Date: 2015-07-19
From: high Point State Park

To: road south of Vernon
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: scattered clouds

We all got up and went out for breakfast and discussed the plan for the day. The family wanted to spend the day together but they also wanted to hike. We came up with the plan to do a slack pack with the car parked north. The plan was that I would be dropped off at the lake where we stopped yesterday and they would drive to a point on the trail north where they could park the car. They would hike south, we would say hi somewhere in the middle, and when I reached the car I would drive it back to the lake. Good plan.We went back to the room and gathered our gear into plastic bags so we could have empty packs. Casey and Chris have a Honda Fit, and we definitely looked like a clown car, packed in like sardines, gear on laps and squished into every corner of the car. There was a single beer left from the night before and we popped it and passed it around before we took off. Highway to Hell was playing on the stereo and I must say, we all felt like wild Americans. We sang along and were pretty darn chipper.They dropped me at the lake and I started the walk back to the trail. When I got there, I went to the top of the observation tower and enjoyed the view. There is a tower on the highest peak that looks like the Washington monument. It is really pretty. I posted pictures of it here, in the photos.The climb started steep and down. Very rocky, big steps down. I passed a group that I had seen starting out yesterday. It was a youth group, and they were walking up slowly, faces many shades of grim, some in tears. Yesterday they had been excited and lively, eager for the night of camping. The camp counselor recognized me and said hi. I asked if they camped in the big storm, which had pelted this area with rain and lightning, and he said yes they did. The kids all nodded solemnly. "wow!" I said" You guys are hard-core! We got a hotel" They perked up a little. I told them that now they have a story, because looking back it is always the pain we remember first, the challenges, not necessarily the views. I really believe that. They hiked on and I didn't have the heart to tell them that the trail was about to get a lot harder.After the rocky descent, the trail continued a fairly steep grade down, but it was smooth. I made really good time. I walked through mostly woods but some pastures also. I had heard hikers talking about all of the bear they had seen in NJ but I had not seen any. I was in a bear wrestling/talk show tour telling of the wrestling match fantasy when I heard someone yell loud-BONBON! It startled me and I looked around with butterfly's in my stomach. Tedzilla was sitting on a log, not 10 feet away from me. He hd called my name a few times but my earbuds were in and I was lost in my dream world. I was so excited to see him! We hiked together the rest of my hike and talked about bears and shelters and motivation and food. We walked through a big with wooden boards serving as the trail, cattail a growing on both sides. We walked through farmland with barns and silos. The temperature was in the 90s and were were hot and sweaty, but I really enjoyed the hike. A mile of the walk was on an asphalt road. The heat radiated up from the road and down from the sun and we were rotisseried from toes to cranium. We passed a house that was preparing for a party and the sign said its was George and Barbara's Annual Nudist Camp Barbecue. With a picture of George and Barbara, obviously nude, on the sign. Tempting. BBQ.The last part of the walk was fairly brutal up and down, and Ted skillfully yogi'd a ride to the store for a cold drink from me when I found where the car was parked. I drove back to the lake and waited for The gang. It was a great day of hiking and a great day spent with Tedzilla.