Dayhiking in the Delaware Water Gap - tr ip report

“Pennsy, Phantom Soul and I met at the Delaware River Water Gap NRA, Appalachian Trail head on I-80 on the NJ side today at 8am.

It was a beautiful morning and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. It felt more like the end of September than the end of October. It was just past peak fall season, but there was still plenty of color in the trees.

We proceeded up to Tamanny Mountain on the Red Dot Trail. The trail is rocky and fairly steep. It climbs over 1000 feet in a little over a mile. There was an awesome view of the Gap on the way up. The view at the top of Mt. Tammany was awesome. You could see the Delaware River winding through the gap and you could see the steep cliff over on the PA side on Mt. Mincy. Looks like there could be some fun hiking over on that side as well.

We hung out at the overlook for a few minutes and then continued on the way. At the top of Tammanny we got on the Blue Dot trail and took that along the ridge.

The ridge was wide and fairly open. There was a lot of fall color and it was very pretty. It was quite level and made for some good fast paced hiking. We were talking alot and having a good time, so we probably scared away all of the wild life.

We got to the Turquoise trail, but continued on the Blue Dot to see if we could find some overlooks that were marked on the map, but we couldn't find them. So we continued on the Turquoise Trail to Sunfish Pond.

Sunfish Pond was had a great reflection of the sky and was very blue and with the sun shining into it, it was very sparkly. We had lunch at Sunfish Pond Overlook on the Turquoise Trail. Sunfish Pond is a popular area, but most people stick to the AT so we had the overlook to ourselves. It was very nice and serene.

We then hiked the AT along the shore of Sunfish and then down past the backpacker campsite #2 and then down off of the ridge. We couldn't take the Dunnfield Trail since it was still officially closed from hurricane damage. At the junction between the AT and the Dunnfield trail we ran into Mr. M(silver). We talked to him for a while. Soaked in the scenery in the Dunnfield Gorge and were back at our cars before around 2.

It was an awesome 12 mile hike and the weather couldn't have finer.

This was my first time hiking in New Jersey and my expectations weren't that high. I was very impressed. The scenery was amazing and abundant. I had a great time and it was awesome hiking with Pennsy and Phantom Soul again. I'm so glad we opted to do this loop instead of getting stuck in the Tstorms on the AT in central PA yesterday. Worked out well.

I'll post some pics in a day or two when I get my computer set up and online.”

“See, and everyone talks smack about New Jersey. Shame on all of yous...”

“well Jersey has a reputation and reputations are no coincidence.”

“Shame on all of yous...

8)
last edited: 10/31/04 8:44:18 PM”

“Sounds like a great time, but something's definitely wrong with a place where people can't be trusted to pump their own gas.”

“You people just don't get it, do you? Why pump your own gas when you can have someone else do it for you? For free.”

“I've dayhiked the Delaware Water Gap on the PA side. Sounds similar, rocky, great views, flat on top. I didn't have a bright sunny day, however. Where's the pics???”

“I maybe able to put them up tomorrow. my computer's not up yet. I don't move until tomorrow. I still have to put up my Mitchell pics from two weeks ago up yet. lol”

“I just plain forgot the camera. Sorry :(”

“sounds fun! i was snug as a bug and still drunk at the time u guys left this morning.”

“I'm still drunk now.”

“Oh we're definitely still drunk. And you thought posting drunk was dangerous....

...you should try hiking drunk ;)”

“i have! we just hiked wasted a few weeks ago up tom jones mountain in the pouring rain at 2:30am... it was VERY interesting to say the least. almost fell down the mountain many times LOL.”

“Nice TR, wish I could have gone, but the kiddies needed their candy...Lets see some pics!”

“I almost missed this thread. It sank like a rock.

Nice trip report ENS and super pics. They came out great. I'm glad you enjoyed your first New Jersey hike, especially since it was on "MY" trail. It was indeed a perfect day for a hike, and it was nice to enjoy the trail and "smell the roses." It was also a very pleasant surprise bumping into Mister M (M_Silver) who I haven't seen in a few months.”

“Nice pics ENS, hey Phantom, they knocked down our "TT" those bastards!”

“very nice pictures... how come u didn't take any at the party? ya bum.”

“Shh! I like to think that they have gone the way of the Dunnfield Trail back in that horrible storm in September...”

“thanks everyone. Thanks Pennsy for putting the hike together. The hike couldn't have been any better.”

“I just edited these photos and finished the captions. Hopefully I got everything right. http://community.webshots.com/album/209759979JPqcGo”

“Ya did good. Mincy is Minsi, otherwise, not bad for a Jersey newbie.”

“great pics, i love the water gap, very cool place. dunnfield creek is very nice.”

“Cool Pics..

Seems like you always run into someone out on those trails... Right Pennsy?”

“Cool Pics..

Seems like you always run into someone out on those trails... Right Pennsy?”

“Oh yeah... I do recall running into a certain dork and his wife on the Dunnfield sometime ago. Wow, the flashback got you so excited, you had to mention it twice, eh?”

“yeah”