April 22, 2018
Tom, Shannon, Wyatt and Mike
Our first hike of 2018, the day before my 44th birthday, and
the weather couldn’t have been better.
Everything was nearly perfect. Well, except
for the rocks. But we’ll get to that
later.
Tom, Mona, Shannon and Wyatt arrived on Friday evening, and Hillary joined
us for a dinner at Macaroni Grill. It
was fun to catch up over a good meal before we said goodbye to Hillary and headed up 78 to a
hotel for the evening.
We decided to hike from the Delps Trail intersection with the AT to
Wind Gap, so that the next segments could include one overnight hike and then the
final hike to the Delaware Water Gap. With
this plan in place, getting to the trailhead required that we do a
three-quarter mile hike from a Game Commission parking lot---which was not not clearly marked or easily found. From the parking lot up to the trail was, easily, a 500-800 foot
ascent in less than a mile.
After much effort, we reached the A.T.
Our elation was somewhat dampened, however, a short while later when we
came upon a road. Yes, it was the kind
of road that cars travel on. Had we
known of the road, it would have negated the need to hike up the side of the
mountain. They say success has many
fathers, but the guy who incorrectly reads
the map is all alone in taking the blame! So, I accepted the blame for adding an unnecessary mile to the hike, and my fellow travelers were more than understanding. They are a forgiving group of friends!
The weather was beautiful, and the 10+ miles were mostly level---but don't mistake level for smooth. It is not a smooth section. Had the surface of the trail been more like the running track
at the local high school, we could have kept a nice pace and enjoyed more of the scenery. Instead, long
stretches were rocky with a few large boulders to climb over along the way. All of this slowed us
down.
About half-way through we stopped for lunch. Thank God for Wawa. There is
nothing quite like Wawa hoagie and one of the best parts of hiking in that part of
Pennsylvania are the proximity of Wawa stores.
As we got closer to Wind Gap, two scenic overlooks offered sweeping views of the valley below and the Poconos beyon. Without much forest canopy cover in place,
the woods were bright and sunlight streamed down through the trees. Tom pulled a large bark mushroom off a tree trunk and carved our names and the date into it. You can find out more about Polypores
here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypore
It was a full day on the trail, and thankfully Mona was waiting for us after the steep descent into Wind Gap. The hiking boots quickly came
off, and we nursed our sore feet on the long ride home.
Getting close to New Jersey—just a few more hikes to go!
