Best Wife and Pappy 12 were all geared up for a 15.4 mile day. We have hiked 16 before so we know it's somewhere in the DNA. It was a Friday so I had called the local Mormon bishop to make arrangements for a ride to church the following Sunday morning. Nanette, the bishop's wife, said not only would they give us a ride to church but would have us at their house Friday night, deliver us to the trail Saturday day, put us up again Saturday night, take us to church Sunday, and deliver us to the trail again Sunday afternoon. Such generosity we have not seen before. Hiking Saturday carrying only lunch and water (slackpacking) was a dream.
So we had told Nanette we expected to arrive where the trail crosses route 17A at about 7:00 Friday night. At 4:00 that afternoon we were pretty much on track. 5 miles to go in 3 hours, we can do it. At 4:05the trail began to follow a hand-over-hand boulder hopping ridge line. Earlier rain made for slippery friction values which slowed us way down. At 4:30 I called our ride to push the pick up time back to 8:00.
At 5:00 Best Wife slipped on a boulder, fell on her trekking pole and snapped it in two. We were making less than 1 mph. At 6:00 I called again to push the pick up time back again. At 7:30 we broke out the headlamps only to find out that Best Wife's had been on in her pack with a now drained battery.
It's okay though. If you don't need one hiking pole, why would you need a headlamp in the dark? Long story short is we finally pulled up to Route 17A at 10:30 PM. Nanette and Bishop Davis came through big time this night. Hope we don't repeat this fiasco for some time.
The first two pictures are of a "secret cabin" on a farm .2 miles off the trail. For 20 years this former thru hiker has allowed hikers to stay overnight on his property. There is no sign on the trail directing hikers to the place. Just a hint in the guide book about how to get there. Note the custom toilet seat. Flat rocks easily make up for a broken seat.
In jersey there are miles of boardwalk to get hikers through the swamps and bogs.
Best Wife is a sucker for the tree framed face photo op.
Huge shout out to Lindi Jones for bringing us food resupply and lunch. I'll tell you what, mayo on turkey sandwiches has never been so good. And if you haven't had Lindi's deviled eggs you haven't lived.
Last picture is probably our favorite camp so far. Island Pond in NJ. Beautiful place. I had to be careful of the picture angle to be sure the "No Camping" sign was out of view.
Sent from my iPhone
So we had told Nanette we expected to arrive where the trail crosses route 17A at about 7:00 Friday night. At 4:00 that afternoon we were pretty much on track. 5 miles to go in 3 hours, we can do it. At 4:05the trail began to follow a hand-over-hand boulder hopping ridge line. Earlier rain made for slippery friction values which slowed us way down. At 4:30 I called our ride to push the pick up time back to 8:00.
At 5:00 Best Wife slipped on a boulder, fell on her trekking pole and snapped it in two. We were making less than 1 mph. At 6:00 I called again to push the pick up time back again. At 7:30 we broke out the headlamps only to find out that Best Wife's had been on in her pack with a now drained battery.
It's okay though. If you don't need one hiking pole, why would you need a headlamp in the dark? Long story short is we finally pulled up to Route 17A at 10:30 PM. Nanette and Bishop Davis came through big time this night. Hope we don't repeat this fiasco for some time.
The first two pictures are of a "secret cabin" on a farm .2 miles off the trail. For 20 years this former thru hiker has allowed hikers to stay overnight on his property. There is no sign on the trail directing hikers to the place. Just a hint in the guide book about how to get there. Note the custom toilet seat. Flat rocks easily make up for a broken seat.
In jersey there are miles of boardwalk to get hikers through the swamps and bogs.
Best Wife is a sucker for the tree framed face photo op.
Huge shout out to Lindi Jones for bringing us food resupply and lunch. I'll tell you what, mayo on turkey sandwiches has never been so good. And if you haven't had Lindi's deviled eggs you haven't lived.
Last picture is probably our favorite camp so far. Island Pond in NJ. Beautiful place. I had to be careful of the picture angle to be sure the "No Camping" sign was out of view.
Sent from my iPhone
No comments:
Post a Comment