Date: 2009-07-31
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: Blue Mtn. Lakes Rd - Camp Ken-Etiwa-Pec
Miles today: 19.7

Willow¢s husband, Tim, was at the church hostel to pick up the bags of everyone. I had heard about Tim quite often from Willow, as it is not easy to be separated from a spouse for so long while out on the trail. Willow and I crossed the Delaware River together - the first time of actually hiking together since before Bland. It was great to be reunited. We were entering New Jersey! Our 8th State J Damn, it¢s tough to keep track now. I suppose that this is a good thing. On the New Jersey side, we (Sweet Lou, Dah Wah He, Willow and I) found a wineberry bush and immediately went over to devour as many sweet luscious juice-filled berries as we could. For the next several hours, the four of us would walk in close proximity and enjoy chatting and chowing down on the multitude of blueberries that existed on both sides of the trail. Yum, yum! Dah Wah He brought along his iPod speakers and we had a mini rock-out session out on the trail. This is normally a no-no, as it can be displeasing to fellow hikers, but there were none around us and we enjoyed the shake-up. Rather than peace and quiet, we had two speakers blasting beautiful Irish and Scottish tunes. We did, however, get caught in one huge storm that turned the entire sky black. We were up on top of a rocky ridge at the time, so we all just took off running to get to a lower elevation. Later on in the morning, we came across Sunfish Pond, something resembling Walden¢s Pond on the outskirts of Boston proper. With the rolling rain clouds and the beautiful backdrop of the lake, I couldn¢t help but think of Scotland. Maybe it was the Scottish music, I don¢t know. All of a sudden, the rain just started coming down in tumults and we high-tailed as fast as we could to the Mohican Outdoor Center, where we attempted to get dry and ate a sandwich. Jungli was already there with a research friend. Sweet Lou and I were the last ones to leave, as we had fallen asleep in these comfortable chairs next to the fireplace that did not have a fire. Bummer.We timed it perfectly, however, and within 10 minutes of leaving the outdoor center, the rain had dissipated and the sun returned, filling us both with new energy and spirit. If I hadn¢t explained already, Sweet Lou is a 24-year-old from Boston who is originally from Birmingham, Alabama. He went to Emerson College and, after graduating, ended up doing a hodgepodge of jobs including real estate and sales. He is a standout guy and I hope that we¢ll have the chance to hike together later on in the trek. As the rain had gone away and the sun returned amidst cirrus and remnant clouds from the storm, we came across the Catfish Fire Tower, which we both elected to climb. It was a gigantic tower! I¢m not normally afraid of heights, but I had to walk quite slowly up the fire tower as there was no bannister or railing that would stop you from falling. It was peaceful up there, though, and we could see for miles and miles. Once we were back on ¢ground level¢, Sweet Lou jumped ahead and I stayed back to continue to take pictures of the beautiful setting sun. It was a complete fireball in the sky with all sorts of dark violet and red-orange colours. By the time that I arrived to Blue Mountain Lake Road, it was roughly 9:30 PM and I had been walking in darkness for the last hour - without a headlamp for the last hour or so. I was a bit confused as to where my stuff and the campsite were, so I called up Willow to confirm. I found the entrance to Camp Ken-Etiwa-Pec and walked the .8 miles in complete darkness, using my cell phone for illumination. I finally found where the ¢shelter¢ was and managed to locate Macaroni and Dah Wah He inside. We were all a bit worried that Sweet Lou and Jungli had not yet arrived and I was prepared to go out looking for them, if they didn¢t arrive within the next 30 minutes. Sure enough, they did, and all was calm. The three latecomers then sat outside to enjoy a dinner underneath the cloudy skies and adjacent to the giant lake that engulfs the camp property.