Date: 2003-07-25
From: Delaware Water Gap, PA

To: Mtn Ridge prior to Camp No-Be-Bo-Sho trail
Miles today: 14.7

We actually woke up very early (before 6am) in our cozy 42 b-day bed @ the Delaware Water Gap, PA Ramada Inn. We were well-rested & eager to hit the trail again after 48 hours of leg-rest. 42's 2-day b-day celebration was over & we had approx 28 miles to hike between today & tomorrow (Sat.) by 2pm, the time we are meeting 42's Mom & Harv @ Worthington's Bakery, Culver's Gap, near Branchville, NJ. (Note: always meet folks @ a food establishment, in case you need to wait around for awhile.)So, we really enjoyed our tubing expedition yesterday -- floating on the Delaware for a few hours was wonderful -- so let's get an early start, get out on the trail, knock out about 18 miles -- right? Well, not exactly.Hang out in bed for awhile, take advantage of a cable TV, get our food for the woods & our bounce box organized, take one more shower, make a few phone calls, hit the Ramada's continental breakfast (including extra bagels & cream cheese for the woods), go to the post office &, of course, grab a town lunch @ Trail's End Cafe -- before long, 1pm rolls around.No problem! Ran into Thirsty @ the cafe, hadn't seen him since the 1st shelter north of Harper's Ferry. After lunch, the 3 of us hiked out together into New Jersey -- our 8th state. YES!! New Jersey -- our home, "born & raised in" state. We walked across the Interstate 80 bridge today, crossing the Delaware River & walking into the beautiful Garden State. Thirsty took a bridge photo of us as we entered NJ -- the DWG is a very pretty spot, even w/ the west-bound traffic backed up @ the toll plaza. Also got pix of us by a truck w/ a NJ license plate & another standing next to an I-80 East sign. Yeah, we were excited to be in good ole reliable, familiar Jersey.We continued to hike in the DWG National Recreation Area, heading North on the trail. The AT in NJ is very pretty & we were glad to be back on the trail. We were enjoying our walk.Thirsty had hiked on ahead of us & about 4 miles into the hike, we caught up to him -- he was just standing around, looking into the woods. Turns out, just minutes before we walked up, he had seen a whopping total of 6 bears -- a momma + 3 cubs, & another momma + 1 cub. While always cautious about bear encounters, we were a bit bummed to have missed them.We hiked on a couple more miles to Sunfish Pond, the 1st glacial pond encountered going north on the AT. Saw tons of frogs & monster tadpoles while taking a nice rest by the pond.The trail follows the western perimeter of the pond. As we walked, we came across a very rocky area where people had built many cairns -- rock piles -- we displayed our construction skills & added one more pile of stones just for the fun of it.Hiked on. OK -- there's our BEAR! -- about 1 mile later, we heard rather loud crashing of leaves & limbs off to our right. We enjoyed a good view of a big bear, ambling through the woods. Mr. Bear didn't seem like he even noticed us, or cared, if he did see us. That was just fine w/ us -- we watched him for a few minutes & continued on.Great ridgeline walking in NJ -- had some terrific views, both to the east & the west. After approx 10.5 miles, we took a 1/4 mile side road to the Mohican Outdoor Center. The MOC is an Appalachian Mountain Club facility that hosts outdoor groups & activities & has bunkhouses, tent sites, & a small camp store.As we walked up, we were reunited w/ Sleepy Floyd, Pipes, Phlegm, Torch & Superman, all of whom had escaped the clutches of DWG before us. We met Park Ranger Mike Fernalld, who was driving north & would be walking south that evening on a routine night walk. We let him know that we'd likely see him later b/c we planned to hike another 4 miles or so after dinner. It was just after 6pm, so we cooked up some delicious tortellini and treated ourselves to cokes, Snapple, & ice cream sandwiches (of course).Thirsty showed up, having seen his 7th bear of the day -- sounded like it was the one we observed. Applejack was also @ MOC -- thanks for the couple rolls of extra film.At approx 8pm, we said adios & hit the trail. We made it almost 2.5 miles to the Catfish Fire Tower before dark -- great late evening views from the ridge on the way. We continued on approx another 2 miles, past creepy-sounding beaver & frog ponds & up to a powerline vista @ about 1460 feet. It was a beautiful, star-filled sky night & we could see lights in the valleys in several directions.Just as we were looking for a site to pitch our tent, we saw a light coming south on the trail. We were glad we knew that Ranger Mike was out in the woods. Great to see Mike, who had a monster flashlight -- what quality ranger service -- he lit up the entire area, making it a snap for us to pitch the tent. Ranger Mike even found us a perfect tree in which to hang our food (read: bear pinata). We said good night to our friendly Ranger & were treated to "Taps" playing loud & clear on the speakers from Camp No-Be-Bo-Sho.Went to sleep without putting the fly on over the tent -- it was a beautiful, breezy night & we were soon asleep.