Today was a busy day. First I had to drop off the rental car at Hertz. Not Today picked me up around 0830 with Couch to Trail and Right Way. Everyone needed resupplies of some sort. I picked up fuel, while the others bought food. By 0930 we were at the Delaware Water Gap Bakery, eating all the calories we could consume. We didn’t head out of town till 1030.

The exciting part of today is leaving Pennsylvania for New Jersey. I have it in my mind that NJ has a rock abatement program and the trail will be cleared of any pointed, rollie rocks. This couldn’t been further from the truth. There is no rock removal or demolition team. I was so disappointed. But what I do have is two new hiking partners to share the misery with. Couch to Trail or C2T along with a new hiker Braveheart, are now my buddies. This is a wonderful thing.

We crossed over into Jersey with hoots and hollers, and much fanfare. Seven States down and only seven to go. What a thrill. We walked across the Delaware Bridge, which sways from side to side and up and down, every time a Big Rig flies by. It was something to experience. Once over the bridge, we did a brief road walk and made our way back up the mountain.

We climbed for quite a bit and finally made it to the knoll which is appropriately named Backpacker CS. We sat and talked with one of the hikers and he asked us if we saw the four baby cubs that were in the tree? Nope didn’t see nothing as all I was looking at was the ground and all the rocks. He showed us a pic and sure enough there were baby bears in the tree.

We continued and walked along the shoreline of Sunfish Pond. It is one of the few glacial ponds in the area and is considered one of the Natural Wonders of NJ. Due to his high acidity, there’s only a few fish that survive in these waters. The Pumkinseed Sunfish and the Yellow Perch. They recommend not swimming or drinking from this pond. We saw many snakes as we bouldered over the shoreline. No Sandy beaches, just rocks and boulders. Big surprise!

We have a few vistas along the way but there’s many fires in the area and north of us. C2T had to get off trail yesterday due to a fire near Wind Gap. There’s another huge fire in Nova Scott’s that’s bringing a ton of smoke south to us. So even the East Coast has its fire dangers.

We stayed on the Ridgeline and stopped for a few pictures, but mostly hiked. We were trying to get our fifteen miles in but being we started late, it was more like a Foresthill March. I told the girls tonight at camp that we won’t be doing that tomorrow. More relaxing time and less marching time. We all agreed.

We got to camp at 7pm. That’s a bit later than I like but it happens from time to time. We didn’t get any rain, which was predicted, and could use to help dissipate the smoke. I made my house and laid down for a few minutes. I checked myself for ticks and grateful not to have found any. I headed out of my cozy home, and made dinner with the girls. Tonight was Chicken Rice Curry. I needed the extra calories so I ate both servings. It was scrumptious

It was 830pm before I got to my cozy little tent. Ouch, I hurt. Mainly from the fast miles, and my pack. However, the water is a bit closer and my food supply is less. From what Not Today said, we’ll have plenty of Delis along the trail so good should be plentiful. That’ll be a nice change. Real food to eat and bring to camp. I’m looking forward to this state of New Jersey.