Date: 2022-07-09
From: Liberty Corners Road

To: Route 17A
Miles today: 22.21
Weather: scattered clouds

Liberty Corners Road to Route 17AWhat a hike!  I read the map wrong and what I thought was a 20 mile hike ended up being 22.21 miles, my longest day yet.  Over 8,000 feet of elevation gain.  From miles 16 to 20 it was nothing but scrambles and ridge walks. I thought thank goodness I am finally done and I made it before it got dark.  I then realized I had another 2.2 to go and I had to hike it in the dark with my headlamp. Fortunately, these last miles were on a relatively rock free trail. After about a mile, my headlamp picked up two green eyes up ahead on the trail. I yelled ¢hey¢ several times but they didn¢t move. When I got to them it was a deer. It moved maybe 10 feet off the trail and stared at me. I think the adrenaline kicked in when I realized I had another 2.2 miles to go.  Back at Lake lodge.At the beginning I hiked through wetlands on a wooden walkway for 0.9 miles. It was called the Pochuck Boardwalk. It was very nice. Much nicer than the boardwalk through the Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge. Saw four bears today. The first was a large bear by itself. It was just wandering along, looking for something to eat. I got a picture and a video but it¢s pretty far away in trees. About half a mile further on I saw a mother bear and two cubs. I was about 50-60 feet away, which I thought was plenty of space.  I took some pictures and then started to take a video and the mother bear¢s concept of personal space was obviously different. She charged at me but then stopped. After she did that charge, there was a cub behind her that started running away from me. There was another cub in a tree right next to her. It came climbing down and let go when it was about 3-4 feet from the ground and took off behind her. They were super cute with shiny black fur. I thought she might back off when her cubs were behind her but she started ¢chuffing¢.  It¢s a sound like coughing and clearing your throat. And she kept staring at me and walking towards me. That was not a good sign so I know she wanted me to leave so I did. I walked down the trail away from her and she turned around and went to her cubs. In the video you can hear people yelling in the background. It was a couple behind me. They caught up when I stopped to take pictures and videos. They are locals and had a big dog on a leash. The guy was trying to scare her away. My guess is the dog bothered her too. I heard that bears really don¢t like dogs. They view them as more of a threat than humans. I learned something today. Mother bears are very protective, as they should be, and want a very large safe area for their cubs. I now know to give them more room than I would otherwise expect. I did finish New Jersey.  I thought it was a little longer but it¢s done. Eight states down, six to go!  Got a picture of the state lines painted on a rock. There was another hiker behind me when we saw the bears. I told him I wanted to get pictures for my grandchildren. He passed me and was getting water at a stream and said he caught a leopard frog that they might like to see. He said they are super fast and when he put it down it was gone in two hops. Got the picture.