It would have been a great move to get up at 4:30 and hit the trail. Great moves are not in our repertoire. Bunny made me get up at 6:30 so we could go across the street to the Yellow Cottage Deli at 7 when they opened. The reviews said they had great breakfast sandwiches. After eating, we returned to the “hotel” (aka dump) to finish packing up. The owner told us to not leave the key in the door in case we left a tip. He then added no one had ever left a tip yet. No surprise there.
The day of sleep is just what we needed. It made all the difference, or maybe it was the 30 degree cooler temperatures. I had made the comment the other day that I could deal with it if it was cooler or no bugs. What I meant was cooler AND no bugs, but I’d already made the deal. We stopped at the trailhead to pick up our mosquito and gnat escort. They were horrendous. I was praying for rain.
We had started hiking at 8:30 and had over 5 miles in before our normal start time of 11. The rain started about 9, but it was only hard enough for us to break out the umbrellas for about a half hour. For some reason, I had an ear worm of “Coal miner’s daughter” and the only way I could dislodge it was by “Grandma got ran over by a reindeer.”
We made it to Mashipacong Shelter for lunch (9 miles in). There were two groups of section hikers already there eating when we arrived. Two Massholes had decided to cut their trip a day short because of the heat, so they offered Bunny and me an extra day’s worth of food. Of course we accepted. When we had left Raj’s house, we had enough food to last for 3 days. We have not bought any more food since leaving Delaware Water Gap 4 days ago and now I am carrying 4 days worth of food. People in Jersey are generous!
At Mashipacong Shelter, there was a sign saying that thru-hikers can get a free soda at the High Point Park Office daily from 9-4. We didn’t think we could make it in time, but it was worth a try. We got there just before 5 but were very pleased to see that Friday hours were until 8…free Pepsi’s for us.
All we have to do is sign in to get our free drinks. I checked who all has been through here. Nightengale signed in just today so we might catch up with her yet. Slip ‘n Slide is off the trail because she got bit by a rattlesnake last week while trying to prevent Maple Leaf’s dog, Yankee, from getting bit. She is now recuperating at a beach sipping drinks with umbrellas and staying off her leg.
High Point State Park gets its name because the highest point in the state is here. It’s only about 1800’ above sea level. We aren’t in the a Himalayas, but, being from Illinois, we are still dwarfed at 600’. NJ built an observation tower at the high point that is very impressive. I’m not sure if this is currently used as a fire observation tower or is even open to climb.
The weather person promised us 60 degrees over night, tonight. We wanted to try to get a spot in High Point Shelter which is less than a mile from the obelisk. When we turned on the shelter trail, we were met with the noise of dozens of little kids out camping. We had forgotten this is a weekend. We were pleased to see that they were all camping under tarps and that the shelter is completely empty. We snagged our spots on one end of the shelter and get busy getting food. 7 more thru-hikers showed up, but only two joined us in the shelter.
EFG
Don’t think your flower is Rhododendrons. It’s a wild rose vine in with Rhododendrons.
You’re right, Bunny told me that when she was proofing it, but I was too lazy to change it. I didn’t know if anyone was really reading so I consider it a reader check