Date: 2008-06-01
From: Mohican Outdoor Center

To: Brink Rd Shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: broken clouds

Happy June. The evening ended up being a nice affair. The caretaker and a few others performed a concert. Old favorites from the 60 & 70's.   Pretty good actually. Nice to just sit and relax and listen to some tunes.Turned in around 9:30. By midnight, nature was calling. I tried to ignore it but it wasn't happening. The only reason I was reluctant was that the privy was down the road. I ventured out because I knew if I didn't I wasn't going to sleep well.   Hit the trail by 8 am. Today, was a long day, but not difficult. Had a couple of rock scrambles to deal with, but it wasn't too bad. Had a few nice vistas. Not too high, but very expansive. Hard to believe you are in NJ. One section was across an outcropping across Rattlesnake Mountain. Three ticks jumped on my leg within seconds of each other. YUK. I was hoping to do a little hiking with Baggins, but she said she still had stuff to do before she left.   Seemed odd. I really was interested in her gear. Oh well.Ran into four teenagers hiking at Catfish fire tower. Real girls out camping make me laugh. They were both doing their hair while the boys were taking down the tents. I am trying to adhere to my new hiking philosophy which is to take breaks at least every 1.5 hours.   We'll see how that goes. I headed up the fire tower, but only got 3 quarters up and decided I wasn't really in the mood to go all the way. Perfect day for hiking. The sun was out, it was hot, but not too hot. Nice breeze. Perfect.Didn't run into any wildlife today, but did pass two weekenders headed south. Good amount of bird activity today. With the highlight being a scarlet tanager. One of my favorite birds. The colors were spectacular especially against the green in the trees. Titmice, red eyed vireo, song sparrow, towhee, crows, turkey vultures, and a black & white warbler. All the regulars. I've decided that a seasoned thru hiker must think that NJ is a piece of cake. Not a lot of climbing, rocks, but probably not as bad as PA. Lots of level trail walking. My feet and shoulders were done today and I was glad to be stopping. My foot seems to be holding up pretty good. My superfeet and pads seems to be doing their job. The bottoms of my feet are sore, but the pain in the bone doesn't seem to be a problem. It is still early, but so far so good.A couple got to the shelter about half hour after I did. They started at MOC also.   They are doing a flip - started in Marion VA and will hike to the Big K and somehow get back to Marion and finish going south. They drove across the country from Colorado. Nice couple. Snickers and Energizer Turtle.   I will be sleeping in my tent tonight and they set up their tent in the shelter. Their tent got wet during the rains last night. Nobody else is around, so it shouldn't be a problem.First bear box of the season. It's a pretty big one - not like the ones in Mass that look like an old military foot locker. I am carrying my ipod on this trip. I have never done that before. Don't plan on listening while hiking, but just while I am sitting in my tent relaxing. I find I have to concentrate while hiking so that I don't trip and fall. We'll see how it goes.