Date: 2003-08-20
From: Stealth Campsite North of Blue Mountain Lakes Road

To: Rutherford Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: clear sky

Our morning break at Brink Road Shelter was cut short by the mosquitoes... At 501 Shelter back in Pennsylvania I met Bojangles, a SOBO who contracted the West Nile virus - he said here in Jersey. No surprsie - there are lots of these little buggers around! More lake views on the way down into Culvers Gap. We stopped there for lunch at the Worthington Bakery, apparently a popular spot for hikers. The woman there said she'd thru-hiked sometime in the 70s, I believe. When we said yes, we were thru-hiking, she shook her head in a know-it-all manner and said discouragingly, "You guys have to average 20 miles a day if you're going to make it in time!" That really rubbed me the wrong way. As my dad used to joke, "People who think they know everything are especially annoying to those of us who do." Ha, ha. But really, she made many comments that implied she was an expert and we the novices. Why not just wish us luck and encouragement and let us go on our way, rather than trying to make herself feel better by acting knowledgeable? Anyway. That's a pet peeve of mine (perhaps partly because I occasionally catch myself doing it...).It was hot around mid-day, and that lake looked so incredibly inviting. But we passed up the opportunity in order to stay on schedule... Bummer.When we reached the top of the climb out of Culvers, we ran into three men sectioning down to Delaware Water Gap (or somewhere). They were headed to the next shelter for the night, and were carrying several gallons of water strung up on a trekking pole between two of them. Crazy way to carry water!!! We told them there was plenty in between there and the shelter, so they filled us up. That was a nice time-saver for us!Around four or five we reached a spot where there was a big pavilion on top of a mountain; would have made a great shelter. I approached first, and a "friendly" dog greeted me eagerly. Two day-hikers were sitting there enjoying the view. I must say, I'm not big on dogs. Especially big ones that bark at or jump on me. I've never been afraid of dogs, but lately I have felt uneasy around them. And I hate being licked.Anyway I guess I just surprised the dog, and once Toby came over the edge of the hill we struck up a conversation with the dayhikers, encouraging them to hike more when they expressed an interest in the concept of thru-hiking. We wished we could stay there, but alas, there was High Point off in the distance. I groaned and said, "That's how much farther we have to go?!"At Mashipacong Shelter we stopped for another snack. Toby's pack strap broke several days ago, and while the makeshift tie-job he did has worked, it's left his shoulder carrying more of the weight than usual. So I found the knots and stuck my elbow in there - my first "Trail massage"! He groaned in pain at the pressure, but it helped and he was grateful.So we'd been shooting for High Point Shelter but re-evaluated our time and hours of daylight left, and set our sights instead on the Rutherford, one that's located a convenient .4 miles off the Trail. For the last three-plus miles I stuck in a book-on-mp3 - Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. I've read it before, but it is funny to hear him read it, and I have a little different perspective after having been out here. Toby looked at me funny when I laughed out loud a couple of times.Of course Rutherford's .4 is down a steep hill. Someone was tented there when we arrived just about dark, but we had the shelter to ourselves. After we ate we had quite a time searching the clearing around the shelter to find the bear box in the dark with only our headlamps! That was kind of amusing.