New Jersey, New Trail, New Name: AT Flip Flop Days 34-39

Day 34

I didn’t sleep very well on my last night in Delaware Water Gap, waking up around 2 with an upset stomach. I woke up to my alarm set for 6:30; I knew Jingle and Subtitles would be ready for an early start after going to bed at 7:30 last night. For breakfast, we heated up some frozen breakfast burritos and finished off the last of the food we had bought for our zero days. 

We hit the road around 8 and quickly crossed the bridge into New Jersey. There was a longer road walk than I was expecting, but we eventually started a gentle climb back into the woods. Right away the forest in New Jersey was stunningly beautiful. At the top of our climb we reached sunfish pond, which we had been warned would be rocky. The rocks certainly did suck, but the glacial pond was beautiful.

The rocks continued for the next several miles. We saw a good sized porcupine not long after the pond. It was walking on the trail and did not seem to care that we were there. Eventually, we got to the side trail to the Mohican Outdoor Center. We stopped in to see what kind of gear they had and to get a soda. They had some leftover food from a graduation party that they said was free to take, so we had a snack with sodas we bought. 

Jingle was in the market for shoes, so she was disappointed that they didn’t carry any. However, I was in the market for new trekking poles and was happy to see they had some. I had been hesitant to order online from REI after the struggle of having shoes shipped to trail, so I happily bought a set of poles on the spot. My new poles are heavier than my old carbon fiber poles, but it was nice having two usable poles again.

After the store, we took a side trail to get back on the AT and found a decent tent site on the ridge. I had a beautiful view for dinner. We were all feeling sluggish after two and half days off from hiking. Hiking with new shoes felt alright, but I rolled my ankle a few times on the rocks with the stiffer, not worn out soles.

Day 35

I didn’t sleep well being back on trail. I struggled to get my insulation just right, starting off too hot and then becoming too cold. I woke up at 5:30, thinking I could catch a nice sunrise, but we didn’t have the right angle for the best view. 

The trail alternated between super easy and rocky all day. It felt a lot cooler than I had anticipated with the wind and clouds, but it felt a lot better than the heat in Pennsylvania the week before. The trail also continued to be really pretty; I’ve been surprised how different the forest is and how frequent the views are. 

We stopped for lunch on beautiful Crater Lake. I put my feet in the water and discovered it was a lot warmer than I expected. I dunked my legs in to wash off some of the grime, but the little fishes were attacking my toes, so I didn’t stay in long. 

We made it to the shelter around 5:00 in the afternoon. I contemplated going another 3.6 miles to the road for town food, but I didn’t want to go another 3 miles after that to the next shelter. We have to camp at designated sites in New Jersey, so that has limited what we can do in a day. 

Day 36

I slept a little bit better, despite having a bad hammock hang between two trees that were a little too close together. I had a slow morning in camp, so I decided to slow roll the 3.6 miles to the road to get there around 11:00 when restaurants started to open up.

My plan didn’t quite work. The trail was too easy, and I arrived at the road a little before 10:30. Fortunately the good people at Smokin’ Mo’s BBQ opened early for us hikers. The food was delicious, and I was able to use a real bathroom and fill my water bottles. 

We hiked quickly to the next shelter for a break and to get more water. The trail continued to be beautiful, until we got to a section where the gypsy moth caterpillars had eaten ALL of the leaves off the trees. We met a ridgerunner named Hoot who said this was the first year the moths were so bad up here. 

The last few miles were a bit of a struggle, so we stopped at the next shelter for a 12.5 mile day instead of pushing to the next shelter a few miles further. 

Day 37

We planned to do 12.5 miles to the Secret Shelter, so we had a lazy morning in camp. A few miles into the day, Subtitles and I saw a huge black bear about 30 yards ahead on trail! Thankfully it ran away from us, but unfortunately Jingle missed seeing it and I didn’t get a picture. 

We hiked to the High Point State Park headquarters and took an extra long lunch break. It had been looking like it was going to rain, but over lunch the sun came out and warmed us up.

After our break we ascended to almost the highest point in New Jersey and got a great view on a platform. The actual highest point was up a steep side trail and did not look like it would have any better views, so we skipped it.

The trail after lunch was harder with more ups and downs. We passed through and between some overgrown pastures and wetlands. We arrived at the Secret Shelter, but we weren’t really feeling the vibe there. There were no trees where I could have hung my hammock, and the grass was pretty long and would have caught a lot of condensation for the tenters. Instead of staying there, we decided to hike a little further into the town of Unionville.

We registered to camp in the town park at the general store. After getting set up in the park, we walked down to the bar for dinner. 

Day 38

Sleeping in a town park was quite the experience. I felt like a vagrant with my hammock slung between a fence post and a tree in some landscaping. We had a whole little shantytown of long distance hikers camped in the park. The street lights, cars driving by, and hourly church bells didn’t make sleep easy. The locals walking their dogs in the morning didn’t bat an eye at us being there. 

I got up at 6 and was the first to pack up my stuff. I assessed what I needed for a resupply and went back to the general store for breakfast and coffee. Afterwards, I got what I needed for the next stretch, including a pastrami sandwich for later in the day. 

Our camping options for tonight were limited to a shelter in 6 miles, a shelter in 18 miles, or trying to find a place off trail. We lingered in town so long that it was easy to decide that it would be a short day to the 6 mile shelter.

What we didn’t know was that 5 of those 6 miles would be the easiest miles we’ve had on the whole trail. We passed through a couple of pastures before a short road walk and a walk around a wetlands preserve. A half mile before the shelter we stopped at a barn to buy a gallon of water for 50 cents, since the shelter had no water source nearby. 

The last half mile was a pretty steep climb, but we got to the shelter around 1:00 in the afternoon, feeling stupid for not getting on trail earlier and pushing for the 18 mile shelter. We briefly considered pushing on that afternoon and getting to the shelter late, but Jingle and I voted to have a restful short day. 

We made the most of our afternoon off at the shelter. The three of us laid out in the shelter and watched the movie Jeremiah Johnson on Jingle’s phone. It was a relaxing afternoon off. 

Subtitles and Jingle have started calling me Blues Clues for a few days so I decided to accept it as my new trail name. They named me this because they are using a guide book and I’m using the FarOut navigation app, so I often have information about what is coming up on trail that they don’t have in their book. They call FarOut my handy dandy notebook. I also have some blue clothes and gear. I laughed when they first called me that, and there are much worse trail names to have, so I’m happy with the new name.

Day 39

We woke up early to get an earlier start to the day. Despite planning just under 12 miles to the shelter we didn’t push for yesterday, I think we felt guilty about dilly dallying yesterday morning and limiting our options.

We had some climbs and rocks to start the day, but we made quick work of them with our fresh legs. After a descent, we got to the boardwalk section. It was an interesting and easy mile through a marsh. 

After more marshland and a cow pasture, the trail dumped us on a busy road with a hot dog stand and a farm store bakery. The hot dog stand wasn’t open yet so we went to the farm store first. I had a small strawberry rhubarb pie for first lunch. After sitting around for a bit, we went across the street to the hot dog stand where I got two hot dogs for second lunch.

After the lunches, we hit a section popular for day hikers called Stairway to Heaven. It was a significant rock climb up the mountain to a beautiful outlook called the Pinwheels Vista. We took a short break at the top. The climb would have kicked my butt before getting on trail, but it felt easy today. I think I’m getting my trail legs and lungs. The last few miles to the shelter were tougher with more PUDS (pointless ups and downs) and rocks. 

After today we only have a few more miles in New Jersey before crossing the border into New York. After the long grind of Pennsylvania, it feels a little odd, but good, to finish another state so quickly.

Lack-of-Shower Thoughts 

The working title of this post was “Chipmunks, and Gypsy Moths, and Bears, Oh My!” There were a lot of the first two and we heard a lot about the bears (and saw one ourselves). However, this section really did feel like a whole new trail. The forest, lakes, and views are different from anything else I’ve seen so far. This was easily my favorite section so far; I had no idea Jersey would be this nice. I was also happy to get a trail name on trail. I had previously been going by Cool Hand, a name I got on a different adventure.