Date: 2016-05-15
From: Liberty Corners Road

To: Warwick Turnpike
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: broken clouds

I¢m not sure how today¢s climb relates to Led Zeppelin, but the toughest climb of the day up the south side of Wawayanda Mtn is known as the ¢stairway to heaven¢. The climb is almost 1,000 ft and much of the upper part is up and across a boulder cascade. The path through the boulders includes numerous rock steps. Today was a key swap day for us and Princess elected to take the climb, leaving me to descend the stairway. Climbing takes more energy, but I find descending to be nerve-wracking and hard on the knees. What goes up must come down, so I guess it evens out in the end. We checked out of High Point Mountain Inn and said goodbye to Ron and Murph. We enjoyed our stay as usual. We did 3 keys swaps today to break up the distance and get a little rest along the way. Today was Sunday, so there were a lot of local hikers on the trail, especially around Pochuck Creek and Wawayanda Mountain. We expected the trail to be busier even with an early start, and we were concerned about being able to get parking at the trailheads. Some of the AT trailheads have large parking areas to accommodate local hikers, but others have only a few spaces and quickly fill up on weekends. We only had a problem at one trailhead, Barrett Road, where the cleared area was already filled. But there was some additional grassy area and I was able to squeeze in - later several more found room as well. Barrett Road was actually double trouble because it¢s a very narrow, curvy, steep climb with a lot of high-speed traffic. A sign at the bottom warned that the road was designed in the horse and carriage days, and cautioned drivers to take it slow (posted 25 mph) and enjoy the ride. No one I saw was even close to 25 mph. Anyway, we made it safely and squeezed into the postage stamp parking lot. The lot between Wawayanda and Pochuck Creek, on the other hand, had space for maybe 2 dozen cars or more - and it was busy.Today¢s weather was good for hiking, but not much else. It started in the high 30¢s and climbed into the lower 50¢s with a stiff breeze. We also had some sprinkles of rain through the morning even though it was forecast to be rain-free. There are frost warnings out tonight, although it could climb into the 60¢s by tomorrow afternoon. We need some good weather tomorrow since we have a tough hiking day. The elevation profile is pretty flat, but we know from experience that the terrain is not easy. There were several highlights today - the stairway up Wawayanda is certainly noteworthy. I took a number of photos and they look like other rock photos, I guess you just have to be there. The Pochuck Creek area is different. There is an elevated boardwalk that zigzags over the swamp for nearly a mile with built-in benches at intervals. There is a small island of trees partway across, and an impressive suspension bridge over the creek itself. The police were out and set up cones for a roadside parking area to accommodate the weekend visitors who came out to hike across the swamp. It was busy. Otherwise, there was considerable variation in the terrain and a number of hikers I passed commented on how much they enjoyed the trail. After the hike, we headed into Greenwood Lake, NY where we¢ll stay at Anton¢s on the Lake for several days. We¢ve stayed here before, it¢s comfortable and convenient with restaurants, groceries, bars, laundry and shuttling. And I had a really good shepherds pie at Murphy¢s.