Date: 2006-07-20
From: Tent at Culver Fire Tower

To: Tent at High Point Shelter
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: clear sky

Got a great night's sleep at the fire tower. The breeze kept up all night, and the temp dropped into the low 60's. Did notice a law enforcement vehicle and a light shining toward the tent about 11pm, but the officer didn't disturb us, so I guess our camping there was OK. There was a heavy dew overnight which left the things we had hanging out wetter than when we went to bed. No big deal, they dried on the outside of our packs today. We did need to wait for the sun and wind to dry out the tent, however, which delayed our departure until about 7:45am.The first stop was Gren Anderson shelter, where we filled up on water for the upcoming 9 dry miles. We had a pleasant morning gorp stop on a ridge facing west, and decided to hold off lunch until we got to Rutherford Shelter after 9 mi. It appeared on the map to be on a lake. Halfway there I finally noticed I'd left my knee braces behind at the fire tower.When we arrived at about 1:30pm, there was no lake, and the register entries described a swamp that someone who bushwhacked found. We did, however, have a shady, breezy location for our dinner-at-lunchtime meal of a tuna/chicken-flavored noodle concoction that we both found appetizing. After dinner, we both took a brief nap and packed up to go at 3pm.It was only 4.3 miles to High Point State Park, where Wingfoot's guide mentioned a concession stand. We reached the park office at 5pm, knowing it would be closed. We both filled a liter of water to tide us over to the spring here. I took off ahead of Becca at full speed hoping to cover the mile+ to the concession stand before it closed at 6pm. On the way up to it, an oncoming local hiker let me know it's been closed for 2 years, but "there might be a soda machine". All was not lost, as there was indeed a pop machine, but I only had enough one's for one drink. Fortunately, some locals in a car was able to change my five. When Becca caught up, we both had a Dr. Pepper and shared a FantaOrange. I took the short hike up to the monument, a slightly scaled-down version of the Washington Monument in D.C. It was funded by a private individual in honor and memory of soldiers who died in the country's service and is located atop the highest point in NJ. The view in all directions is pretty fantastic. On a clear day one can reportedly see the skyscrapers of NYC. Today was not that clear. The temps reached the mid to upper 80s, and humidity was higher than yesterday.After relaxing a bit with our sodas, we continued on to the shelter. We found a good tentsite near the shelter. With the heat and bugs it's better to be within a tent's big screens than in the shelter. We set up camp, and I went to filter water at the spring behind the shelter,When I returned, Veto, GreyGoowse, and BigFoot were setting up camp, and we had a nice reunion. They did nearly 20 miles into here and are pooped out, and they brought my knee braces from the fire tower. They are going into Unionville, NY which will be better for us too, as we are out of lunch stuff and pretty low on breakfast stuff. Looks like we will be a foursome again! -- at least for a while.On! On!