Date: 2014-06-16
From: Mohican Outdoor Center

To: Gren Anderson Shelter
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: scattered clouds

We woke up early at set out to tackle a long day on the trail - hopefully the rocks thin out a little bit! I left Katie the attendant a note for all the help she gave us yesterday - stop by the MOC if you have the chance!From the camp we climbed up to Catfish Lookout Tower. The rocks have not let up yet but it is only a little bit into the day. I would have climbed up the tower but there is "No Trespassing w/o Permission" sign right by the stairs - kind of a misnomer since it is not really trespassing if you have permission to be there...Even after the tower the trail was still pretty rocky in parts and they were hurting Big Dawg's paws! Unfortunately the only options we have right now are to try taking more breaks and getting the load off his feet.We passed another glacial lake that has started to swamp over but is being inhabited by beavers - evidence of teeth marks in trees and a natural beaver dam gave them away. Those animals work so efficiently to get trees down and dams built - they work faster than the guys doing construction work on the transmission lines! A lot of noise going on that really took us out of nature and the setting.The trail smoothed out some after we exited the construction detour - either it was designed by a different trail builder or the glacier did not get that section. It was nice!While walking this nice trail on the ridge we met a YMCA Summer Camp Staff Training Group hiking to a viewpoint above their camp on Fairview Lake. We went with them to observe the view and it did not disappoint - a nice view seen with nice friendly people (about fifty overall). We would have refilled our water at the road right after the viewpoint but it is missing the pumping handle - kinda doesn't help in pumping the water!Had to get water soon so we aimed for a campsite with water a bit ahead on the trail - still rocky in some parts and a steep almost sheer climb past side trail for Crater Lake that was completely unexpected. I don't know how we missed that on the map but it went "Surprise!"Up on that ridge the trail smoothed out again and we had some nicer walking. We ran into Rangeley again who was resting her feet. Told us that Reset, Sharp Knife, and Hiccup were up ahead. Said goodbye and arrived at the campsite for a much needed lunch with water. Restocked the water since it was getting warmer outside and started the last nine miles to our intended target.Steep climb up Rattlesnake Mountain which I guess is not really a mountain - apparently a climb needs to be at least 2000 feet tall to be classified as a mountain. As one guy put it, NJ only has really big hills! We took a couple more breaks along the way when Big Dawg needed them - taking the pack off and sitting down helped his feet immensely.We past one of the shelters and finally climbed down into the gap for nutrition and refreshments at Gyp's Tavern - a great place close to the trail and right beside a little lake! We ran into Reset at the tavern and ate our food on the back patio with views out over the water - a nice relaxing place after some tough hiking and much needed nourishment!I also had a nerd moment at the tavern - apparently the tavern owners flew C-5 aircraft and had some of the pilot manual and technical drawings on display and I looked at them and could understand them! Reminded me of working at Gulfstream - hi friends!We pushed the last climb up to the Culver Fire Tower and had another great Jersey view - NJ has been treating us to nice valley views and glacial lakes! Guess we can thank the glaciers for their work but they should have cleaned up some of the rocks when they left! After sitting with Reset at the tower we strolled to the shelter and set up the hammocks nearby. We also met Trouble who started last September and is working his way north still at a slow pace to take the entire trail experience in and enjoy it - a cool knowledgeable guy to talk to!No fires allowed and the many mosquitoes pushed us into the hammocks early. Time to rest up for the trip to the secret shelter tomorrow!