Date: 2016-05-25
From: Fairview Lake

To: Gren Anderson Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Days 2-3 in Jersey I was grateful to be back in my hammock last night, snug and so comfortable. I stealth camped alone on the ridgeline where I had stopped for dinner and actually really liked camping alone. It's nice to be able to change my clothes and do an oh-so-glamorous check for ticks without worrying about freaking out my hiking partners. I was in the hammock by 8:30, didn't wake up until 7 this morning.The wind was blowing, but none of the promised rain turned up, so I had no excuse to stay in my hammock as long as I did. I got up, ate some trail mix and chocolate covered espresso beans, since I was out of water, and packed up.The first few miles were rough going. Not because of the trail itself, I was just not in the mood to hike. I had to repeatedly remind myself that I wasn't on a deadline and didn't HAVE to hike 20 miles that day, if I wasn't up for it. Eventually, after getting more water, I stopped for second breakfast and coffee at Crater Lake, alone but for the company of the world's largest bullfrog. It's a beautiful spot, reminds me of northern Wisconsin, and I spent a long time there, giving myself a pep talk. It's amazing what memories crop up when you're out here alone. I spent ten minutes thinking about the classmate who threw away a picture I drew back in the seventh grade. She was a real bitch, but there's no reason to have remembered that particular moment...Anyway, after a long leisurely elevensies on the lakeshore, I persuaded myself to start walking again, bribing myself with a Fleet Foxes album. A few minutes down the trail I ran into what appeared to be a group of Boy Scouts, a bit odd for a Tuesday. Very unlike Boy Scouts, however, this thundering herd charged past me, chattering loudly and flinging Jolly Rancher wrappers about. Any Scout worth his salt can tell you that large groups are supposed to cede the right of way to solo hikers.Weird, but on I went. Until I met another group of boys. Then another. And another. Every ten minutes for hours, poorly equipped teenage boys, lugging over sized external frame packs and carrying their sleeping bags or tents in hand. Every group, apparently a part of a school trip, damn near shoved me into the underbrush as they went by. I was forced to stop to let them pass, making the 4.5 miles to the shelter take FOREVER. By the time I finally got to Brinck Shelter for lunch it was well past lunch. A fellow thru-hiker greeted me with "I follow you on Instagram!" I chatted with her and her partner, Misty and Snooze, for a bit, then they continued on towards the Tavern in Culver Gap.Before leaving, Misty cautioned me, "There's a napping hiker in the shelter."To which KT loudly responded "It's only me!" Of course it was KT. She has a knack for turning back up, just when I thought she had vanished, always with a crazy story. This story didn't disappoint.Apparently, she had gone just a few miles past me and stealth camped, only to be greeted overnight by a hungry bear, giving it the old college try to knock down her bear bag. She ended up sitting up by a fire, banging her trekking poles together to scare him off. According to my sources, New Jersey has a heckuva bear problem, which is why I hung my bag very, very far away from camp. I figured they could have my poptarts, if they were willing to work that hard, but just don't wake me up...There was also a note from Roller in the trail register, now a day ahead of me, "Shelter was lovely, finding poop next to the spring was not." I gotta catch up with her soon.Anyway, 3 miles further on was a road crossing and at said road crossing was a tavern, called Gyp's, which feels like it could be offensive in some contexts, that had a lovely back lawn and patio facing a lake. After only briefly getting lost and detouring through a boulder field, I met Misty, Snooze, and KT there. They had a separate hiker entrance- who can blame them- and every classic American bar food you can think of. I wen with buffalo chicken strips and fried with Old Bay seasoning. Misty and Snooze went with... everything else on the menu. It was incredible- fries, onion rings, pizza, burgers. I've seen some people pack away food out here, but these two had it down to a science. Kudos, guys.KT and I left to hike the last 3 miles to the next shelter, Misty and Snooze said they would catch up. I sincerely doubted it, that bar had a significant gravitational pull. On the way up the hill, we passed a mama bear and her cub. Thank god the shelter had a bear box.In the shelter, we met an awesome southbound flip-flopper, out raising money for a foundation he created in his mothers name after she passed away from pancreatic cancer. He had been on the trail for only a few weeks, so we spent a while talking gear and trail gossip. I was happy to hear he had called a douchebag the guy I had called a jackass a few days earlier. That guy thoroughly deserves both monikers.I set up my hammock, KT her tent, and our new friend took the shelter. Everything that even remotely smelled of anything went into the locked bear box and we all went off to bed.In the middle of the night, I awoke to a quiet rustling beside my hammock. "It's a bear!" I thought. "No way it's a bear, way too quiet," my rational brain argued.I turned over and peaked under my rainfly."AUGHHHH, BEAR!"Not five feet from my face, I big ole black bear was casually snuffling about like he owned the place.I thrashed around violently in my hammock, making an incredible amount of ruckus and setting my hammock swinging.Terrified, the bear darted to closest tree, reared up on his hind legs, and prepared to climb. He looked back at me to determine my threat level."F*ck off, bear!" I called, thrashing around some more.He stared for a second, then turned tail and galloped into the woods, missing KT's tent by a matter of inches."F*ckf*ckf*ckityf*ck." I whispered.I grabbed my headlamp and pulled up an alarm on my phone, should the 400 lb raccoon return, and sat awake watching and listening for him for ALMOST 5 minutes, at which point I promptly fell back asleep because, hello, hiking is hard.The next morning, KT was still fast asleep when I left camp, but her tent hadn't been ripped apart by an avenging bear, so I figured I'd see her soon enough. My neighbor in the shelter hadn't heard a thing and in fact felt quite guilty for sleeping through my bear fight.PS, I forgot to mention that I finally said something to one of the chaperones on the nightmare of a school-trip I had been passing all day. I politely reminded her that large groups typically cede the way to solo hikers. She must've immediately sent out a mass text, because the next four groups got off the trail to let me by. Score.