Date: 2018-05-30
To: Campsite mile 1315.6
Miles today: 27.0
Weather: few clouds

An early morning on trail and Two Clicks and I hiked the 6 miles to the Delaware Water Gap together. The descent was fun and when we arrived in town we decided to do a quick resupply then go to the diner while charging our phones. The gas station was perfect for resupply and it only took about 20 minutes. We then wandered into the Apple Pie Cafe down the street. Here, we ran into a bunch of thru hikers who had stayed the night at the donation based church hostel in town. Ripple, Database, no name and a few others were there. As I was getting ready to order, Ripple said "fresh ground is at the hostel" and the place emptied. I ended up staying and still grabbing some food and coffee before making my way there to partake in the fun. Here, I ran into Snapper and Michigan, Jackalope and Screaming Eagle. We ate more delicious food from Fresh Ground. I had banana pancakes and some Gatorade and snacks. Other people had omelettes too! I love this man.After our electronics had a chance to charge and we were full, we hiked out into the sunshine. On I-80, we crossed the Delaware River and over into New Jersey officially before climbing back up to the ridge. I think I had some completely wild expectation that the Delaware River had magical powers to stop the PA rocks from extending past them. This was wrong. The rocks didn't stop but I will say they mellowed out a bit. My feet and soul don't hurt as much!Up on the ridge we passed by sunfish pond and then dropped into a gap where the Mohican Appalachian Mountain Club lodge was. I could use my AMC member discount too! Two Clicks, Snapper, Michigan and I all stopped here for a Gatorade and a bit of a rest not that we needed it that badly. Here, I ran into a man that went by Jersey Tom. He lives in Jersey and hikes the area often and had been following my journal. It was cool that he recognized me! Nice to meet you Tom!After the brief break we all pushed on up and over a mountain that had a fire tower. Jersey has been a nice change of pace with views and towers such as this compared to PA. Enjoying it a lot!Fresh Ground had said he may post up at the next gap for dinner and we all were secretly hoping he would without saying it to sound greedy. When we got there, there was no sign of him so we kept pushing north. No big deal. 2.7 miles later, we came up to the tentsite we had planned on staying at. Jersey doesn't allow you to legally camp anywhere so we have to aim for shelters or campsites. When we got there, some teenage group had taken over. There were about 20 of them and they hadn't set up camp yet so we figured we could. One of the leaders came over to us and told us they had more coming and asked us to please move further north. We did so but that's not typically how it's supposed to work. About 0.5 miles north we found a spot clear enough for two tents and a spot to eat. We unloaded gear tired from the day. Maybe even more tired than normal. Then shit got real.We had both set up our tents and began laying out our sleeping bags and pads. I walked over to a rock and was using a baby wipe to clean my feet with my food bag next to me sealed up with my stomach growling anticipating dinner. All of a sudden I look up and just to my left north on the trail. A black bear was coming south on the trail and right towards us. I stood up and told Two Clicks as the two of us began yelling and making noise to scare it off. It's not the first time we've seen a bear but the rest of the story was unique. This bear had zero fear of us. It stopped when we began yelling but never backed up. The only time it made a big move was when two clicks threw something near it and it ran into the woods west of the trail. From there it continued to move towards us as we persisted with our yelling and noise. Eventually it got close enough where we were forced out of the campsite leaving our stuff. I'll admit I was definitely too close to the bear when it bluff charged me. This is when it charges for a quick second before stopping. It's enough to wake you up and that was the final straw for us to back off and yield to it. It came in camp and began sniffing. First near Two Clicks tent then over towards where I was sitting. It sniffed my shoes and I secretly hoped those would stun him haha. No luck. He looked left and smelt my food back then took a bite into it and sprinted off into the woods. Damn.What else could we have done? This bear clearly has done this before and even the AT app called Guthooks warns of active bears in the area. We've always been really adamant about bear hangs using the PCT hang but what can you do when you're just about to eat after a long day and an adolescent bear pushes you out. It's a shame it happened and that I lost a full resupply of food along with my stove but life goes on. We made the best of it and I'm lucky to be with Two Clicks who helped feed me dinner. Luckily I also had saved two protein bars and a pack of crackers to supplement my food needs for the night and the morning where we would push into Branchville, NJ to get food. At least my food bag wasn't still in my pack where the bear may have stolen that too. Who knows but all I can do now is warn hikers I know behind, let the trail maintenance club know and laugh at the story while being grateful I can still hike. Jersey, you have lived up to your name.Well the bear was still in the area and we didn't want to lose Two Clicks' bag or have any other issues so we pushed on. Unfortunately another 4 miles hiking up until sunset. We managed to get to camp and eat a small bit before complete darkness but were happy to be around a few other hikers including Snapper and Michigan.That night we had hung our bear bag but still heard screeching calls that we had trouble figuring out what could be making that noise. Possibly a raccoon, weasel or some rodent? It was a long night but I did sleep pretty well. P.S: looks like the photo uploading on this site has been fixed so I uploaded some new ones!