along the way (see above).  Shortly after we took our lunch break and then had a very slow rocky walk following a ridge to the north-east.  It took us about four hours to cover seven miles, which was disappointing, though there were often good views eastwards over the rural valley below and more distant mountains from slippery rock ledges the trail followed.

We took our last break at a fire tower on the ridge which had an adjacent picnic table and then walked our last four miles collecting water for camping along the way.  We found a nice spot on the ridge, marred only by prolific mosquitoes, at 7:00pm and camped.  Didn't see many hikers at all today, which surprised us given the number who had been in town, but that's OK.  It's nice to have the trail to ourselves.  We also passed the 1300 Mile mark today, which gave us a boost.

Appalachian Trail - Day 082 - Delaware Water Gap Day Off

Day: 082

Date: Saturday, 15 July 2023

Start:  Delaware Water Gap (AT Mile 1296.9)

Finish:  Delaware Water Gap (AT Mile 1296.9)

Daily Kilometres:  0

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos from her walk around town today.

Total Kilometres:  2180.2

Weather:  Mostly overcast, very warm and humid with a late shower.

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Breakfast sandwich on sourdough, choc chip muffins.

  Lunch:  Chicken salad sandwiches & fries.

  Dinner:  Pizza, apple crumble & ice cream.

Aches:  Nothing to report.

Highlight:  None really.

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: No pictures today.

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We slept in and bought a late breakfast from the Dunkin Donuts next to the motel.  Rarely seen such grumpy staff!

We then finished planning our tentative schedule for the next couple of weeks and Julie went and purchased what we need for the next few days from the few local stores (not many in Delaware Water Gap), buying some lunch for us on her way back to the.motel.

Julie went for a walk around town after lunch, catching up with a few more of the thru-hikers we know, then we relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.

Later we got some takeout pizza for dinner.  Thunderstorms and heavy rain forecast for tomorrow morning when we go back on the trail!

Appalachian Trail - Day 081 - Wolf Rocks to Delaware Water Gap

Day: 081

Date: Friday, 14 July 2023

Start:  Wolf Rocks (AT Mile 1287.7)

Finish:  Delaware Water Gap (AT Mile 1296.9)

Daily Kilometres:  16.0 (Ascent 735', Descent 1916')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  2180.2

Weather:  Very warm and humid, partly sunny with thunderstorms in the morning and evening.

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts 

  Lunch:  Hot dogs, apple pies

  Dinner:  BBQ mess/mix, apple crumble & ice cream.

Aches:  Dave - sore shoulder; Julie - nothing to report.

Highlight:  Finishing Pennsylvania! When we arrived in Delaware Water Gap, the last town in Pennsylvania, and adjourned to its renowned bakery for a celebratory lunch we were soon sharing the joy with a bunch of very happy fellow thru-hikers.  The worst of the rocky trails are behind us, hopefully.

Lowlight:  None really.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

The forecast pre-dawn thunderstorms did not eventuate and we packed up camp under leaden skies and were on our way before 6:30am.  The trail was soon to cross Wolf Rocks, which were supposed to be difficult, especially when wet, and infested with rattlesnakes.  However, there was a bypass route and Dave decided he would take that and leave Julie to contend with the slippery rocks and snakes, with the plan to meet her when the two trails rejoined a mile later.

About five minutes after we went our separate ways it began raining and soon became torrential.  We were so glad we hadn't left packing up camp any later, as others camped near us had done.  Julie survived the challenges of Wolf Rocks and we met up as planned.  We then continued on along the still often rocky trail under such thick cloud it was quite dark in the dank forest.

We now only had about eight miles to go to reach Delaware Water Gap which marked the end of Pennsylvania and where we had a motel booked for two nights.  The time seemed to pass slowly as we followed the ridge towards town, though we did get some good views here and there.  The often technical and slippery descent from the ridge, with occasional great views of the Delaware River carving its way through the narrow Gap, was also marked by loud traffic noise from the freeway far below.

Eventually we reached the very pretty 200+ year old small town and made our way to the bakery we had heard about for an early lunch which we ate on the tables outside with a bunch of other happy thru-hikers.  We stayed there for a couple of hours since we had been told we couldn't get early check-in to our motel then did wander up to the motel soon after 2:00.and got our room without trouble.

After showers, laundry and some trip planning, we went to a nearby BBQ Smokehouse for dinner which was good.  As were getting ready to leave, a massive thunderstorm arrived with torrential rain and soon the parking lot was flooded and water was coming under the door into the restaurant.  We stayed on higher ground until the rain stopped and water receded a little before returning to our motel, looking forward to a day off tomorrow.

Appalachian Trail - Day 080 - Blue Mountain Resort to Wolf Rocks

Day: 080

Date: Thursday, 13 July 2023

Start:  Blue Mountain Resort (AT Mile 1267.0)

Finish:  Wolf Rocks (AT Mile 1287.7)

Daily Kilometres:  34.2 (Ascent 2096', Descent 1864')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  2164.2

Weather:  Hot, humid and partly cloudy.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts, beans & vege sausage

  Lunch:  Trail mix

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals 

Aches:  Dave - a few niggles and sore feet; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  It's Julie's birthday today and when I mentioned it to some fellow thru-hikers we had come to know and one of their supporters, Merlin, when we met them at a road crossing where we planned to take our breakfast break, the latter disappeared into his van and reappeared with a small packet of Oreos as a birthday cake.  Merlin had already cooked us some beans and sausage to augment our pop tarts.  It was at least a good start to Julie's birthday.

Lowlight:  Sadly, for Julie's birthday, this was, perhaps, the most tiresome day's hiking we have had.  It was almost 20 miles of non-stop Pennsylvanian jagged rocks underfoot, making every step hard work in very warm conditions, with very little in the way of views or other points of interest.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

Our night passed peacefully with no security patrols disturbing us on a campsite by the beginners ski slope at the Blue Mountain Resort.  Nevertheless, we packed up quietly and were on our way back to the trail by 6:30am with a beautiful sunrise to our backs.

Once on the trail we were again following the ridge of Blue Mountain to the north-east, with jagged edge rocks underfoot, hoping for the occasional break of some smooth trail.  Our pace was OK and we decided to take our first break at a road crossing after six miles.  You never know what you might find at a road crossing (trail magic?) but, in this case, we were at least hoping for a water dump so we could replenish our supplies post-breakfast.  As it turned out, there was a water dump, but also a group of thru-hikers, including some we knew reasonably well.  It was a very social breakfast and we got some extra food (see above).

All the hikers just want to get the Pennsylvanian rocks finished and even the cheeriest person on the trail, Julie, was occasionally complaining today.  The trail continued much the same for the next nine miles before we descended sharply to Wind Gap and a major road.  We decided to detour a quarter mile to a run-down motel reputed to be very friendly to hikers to get some water and cold drinks and found many of the same hikers we had met at breakfast there as well.  More socialising.

The last six miles of the day involved a sweaty climb back up onto Blue Mountain and then interminable rocks until we camped.  Julie went on ahead with a mile to go to get water from a spring and with just a quarter mile to go, Dave saw a large bear about 50 yards off the trail which immediately turned tail and ran off.  Maybe our bear barrels will earn their keep tonight!

Our birthday dinner (same dinner as usual) was spoiled by hordes of mosquitoes so after a wash we ate quickly and retired to the tent.

Appalachian Trail - Day 079 - PA Route 309 to Blue Mountain Resort

Day: 079

Date: Wednesday, 12 July 2023

Start:  PA Route 309 (AT Mile 1246.6)

Finish:  Blue Mountain Resort (AT Mile 1267.0)

Daily Kilometres:  33.2 (Ascent 2881', Descent 2874')

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  2130.0

Weather:  Hot and mostly sunny.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pancakes

  Lunch:  Trail Mix

  Dinner:  Nachos/Chicken Quesadilla 

Aches:  Dave - the usual niggles plus some scratches and bruises from a fall and very tired; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  Making Blue Mountain Resort in time to have dinner at their pub and grill.  It's a ski resort, but the pub was doing very good business when we arrived around 7:30pm with many people dining on its large deck overlooking the valley far below.  The cold drinks were almost as welcome as the food after a long hot day.

Lowlight:  The last hour or so of hiking was not pretty.  Firstly, there was some newly relocated trail which seemed designed to take hikers off the obvious firetrail going to the same place and send them through the forest on gnarly rocky trail.  This was followed by a very steep and sweaty boulder-scrambling ascent while being drained of blood by squadrons of voracious mosquitoes.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We slept well, woke at 6:00am and Julie cooked us some pancakes for breakfast on the hostel kitchen while we chatted with other early risers including a father hiking the trail with his daughter who had just graduated from high school.

It was 7:20am by the time we left the hostel to walk the few hundred yards back to the trail, which was a little later than hoped, but not too bad.  Initially the trail was easy walking but soon we were boulder-scrambling across the Knife's Edge and Bear Rocks, making very slow progress.  On the plus side, the views were excellent.

We took our first break after about six miles at a shelter where several other thru-hikers were talking about getting to the pub at Blue Mountain Resort for dinner which wasn't something we knew about.  After consulting our navigation app we confirmed that the pub was indeed close to the trail and about fourteen miles ahead which was roughly our target distance for the day anyway.  Of course, we didn't know how difficult the trail would be, though we did know of one significant climb to come out of Lehigh Gap.

There was a new trail relocation in the next section which took us out into the open and high along the side of the ridge with great views to the north and west over the rural countryside and small towns while, overhead, eagles rode the air currents.  Out from the forest it was hot and sweaty hiking but it was nice and unusual to have views for so long a period.

We took our lunch break around 2:00pm after a slow section during which Julie saw a bear on the trail ahead, but it ran off before any photos could be taken or Dave arrived.  There were seven miles remaining to the Resort which seemed doable in the time remaining, but depended on how difficult the trail was.  Firstly, we finished our descent to Lehigh Gap and crossed the river, chatting to people in one of the cars held up by traffic crossing the bridge.  Down on the river, people were rafting, which seemed a lot more sensible than hiking on a day like this.

As we started our ascent from the Gap, we found a freezer with water and watermelon left out for thru-hikers, and were helping ourselves as the "trail angel" arrived to pack it all up for the day.  This was the second time today we had found water left for hikers on the trail on this notoriously dry section.  The "trail angel" apologised for how little was left, but we were happy.

The climb was very steep, the steepest yet in our hike, and required the use of hands to haul ourselves up the rock faces.  Then we had to ascend through boulder fields before we reached the ridge top.  Overhead, buzzards circled, waiting for one of us (probably Dave) to fall.

Once on the ridge we had a long walk on sometimes rocky trail which seemed to take forever with some maddening relocations (see above).  By this time Dave was getting very tired and our journey became a plod, made worse by a very steep final ascent (see above).

Eventually, we reached the turn-off to the Resort and got to the pub at 7:30pm.  It seemed surreal sitting there enjoying our meal and drinks amongst people having a night out (see above).

Of course, it was getting dark by the time we left the pub and began our walk up past the beginners ski slope and back towards the forest.  On the way, Dave spotted a small inconspicuous grassy area where we decided to camp, hopefully out of sight and not breaking any laws.

As we were setting up our tent some other thru-hikers passed on their way back to the forest and said that there was a security patrol at the resort and "good luck!".  We decided to stay put and quietly, with no lights, set up, washed, and got into bed, hoping we don't get any nocturnal visitors.