.April 16, 2006
My mom who lives in Baltimore decided to come up and spend the day with us. This allowed me to spot my car on one end and have her and Lynn drop Snoopy and me at the other end. They dropped me off in NJ at the Kittatinny Visitor Center. I had them do this so I could get the busy I-80 bridge that I had to walk across over with. This would make drop-off and pick-up easier when I do the southern most section of NJ. So heading south, it took about 40 minutes to walk up to and across the bridge.
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~ ~ I then briefly walked through the edge of a small town. (Not named on the A.T. map). Then I came across a sign stating that I was in the Delaware Water Gap which is well known for being a beautiful part of the trail. I took a brief stop at Lake Lenape. It was pretty, but I would consider it a pond not a lake. Now for the biggest climb of the day, a thousand foot rise up to Mount Minsi. There were exceptional views at Lookout Rock which was just a few yards off the trail. I could look down to the bridge and visitor center where I had started my day. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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~ ~ Snoopy and I made it to the top of Mount Minsi for more great views. Although at a lower elevation, I liked the views at Lookout Rock better.
The next two miles were my smoothest miles of the day. The trail was flat, smooth, and had very few rocks. The leaves were not out yet so I had great views on both sides of the ridge.
Next I came across a pipeline. It looked as if the strip for the pipeline was being widened. There were a lot of trees that had been cut down. It took me a minute to locate the trail again. From the picture below you will notice it is somewhat hard to follow the trail when the trees with the white blazes are cut down.
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The trail was more rocky after this. Snoopy and I had great views at Lunch Rocks. It was too early for lunch but we did have a snack.
I took a 90 yard blue blazed trails to check out the Kirkridge Shelter. There was a man there adding wood to a fire under his pot of boiling water. With the exception of the foundation, the shelter looked brand new.
"The rumor is," he said, "someone burned it down."
"That's awful."
"Sure is."
By now the man was sitting in the shelter. "I want to take a picture of the shelter. Do you mind being in it?"
"Nope, but it will cost you $5" he joked.
I saw the man had a fullpack and asked, "Are you thru hiking."
"Sure am." He paused a second and stated that he was 'Paul with Bunions.'
"Great name." I originally had picked 'Moose' as my trail name and now had a chance to say my new name. "I'm White Blazes."
"White Blazes," he said, "You couldn't think up anything more original than that."
I was rather speechless. This was my first time using my new name and it was rejected. 'White Blazes' has meaning to me but will probably sound boring to other A.T. hikers. I will have to think up a quick comeback for the next time.
He then looked at Snoopy and noticed his missing fur from the cancer surgery that he had.
"What's the matter with your dog? Was he in a fight?"
I had to bite my lip. I was very tempted to say, "Yes, he attacked a man for making fun of my trail name." Not knowing 'Paul with Bunions' sense of humor, I just told him the truth about the cancer.
He was heading north so I let him know the trail ahead was smooth. He warned me the trail heading south was rocky. Great more PA rocks.
I said 'Good bye' and went on my way.
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~ ~ A few minutes later, I heard Lynn's voice ahead. She was coming to meet me like she often does. I told her how my trail name was just rejected.
"Do you want to change it again?" she asked.
"Nope. I like it, I just need to come up with a quick comeback."
Lynn and I walked back to Route 191 where my mom was waiting. It was nice of them to meet me at the halfway point of the day. The plan now was for mom to take Lynn back to the motel, and she would leave from there. Snoopy was starting to look a little tired so he went back with them. He did a little over 8 miles. Not bad for a 13 year old dog who just had cancer. I was proud of him.
The next 1.8 miles were flat and pretty smooth. Then came Wolf Rocks which of course meant rocks. This must be what 'Paul with Bunions' was taking about. It was rocky but it did have a great panoramic view to the north. I wish my camera could have taken a wide shot.
Over the next five miles, their would be no views, lots of PA rocks, and nothing such as a shelter or trail junction to measure my progress. I looked at my watch to judge approximately when I should reach my next landmark, a gravel road 5 miles away. During this time I accomplished something very important: my comeback.
The next time I say my name is 'White Blazes' and I receive negative feedback such as 'That's not very creative', I will respond with 'Yeah I know, it's so I won't forget what to look for.' (as if any A.T. hiker could actually forget this.)
If they respond with 'But what if you forget your name too.'
In which case, I will say, 'I know. That's why I wrote it down.'
Hopefully this will help enough to break the ice of a dull trail name.
I made it to the gravel road. Then another mile of flat trail before following the trail 1 more mile down to Wind Gap. There was my car where I had parked it early that morning.
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