Long Pine Pond to Gren Anderson Shelter 15 miles
We got up to a steamy pond and it was beautiful. There were frogs chirping and birds croaking and caterpillars shitting on the tent fly so that it sounded like rain; but, not to be confused with the actual rain that fell in the night. It was awesome. I love the rain in my hammock. The patter of the raindrops on my tent fly is soothing and hypnotic. I love falling asleep in therain while in a tent. I used to love sleeping in my jeep in the rain, down by the beach with the heater and the radio on. I miss ‘ole Lucille, my trusty four-wheeled friend. Anyweay, we got up and packed up and I had to go back around the lake to make sure I did all of the Appalachian Trail while the other guys went around the back of the pond. Much to my chagrin I found a note that Dad had decided to pull off of the trail because he lost feeling in his legs. Dad had a back injury a few weeks ago and he was feeling weird on the trail. When he started up he was worried he would get worse and get stranded way out in the bush so he decided to head on back to the ranch. I didn’t find out until a few hours later ‘cause I was hiking a few extra miles and I was about a half an hour back. While I was hiking I almost stepped on a Copperhead that was basking across the trail. I don’t know how I saw it, I was just about to step on the little bastard and he didn’t move at all. I was like, “WHOAH!” and I pulled back and took a few pictured than tried to get him off of the trail. Copperheads are supposed to be pretty aggressive so I was worried about lifting him with my stick but it looked like he might have just gotten a chipmunk for breakfast so he was pretty docile. I poked him a little and he finally went away into the brush. Needless to say I was a little nervous walking from then on and my eyes were glued to the trail. I met up with Cyclone and Rolex at the Brinks Road Shelter and then we moved on. We got to Culvers Gap and snuck down the road to Gyp’s tavern and got some burgers and pierogies and pizza and stuff. The folks were cool and then we sat there fro like 3 hours. The fellas were starting to talk about getting a motel and I had to put the Veto down. The next shelter was only 3 miles and I wanted to be able to get out of the town. I’m really sick of towns. “They are a trap,” Rolex says and he is right. The terrain here is really leave for the most part although it’s difficult to hike on the rocks with any confidence. You have to watch your step although you can still cruise. I packed up and decided to carry an extra 3 liters of water up to the shelter so we wouldn’t have to purify any when we got here. I left as they were filling their water so they couldn’t change their minds and get a hotel. I pulled in to the shelter a little more than an hour later and met Booger and her dog Buddy. Singer and Land Surfer. We ate dinner and I’m going to retire early. We have great internet service so I’m going to blog and post tonight.
David AKA “Mr. F'n Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1
Showing posts with label Long Pine Pond. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Long Pine Pond. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Jersey Bears and Long Pine Pond
Mohican Outdoor Center to Long Pine Pond campsite
We got up earlier than I like to and hung out at the Lodge and ate breakfast. We got out on the trail and it was cool but Dad was having a really tough time. It’s easy to forget how painful it was for us on our first week and we’re kind of champing at the bit and I can see it in the guys’ walks that they want to take off but it’s cool to be hiking with our Dad. I’m a little worried about him cause he is stopping a lot but about halfway through we relieved him of some extraneous gear. I added a lot of weight to my pack and I hardly noticed it. That’s encouraging because when Cyclone and Rolex split in July I’m going to be carrying a bunch more weight. Just after midday we were walking and Mongoose told us to stop and back up. I thought there was a Rattlesnake and I started to pull out my camera but it was a Black Bear. He didn’t seem to interested in us but he was right on the trail. At first we were all pretty worried he was coming towards us and I think he was but we made a lot of noise and he didn’t seem to notice but then he eventually crossed the trail and kind of ambled and meandered off into the brush. I got some footage and that was cool. New Jersey has the highest percentage of bears. They say they have an average of 1 bear per square mile. Our first Bear Experience was pretty good, I hope they are all like that. We were going to do 14 miles today but it became apparent around 1 o’clock that we were going to have to find another option. We decided to pull off and go to this campsite about a mile off the trail and I’m really glad we did. It’s beautiful! Rolex and Mongoose jumped in to the lake and then Mongoose spotted another bear on the bank on the other side of the lake/pond. They call it a pond but it’s pretty big, you could probably land a pontoon plane in here. We set up our tents and then all these thru-hikers came in. This guy Toad is a botanist and he’s been catching all these snakes and toads and stuff. There are non-hikers camping here and we’re supposed to leave them alone and not use the facilities here so we’re all watching them swim around. It’s crazy all the caterpillars here. There is a ridiculous infestation of gypsy moths and they are EVERYWHERE. We’re stabbing them, slicing them, stepping on them and every other way of destroying them. They are killing all of the trees around here. Sometimes the trees like they are wearing a fur coat of these caterpillars. It’s horrible. When I was a kid they had a big thing about it and they were destroying our local woods so we try to kill them whenever we can. They supposedly introduced some crazy beetle to eat them but it obviously isn’t working around here. I’m playing some guitar and going to bed soon. We are going to have a campfire and sing some songs I guess. I think Mongoose will do better tomorrow, we’re going to take as much of his gear as he’ll let us but I know how he is, he’ won’t want us to do that so we’re going to have to be subtle J
Trail names of the guys here: Stripe, Shadowcast, Toad, Tangent, Daddy-O, Peacock, and Jack Frost
David AKA “Mr. F'n Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1
We got up earlier than I like to and hung out at the Lodge and ate breakfast. We got out on the trail and it was cool but Dad was having a really tough time. It’s easy to forget how painful it was for us on our first week and we’re kind of champing at the bit and I can see it in the guys’ walks that they want to take off but it’s cool to be hiking with our Dad. I’m a little worried about him cause he is stopping a lot but about halfway through we relieved him of some extraneous gear. I added a lot of weight to my pack and I hardly noticed it. That’s encouraging because when Cyclone and Rolex split in July I’m going to be carrying a bunch more weight. Just after midday we were walking and Mongoose told us to stop and back up. I thought there was a Rattlesnake and I started to pull out my camera but it was a Black Bear. He didn’t seem to interested in us but he was right on the trail. At first we were all pretty worried he was coming towards us and I think he was but we made a lot of noise and he didn’t seem to notice but then he eventually crossed the trail and kind of ambled and meandered off into the brush. I got some footage and that was cool. New Jersey has the highest percentage of bears. They say they have an average of 1 bear per square mile. Our first Bear Experience was pretty good, I hope they are all like that. We were going to do 14 miles today but it became apparent around 1 o’clock that we were going to have to find another option. We decided to pull off and go to this campsite about a mile off the trail and I’m really glad we did. It’s beautiful! Rolex and Mongoose jumped in to the lake and then Mongoose spotted another bear on the bank on the other side of the lake/pond. They call it a pond but it’s pretty big, you could probably land a pontoon plane in here. We set up our tents and then all these thru-hikers came in. This guy Toad is a botanist and he’s been catching all these snakes and toads and stuff. There are non-hikers camping here and we’re supposed to leave them alone and not use the facilities here so we’re all watching them swim around. It’s crazy all the caterpillars here. There is a ridiculous infestation of gypsy moths and they are EVERYWHERE. We’re stabbing them, slicing them, stepping on them and every other way of destroying them. They are killing all of the trees around here. Sometimes the trees like they are wearing a fur coat of these caterpillars. It’s horrible. When I was a kid they had a big thing about it and they were destroying our local woods so we try to kill them whenever we can. They supposedly introduced some crazy beetle to eat them but it obviously isn’t working around here. I’m playing some guitar and going to bed soon. We are going to have a campfire and sing some songs I guess. I think Mongoose will do better tomorrow, we’re going to take as much of his gear as he’ll let us but I know how he is, he’ won’t want us to do that so we’re going to have to be subtle J
Trail names of the guys here: Stripe, Shadowcast, Toad, Tangent, Daddy-O, Peacock, and Jack Frost
David AKA “Mr. F'n Gentle Spirit”
Website
http://www.wbafinc.org/
Photos:
http://www.photobucket.com/brotherproof
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/WBAF1
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