TR: NJ Appalachian Trail - Best Laid Plans
Apr 22, 2016 8:14:09 GMT -5
Post by rpcv on Apr 22, 2016 8:14:09 GMT -5
I went back and forth on whether New Jersey should fall into this category or the other one, but I decided that it is in the mid-Atlantic, so here it is. My husband, two friends, and I got out for an overnight this past weekend. For one of our friends, it was his first backpacking trip ever. We had a bit of a bumpy start, but it wound up being a good trip in the end.
We planned to hike the Appalachian Trail from Culvers Gap on highway 206 to NJ 23 at High Point State Park. We arrived at High Point SP and got our parking permit and dropped a car. Then drove south to the Stokes State Forest office to pick up another parking permit for our starting trailhead. Unfortunately the Stokes State Forest office was randomly closed until late afternoon and there was no way to self-register). Seriously. We did a bit of online research on our phones and found that our car would definitely be towed without a permit. At this point, I was pretty frustrated (I mean, I did the research on what we needed to do to legally park there). Ultimately, we decided to go back to High Point State Park and figure out how to adapt. We wound up hiking to Maschipacong Shelter and the returning the next day via the Iris Trail, which is about a 12 mile loop. It was lovely. The Appalachian Trail keeps to the top of the ridge, so we had a number of nice views on the first day along with interesting rock formations. The Iris Trail drops into the valley, so we got to see pretty streams, old house foundations and stone walls, and a very nice lake on the second day.
It wound up being a really good trip, in spite of the hiccups starting out. Our friend on his first trip did great and is asking what the next trip will be, so I will call that a success.
Looking towards eastern New Jersey from the Appalachian Trail.
There is no water at Mashipacong Shelter, so we had to haul water for the night for about three miles from the side trail to Rutherford Shelter. This is the stream we filtered from (I'm pretty sure it is just
Sunset from Mashipacong Shelter
Rutherford Lake
Rue Anemone (Thalictrum Thalictroides). Just a few flowers were blooming. I imagine there are a ton more this weekend.
We planned to hike the Appalachian Trail from Culvers Gap on highway 206 to NJ 23 at High Point State Park. We arrived at High Point SP and got our parking permit and dropped a car. Then drove south to the Stokes State Forest office to pick up another parking permit for our starting trailhead. Unfortunately the Stokes State Forest office was randomly closed until late afternoon and there was no way to self-register). Seriously. We did a bit of online research on our phones and found that our car would definitely be towed without a permit. At this point, I was pretty frustrated (I mean, I did the research on what we needed to do to legally park there). Ultimately, we decided to go back to High Point State Park and figure out how to adapt. We wound up hiking to Maschipacong Shelter and the returning the next day via the Iris Trail, which is about a 12 mile loop. It was lovely. The Appalachian Trail keeps to the top of the ridge, so we had a number of nice views on the first day along with interesting rock formations. The Iris Trail drops into the valley, so we got to see pretty streams, old house foundations and stone walls, and a very nice lake on the second day.
It wound up being a really good trip, in spite of the hiccups starting out. Our friend on his first trip did great and is asking what the next trip will be, so I will call that a success.
Looking towards eastern New Jersey from the Appalachian Trail.
There is no water at Mashipacong Shelter, so we had to haul water for the night for about three miles from the side trail to Rutherford Shelter. This is the stream we filtered from (I'm pretty sure it is just
Sunset from Mashipacong Shelter
Rutherford Lake
Rue Anemone (Thalictrum Thalictroides). Just a few flowers were blooming. I imagine there are a ton more this weekend.