Date: 2017-07-17
From: Blue Mountain Lakes Rd.

To: Deckertown Turnpike
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: few clouds

New Jersey continues to surprise us with its beauty.  We walked along a rocky ridge for most of the day.  Parts of it were grassy open areas, leading into places with some kind of short oak trees - more like bushes than trees.  There were more blueberries (although not as many as yesterday) and lovely views overlooking lakes.  In one of these partly wooded areas Terri caught sight of a scarlet tanager.  We got a good look at it as it flitted from tree to tree.  Around one o'clock, after 11 miles of hiking, we came to a road crossing where there was supposed to be a pub.  It turned out the pub wasn't open on Monday.  Nonetheless, we turned west off the trail to see what we could find to eat or drink.  It was seasonably hot, and we wanted cold drinks.  We passed the pub and a deli, both closed.   Then we passed a gas station that had no convenience store items.  Finally we came to a sports store that focused on fishing.  This store had cold drinks, and we each bought several.  We asked the owner if we could sit on a concrete slab in front of the store to eat our lunches in the shade.  He said that was fine and told us we could dump our trash in the store dumpster.  There was only room for three in the shade, so I sat on a boulder near the store's sign.  There I found a painted rock.  We had heard that people were painting rocks and placing them in different places for people to find.  Way back in Salt Log Gap, VA our shuttle driver Piney had told us that everyone in the whole town had gone crazy and were all painting rocks.  The one I found had a campfire pictured on one side.  While I was sitting on the rock I found a deer tick trying to attach itself to my left leg.  I pulled it off and killed it.  We haven't seen many ticks so far, but we're now getting into the states where they're more common.  Arlene found a Lone Star tick attached to her several days ago.  We haven't been bothered much by mosquitos.  So long as we stay moving the bugs seem to leave us alone.  I brought bug repellent with me, but so far I haven't used it   Last week there were lots of gnats that flew into people's faces near their eyes.  They didn't bother me, I guess because my glasses make it difficult for them to get to my eyes.  About four miles from the end of the hike we crossed a stream.  It was deep enough for us to soak our feet.  Arlene and I soaked our feet and wiped our faces and arms with wet bandanas. Wiping the sweat off my arms and face made me feel clean.  (We're never really clean out here, just more dirty or less dirty). The refreshment I got from this short break lasted for several hours.  Late in the day there was a very light rain shower.  We didn't put our ponchos on but didn't get very wet.  My clothes are now completely dry.  We're camping tonight near Mashipacong Shelter because there were no good places to camp near the van.  Tomorrow is a shorter day, 14.1 miles, with an opportunity to shower at a state park along the way, and mail pickup.  I got a text from Lizzie.  Her knee wound isn't yet completely closed up, so she won't be joining us tomorrow.  She is riding with her dad from Asheville, NC to New Hampshire.  Her dad will drop her off next Wednesday to rejoin the group on his way home from New Hampshire.  We're all looking forward to having her back.