NJ: Trippin on the AT with Pennsy and 'P ete

“Looks like a good chance my son will come as well. He's 17-1/2 and a stronger hiker than I am. ;-)

Besides you (Pete) and your three friends, who else do we have: Pennsy, my son and me, and possibly M.Silver. Is that it?”

“There are 5 of us, and whoever comes from TT”

“* boing *

Back to the top...

One more week, I am excited, can't wait!”

“Gee, I missed your *boing* Fritz. It got buried by other threads.

Ok, I'll have to wait to hear from Pete but here's an option. Since you are travelling much further than me, you could simply park at the trailhead and wait for us. I can park my truck at Culver's Gap (206) and hitch back with Pete and Jerry. That way we'll have 2 vehicles waiting for us on Sunday.

How's that sound?”

“Guys,

Count me out. I'll catch youans some other time. In the meantime, have a great trek.”

“That's too bad but we'll see ya at the BFT in April, right?”

“Marion - bummer!

Pennsy, that sounds pretty good. We'll plan on being at the trailhead by 4:00 if not earlier.

I assume this means definitely night-hiking and setting up camp after dark.

Also I was wondering...there is a red dot/blue dot trail (don't have maps in front of me right now) that is a detour from the AT on the Friday section, which apparenmtly leads to better views, to the east. Is that worth taking, or at that time of day is it a waste because all the action is to the west?”

“The red/blue dot trails form a loop that leads to the overlook at Mt. Tammany but are separate from the AT trail route. Definitely an awesome view but it wouldn't even be a detour for you; it would be a side trip. The blue dot trail is longer but is less steep. I wouldn't want to try and follow the red dot trail at night - there's some scrambling involved and it would be easy to lose.

BTW - With the warm weather, the bears are awake early and are hungry since it is so dry - say hi.”

“Bears? Splash said the same thing. Are you'ns trying to scare me?

Maybe I'll have to bring my sidearm, just in case.

(Only kidding.)”

“Not scare you, but the bears around there have gotten really brazen. One was completely unmoved by my friend's throwing rocks and yelling at him as he attempted to get their food.

Splash probably read this story too.”

“Yeah, they released the bear in the Black River Wildlife Mgmt area. That is near where I dayhike. It is a very long narrow greenbelt type of area where they hunt deer every year. The bear will walk a few hundred yards and be in someone else's backyard.”

“I was up on the east side last weekend and all the bedding areas for dear show definite signs of bear activity. However active they may be during the day when it is warm it was still way to cold for them in the evening. It was 18 degrees on the ridge last Saturday night and not a bear was a sturring. I also noticed similar activity over on the blue blaze at the top of the Dunfield (not the one in Violins loop reference but the one further North on the East side of the ridge which is closer to yards creeks upper reservoir). They are digging in the soft ground, knocking over stumps and turning over logs looking for grubs and stuff. Lots of scat. It seems as though most of the activity was in similar bedding areas like on the East side. I'm not to concerned but will still hang food, you never know.

I'm still not exactly sure when my friends are going to be in town. It seems as though they will be in the Gap around 1pm and we will shuttle from there. I will post later when I know better. Tentitvely when they get in town for the South we are going to take their car up to Rt 23 and my truck to 206. If we get started early and you guys start later we can meet up at the campsite Friday night. If they aren't planning on getting in till later we can all start together. I will post a follow up later in the week.”

“Pete - I can go earlier because I have to take a half-day off work anyway. Do you think it would be a good idea to have my truck at 206 as well? Otherwise, your truck will be awfully crouded Sun afternoon. If there's no room for me to shuttle back with you Friday, I'll just show up at the Gap and meet Fritz.”

“From trailjournals.com, RockDancer's 5/23/01 entry:

The AT from I-80 parking lot to Sunfish Pond is the busiest stretch of whole AT, with 100,s of people on a busy day, and is within 4 hours of 1/2 of the US population) For example:(1) Sunfish Pond is the southern-most glaciated pond on the AT and it is 4 miles from the parking lot(8 miles round-trip), basically uphill. People come to hike up it dressed downtown street clothes and shoes without water or food. And it is 85 degrees with 90 % humidity.(2) last year there was a couple breaking into cars routinely until they were arrested.(3)bears will break into a car for a candy bar, the bears have learned how to popout windows.(4)bears will open a cooler, and take one can of soda out at a time, open it and drink it.(5)people will pack in 2 cases of beer, 4 miles to Sunfish Pond, then leave all the empties, as if empties were some how heavier than the full bottles. ETC, etc. Stay tuned for the real life stories that evolve this summer. More on BEARS: NJ bears are extra large, and have a rapidly growing population, which means their range is spreading out. They are quick learners especially when it comes to food, ie they understand packpacks, coolers, cars, etc have food. They go for anything that smells of food such as candles, chapstick, deodarant, gum, and tootpaste. They have been known to climb up trees and jump over to a backpack hanging on a "bear-line" and riding the pack down to the ground. They have also come into camp and taken a hiker's dinner off the stove and eaten it while the hike watched. The nice thing is these bears do not see people as food. COMFORTING!!!”

“OOOhhhhh, cool trail name, RockDancer, I like that.

So Fritz, this is why you live in PA where they hunt bears, eh?”

“Well, your weather is looking pretty good, warmer on Sat., lows in the thirties, possible showers on Sunday morning, highs in the forties on Sunday.”

“Splash, you want to come with us, I can tell!

It isn't too late to change your plans....

(And yes, I like "RockDancer" too.)”

“Nah, but I can tell that you want to hike on the Loyalsock trail...;)

Good thing we won't be on the BFT on Sunday night; it is supposed to be 3 degrees for a low.”

“Yo Pete - do you have any details on time tomorrow? Also, if it works out that we don't start together, where is the campsite?”

“I am planning to meet my son in Hellertown at 2:00. We should be able to get to the trailhead by 3:15. Is it the Dunnfield Creek Parking Area?

Also, same question Pennsy had..if we don't hook up, map shows a "Backpackers Site" to left of trail, a little more than a half mile before Sunfish Pond. Is that where we are headed?”

“yeah. we are getting together at 1pm tommorrow at Dunfield creek parking lot and we will shuttle cars and come back after. we are then heading up to the campsite. It is about 4 miles up the AT on the left. Ya can't miss it. It is marked, the trail is a fire road so you wont have a problem following it and we should be setting up camp when you get there. I think we are using Phil's megamid (tepee).”

“Oooga booga!!!!

Fritz - are you really really sure you want to go through with this? ;o)”

“Yes, I'm...not sure.

Long list of ailments. Getting old stinks.

But Violin doesn't scare me.

I'll be there. Leaving work in 74 minutes!

You going to meet me at the trailhead, or at the campsite?”

“I'll meet you at the trailhead old man. I'm still not sure where the campsite is but maybe we'll see them before we start. Backpacker site #2 is about 3 1/4 miles from the trailhead. I don't know if that is the place because he had mentioned a stealth site about 4 miles from the trailhead which would be near the other side of SP. We'll find em though.”

“I'm hoping to be there about 3:15. What about you Pennsy?”

“Pennsy, I've emailed you my cell phone number, in case I don't hear from you online before I leave work at 1:00...

I just need to know, if you aren't there when I get there, if that means you've already left, or if I should wait for you.”

“I'll be there by 3 and I'll wait for you. If I see Pete and they take off, I'll find out where the camp is. I'll be in a green Dakota 4x4.

Just got your email. See ya in a bit!”

“See you soon...we'll be in a blue Neon or a Grey Oldsmobile.”

“LOST:

one set of britches, if found please return to David L.Sheridan”

“Did you "scare" the pants off him SirPete?”

“Hehehehe”

“All right, SirPete, out with it! How come you are the only one from that group trip who is posting now?”

“this weekend i hiked the southern portion of the link trail, along the ramsey path. an excellent hike. the ramsey passes through a rugged glen with huge boulders and talus slopes. once you reach the link, turn right, go up the ridge to priceless point, great views, somewhat similar to the pinnacle along the AT. Even better is an amazing steeply slanting ledge below the point, over 100 feet high, also has a great view and can be clearly seen from 522. the ledge is eroding from the side of the mtn and is overhanging. backtrack to the ramsey, continue straight on the link, bear left on blue blazed trail to more vistas and monument rock, a 20 ft. spire, along w/ other rock outcrops.”

“I dayhiked on Sat for a couple of miles and then again on Sunday for about 7 miles. Sat. was warm and muggy, mid 60's, with heavy rain that night, and then Sunday was in the low 30's with very gusty winds. I went hiking on Sunday with RichB in the Pocono gamelands along a beautiful creek. The western part of the Poconos is not having a drought like we are in NJ; the creeks were rushing and deep.”

“I'm here, trip was great, very difficult day Saturday, trip report later....

Met SirPete and Pennsy Hiker for the first time, plus three of Pete's friends, Phil, Dave, and Dave Jr.”

“Sorry I didn't post the water report.I had to cancel and run up to NY state at the last minute.How was your trip?”

“It sure doesn't look like drought conditions where we hiked in the Poconos. We couldn't get across even one of the streams. We did find a log over a deep pool on one stream, but it had a big crack in it. We weren't daring enough to try crossing it. Good thing too.”

“Hmmm... I lost my Ti spork. I loved that neat little gizmo. I wonder if they are in the back pocket of Dave's britches?”