Day 109-Let the Deli Run Begin!

July 5th-13.6 miles-Delaware Water Gap to campsite near Rattlesnake Spring-AT mile 1309.6

Two big milestones today! First, we crossed the Delaware River into state number 8, New Jersey! Goodbye Rocksylvania!

Whoop!

The Delaware on a somewhat hazy morning. 

After passing the Visitors Center, we came under the freeway to get back to the trail. 

On the trail again!

While we have left Rocksylvania behind, there are still some miles to do in New Jersey that involve rocks (why the rocks couldn’t just end at the River is beyond me). Here’s a couple of examples. 

Sure Foot and I were walking along, when I stopped to check what mile we were at. We were at 1299.2. We had .8 to go before the 1300 mark. 

There wasn’t a marker, so we made one with sticks. Hope the hikers coming behind us appreciate it. 

We also came to the biggest “pond” so far on the AT. 

Sunfish Pond

We had to climb over a number of big rocks as we made our way around the edge of the pond. We met several other day hikers (there was a trailhead at a place called Garver Spring). 

Eventually, we left the lake, and started climbing. In the AWOL Guide, it said there was a rock pile at the summit. I thought, great, I’m going to have to scramble over more rocks. This was the rock pile at the top. 

It was literally a pile of rocks! Rock scramble averted!

The view was nice too. 

We worked our way down, and then up, and then down, getting nice views along the way. 

That’s still the Delaware River. 

We came down to a gravel road. To our left, .3 up the road, was the Mohican Outdoor Center. They have a good selection of gear, and they do outdoor programs, and rent canoes and stuff. But, the best thing is the deli! 

One awesome sign!

I had a BLT and a side of fresh fruit (strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries). The drinks in the cooler were free because they had expired (June 27th). I asked if I could have two. They said, “Sure, one for each paw!” I had a Dr. Pepper and a Powerade. We spent a leisurely 2nd lunch there. I took my shoes off and massaged my feet. Red Baron was there too. Jet, who we’d been playing leapfrog with all morning, must not have stopped. 

After our nice rest, we only had 2.7 miles to go. Of course we had to climb back up to the ridge, and the rocks were ever present, but all in all, it wasn’t terrible. We continued to get some nice views. 

Taking a break and admiring the view. 

We also came to something we haven’t seen since way back. 

A fire tower!

The view from as high as I could go. 

There was even a forest service guy named Bob, up in the top looking out for fires. Because of the virus, we couldn’t go into the top part, but Bob could talk to us from the window above. He said with today’s visibility, we could see about 30 miles. 

From the tower, we had less than a mile to Rattlesnake Spring where we would get water for the night. Our campsite is just a couple tenths further. 

Home for the night. 

Red Baron and I were talking at 2nd lunch. We both thought that even though we were still walking on rocks, the feeling was somehow different (of course, our feet are still feeling it). For one thing, the trail was far more exposed today. It was quite warm today, at least 90. Even though it was hot, I still enjoyed the day. We took our time, took lots of breaks to admire the views, and generally had a relaxed pace day. We left DWG at 6:50, and didn’t arrive at camp until 6:20. And we only did 13.6 miles!