We will get there when we get there.
August 24, 2022
AT miles: 3.8
Ascent: 1254’
Descent: 150’
Weather: hot and sunny (mid-80’s)
Sightings: lots of deer
High points: watching the gorgeous sunset from the comfort of my sleeping bag (inside my tent)
In the next 9 days I am hoping to hike all of New Jersey and Connecticut. If you look at a map, you may wonder why I am not hiking New York. Yes, it’s sandwiched between NJ and CT, and I am not that geographically challenged! However, I only have nine hiking days available before I need to start teaching, and New York is longer than CT, so the only way I can hike two entire states is to hike the two shorter states and save New York for 2023!
I left Williamsburg long before sunrise and arrived at the B&B that is babysitting my car around 1:00. The owner shuttled me to Delaware Water Gap, where I put on my backpack and headed north! Thankfully when I finished Pennsylvania I hiked the bridge over the Delaware River, so I was able to skip the hot road walk and start walking in the shady woods almost immediately.
Hiking out of gaps always involves a lot of vertical ascent, but this climb was quite gentle. The trail was edged with ferns.
The trail was really nice until it started imitating the trail in northern Pennsylvania. I had heard rumors that the rocks of Pennsylvania continue into New Jersey, but I was hoping the rumors were false. They weren’t.
So I spent most of this afternoon staring at the four feet of trail directly in front of my feet!
I almost literally bumped into multiple doe-and-fawn pairs. They were absolutely fearless; one of them stood about 8 feet away from me and started walking towards me! I talked to it, and then I yelled at it, and finally I clicked my hiking poles. I didn’t want to walk over a deer!
Since I got such a late start on the trail, today’s hike was quite short. I actually had intended to hike the 12 miles to the Mohecan front door center all in one day, but I couldn’t find a place to stay in Delaware water gap so I decided to camp instead. I am staying at a backpacker campsite, a large grassy area with trees and rocks and two bear boxes. It is a really great place to stay, spacious and with a great view of the sunset. I was a bit concerned that I would be all by myself in the woods, but thankfully a group of the eight hikers came in just a few minutes ago. I have never stayed completely by myself in the woods, and I’m glad that I will not have that experience tonight!
Today is a great day for a long walk in the woods!