.April 22, 2006
New Jersey is expecting to have severe rain this afternoon so I have adjusted my hike. I started at Warwick Turnpike and headed south. Lynn met me in several places along the way in case I decided to bail. I don't mind hiking in the rain but I'm not crazy about hiking in a torentual downpour, especially if it can be avoided. I skipped the Wawayanda Shelter. It was off the trail and the sign did not indicate how far it was.
I hiked through beautiful Wawayanda State Park. I came across an old foundation and chimney once belonging to a home. It had a chain link fence around it. It appears they are trying to preserve it for some reason otherwise it would have been much easier to just tear it down.
I stopped to read the trail journal at the top of Wawayanda Mountain and then headed on to the Pinwheel Vista. It is a short .1 miles off the trail but well worth it. I got great views despite the not-so-good weather. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ I began the steep climb down the mountain. Although steep, the first few minutes down had wonderful winding stone steps. About halfway down the mountain I met a thru hiker going north. His name was "Lucky." Maybe I will see him in a couple months when I am hiking locally in N.H. and Maine.
At the bottom of the mountain I headed across a field when Lynn joined me from the other direction. When we got back to the car, I kept going. Lynn took my picture before crossing a farm. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ Lynn then drove around to County Route 517 and started hiking toward me again. This area was supposed to contain a beautiful boardwalk bridge that had been put in. A few minutes later the trail intersected with a bike trail. For most of the 2175 miles, bikes are not allowed on the A.T. so a stile was constructed here to help discourage bikers from getting on the trail. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ About 1/2 mile later, some hikers came from the other direction.
"Have you ever hiked this before?" one of them asked.
"No."
"You are in for quite a treat." referring to the walkway.
"I'm sure looking forward to it."
A few minutes later I came across it.
A wide walkway raised above the swamp. This was Pochuck Swamp which really wasn't a swamp, more like wetlands. This walkway had to cost major $$$. Then I met Lynn and Snoopy coming from the other direction. Part way through is the Pochuck Creek Bridge which also must have cost major $$$. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ We continued another 10 minutes or so. It was so beautiful we were in no hurry to get across. Lynn says once they finish the walkway up to Katahdin and down to Springer Mountain she will start her thru hike. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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When we got back to the car, Lynn drove ahead to County Route 565. I continued on another 1.5 miles to meet her there. It was raining fairly heavy so we decided to have a short day and went back to our motel.
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