NJ AT

“In the immortal words of another TT'er.... SIGN UP PUNKS!!!

Check the trips page for info!!”

“BackSlacker..I'm definitely interested but physical limitations may keep me home. (I just found that I have a torn rotator cuff and after the Ithaca trip, I'll be having surgery which will keep me homebound for at least 6 weeks!) I'm really bummin' but hoping all goes well so I can do some fall packin'. I'll definitely keep you posted with my intents. By the way, I spend a lot of time at DWG and absolutely love it there. It's one place I can never get tired of. Thanks for posting the trip.”

“Best of luck to you NJpacker, I tore my rotator in 99' playing softball. It took over 8 weeks to heal. Very painful. I wish you a speedy recovery.”

“NJ, wow, good luck with that! Will you still be able to go on dayhikes at Ithaca?”

“Scorchie..I'm not having the surgery until after Ithaca. I will most definitely be going on dayhikes at Ithaca. I had this problem before my section hike and just pretended it didn't exist! Now it's time to get it fixed.”

“pffft!

My rotator cuff's been bothering me for years! Put some spit and duct tape on it and join the parade!!!

Happy 4th Everyone !!!!”

“good for you nj! just don't take it too hard or permanent damage may occur and we can't afford to lose a great sense of humor on the trail!”

“NJpacker, sorry to hear of your shoulder injury, but good luck with the surgery and hope all goes well.”

“Still looking fer takers. Anyone interested, see the trips page for info. The dates are tentitive, posably mid/late Aug is one alternative.”

“Aren't you still under troll status?”

“Hey Dud, you don't call me Troll, and I won't call you flounder.”

“Sorry I meant Dub lol”

“Just trying to lose the Troll moniker”

“You gotta join a trip first to lose troll status. Then once you meet a few people and we know you're a backpacker and not a troll/whiner/backpacker.snob wannabee then people will take a chance to sign up on one of your trips. But until then don't expect much of a response.”

“There are some trips near you before then, they'd sure help you get some press for your NJ trip if you'd attend one.”

“I guess your right, I asked Phantom if he wanted to do an AT trip, he sugested I post one and see who signs up. I'll be doing the Jersey Devil trip, but I'm not waiting until then to go. Good packin' partners are so hard to come by. I'll go solo if I have to!”

“It's nothing against you, it's just the way it is sometimes. I tried setting up a few trips before I met anyone and didn't get much of a response. After I went on some I get a much better response because people see that you stick to your plan and aren't a troll. The only unknowns I've seen to successfully setup a trip are hot chicks, and even then people are skeptical. NJ isn't that big, go do a dayhike with PS. Grab a trip in PA. Do like Dr Deet did and drive 7 hours to meet a large group of TTers. My first trip was 6 hours away.”

“No, I don't take it personal, just looking to get my name out there, and my a$$ in the woods. I went solo 2 weeks ago to the NJ Pine Barrens. People I told thought I was crazy. They don't get it. It's like a calling.”

“Hey BackSlacker, come to the "Top of the Empire State" trip, or even better yet, the Ithaca trip, and you'll be guaranteed to have troll status removed. Or, if you're extra impatient, you can come day-hike Mt Tammany in NJ with me this Saturday and I'll personally remove your troll status...”

“Don't listen to PhantomSoul, he is nothing more than elaborate troll created by me and Prosecutor...he is in fact not real.”

“All righty then...???”

“I'm actually Dub's alter ego -- he's just a bit shy to admit it...”

“Hey BS (heh heh, heh heh, I said "BS", heh heh), how's 21-22 August sound to you? Or is that the weekend you're going away?”

“Your a funny guy (but looks ain't everything) I go to Vegas that following Wen. So that weekend looks open. Day Hike?”

“Day Hike or overnight -- whatever, your choice. There is no place on the NJ AT that's over 90 mins away from me. Compared to Ohio, WV, and North Carolina, that's cake.

One possibility is an in-and-out from the Water Gap to Sunfish Pond.

Another is Culvers Gap to Buttermilk Falls.

A third could be Culvers Gap to Sunrise Mtn and back.

If I remember the latter 2 correctly, they have the better views. Sunrise Mtn also has a firetower. Not sure if you can climb it or not though...”

“I'm hip on the Sunfish pond thing. I could move the trip to those dates and see if we can't get a group to go.”

“Lets do it. Send me an invite and I'm in.”

“Done!!”

“Trip update: Dates moved to 8/21-8/22”

“Wow, I get to "de-troll" a new guy on his own trip. I tell ya, Dub -- this place is slipping...”

“One more week! Looks like it might be a wet one. Bring your goulashes. lol. See the trips page for info. All are welcome!!”

“hey i must have missed this trip on the trips page... i might have to hop on board! i'll let you know for sure once it gets closer... also i'll need directions from the turnpike.”

“Hey very cool Scorch! Let me know, I'll hook ya up :-)”

“will do”

“hey, do u have an address of where we're going to meet so i can mapquest it?”

“It's the Dunnsfield creek natural area. The last rest stop on Rt. 80 east in NJ before the bridge. I don't have an exact addy, but I could get you there no problem. Are you comming from the NJ or PA pike?”

“PA pike”

“I'm not quite sure if it would be faster to stay in PA or come out to the NJ pike and go north. Do you know how to get to rt. 80 through PA, and go east to the Gap?”

“Northeast Extension to Lehigh Valley Exit to US 22 East to PA 33 North to US 209 North to 80 East. Park at the rest area as soon as you cross in to NJ.

For Mapquest, try looking up Delaware Water Gap, PA, but it's on the other side of the river in NJ.”

“thanks, lovebug”

“i've been there but i wasn't sure exactly where to meet.”

“Scorchie..follow PS's directions, but don't park at the first rest area on the NJ side of the river.
The first rest stop area is where the DWG visitor's center is located. You need to get onto the west bound side of Rt. 80 to get to the Dunnfield Access parking lot. At the far end of the visitor center parking area, there is a u turn to give you access to the west bound side of Rt. 80. Take this u-turn and the Dunnfield parking area will be on the right.
I hope this helps clarify where the parking lot is. If you had parked at the visitor center parking lot, BackSlacker would be waiting forever!! LOL. Have a great hike. Nice place.”

“See, I knew Phantom would know. Thanks NJ for clearing that up. I'm not much for directions on the PA side. Welcome aboard Scorchie :-)”

“thanks, nj!

phantom, please email me ur cell number if u have one?”

“Ok BackSlacker, saw your message on my thread to check out this trip, I guess I'll bite. Looks like it will be about a 3 1/2 hour drive for me, easy enough. Now Mapquest brings me up 611 to 94 to I-80 W, then it says to get off on the Hainesburg River Rd exit. Is that right?”

“Oh, and is a bear canister required there?”

“You'd think I could get all my thoughts together for one post, huh? Anyway, email me at sierra(AT)gaede.net with cell #, etc. and I'll do the same in return. That's my Sierra Club email address but it dumps into my personal email, you'll get a reply from my personal account.”

“I'm not going on this trip but I'll throw in my props for NJ. The NJ section of the AT is VERY nice. One of the highlights on the AT. Most of the trail is ridgewalking (ie not terribly difficult) with good views (as opposed to many stretches of AT ridgewalking with no views). I really enjoyed the AT in NJ. It's super nice.

Bear canisters aren't required but NJ has the rep on the AT as being one of the most bear infested stretches. I didn't see a single bear there but many shelter registers had harrowing tails of bears prowling all night long. Some shelters have bear boxes for storing food.

I remember long stretches between water sources. I was fine with 2 liters, others might want to carry more.

Well, that's my 2 cents. I just wanted to emphasize that the AT in NJ is a great hike. People are often surprised when you tell them this. It's not what most folks expect from NJ.

Have a great hike.

Peace.
MM. aka Endorphin AT GA->ME '04”

“not gonna be able to make this trip. gotta take care of my sick bird and meds for him and god forbid if something happens i'll regret it forever. sorry, maybe next time.”

“Thanks MileMonster.
Techntrek, the site where we're going has bear boxes and hooks for hanging food. no problem there. About the directions, if you come through PA to Rt 80, you have to go Rt 80 east. Past the toll (on west bound side) to the first rest area. Then swing under Rt.80 to the dunnfield creek natural area parking lot. we'll start from there.
P.S. You got mail”