A Bumpy Start with a Great Finish: Backpacking on the New Jersey AT

We added a state to where we've hiked on the Appalachian Trail this weekend: New Jersey. We took two friends with us, one of whom had never been backpacking before. We intended to do a 14 mile section of the Appalachian Trail from highway 206 to New Jersey Highway 23. It didn't quite go that way, but it did turn out to be a really nice trip.

Saturday, after getting a parking permit from High Point State Park, we dropped one car off at the parking area on NJ 23. Then we drove south to the Stokes State Forest office to get a permit to park at the Sunrise Mountain parking area just off of highway 206. When we arrived, they were randomly closed for most of the day. They also had no apparent self-registration. We drove back over to the parking area to see if there was a self-registration area there. No dice. A woman sitting in the parking area chatted with me for a minute and said they definitely tow from that lot if you don't have a permit. A check of another website confirmed that. She also suggested we check with a nearby local hiker-friendly bar to see if we could leave our car there. That also didn't work and I was pretty frustrated at this point.

After a bit of commiseration, we decided to do an out and back from the first place we parked. Instead of 14 miles, we would hike 6 miles to the shelter where we had planned to stay and then return the same way on Sunday.  So, another half hour in the car and another parking permit (after waiting for the office to open after lunch) and we were finally on our way. Phew! Ten minutes down the trail, all frustration was forgotten in the bright, warm sun.

The trail mostly keeps to the ridge top. There were a few steep climbs, but they were short and there were plenty of rocks. There were also several nice views. We took a short detour at the halfway point to get water. The shelter we were headed to doesn't have a water source. We thought we were going to have to hike an extra half mile each way to the spring at Rutherford Shelter, but in less than half that distance, we found a nicely flowing stream.* We took a long break and enjoyed the weather while we filtered water. Hauling a gallon of water each is never fun, but we only had three miles to go to get to Mashipacong Shelter, so it wasn't too bad. A short distance from our water stop, we passed a trail junction. On consultation with the map, our friend suggested that we take that trail (the Iris Trail) back to the car the next day, making a loop instead of an out and back.

We spent a very pleasant night eating dinner and playing cards. One nice thing about Mashipacong Shelter: They have a bear box there (basically a large steel locker), so we didn't have to hang our food. The next day we headed back the way we came and turned onto the Iris Trail when we reached that intersection. It was a great decision. The trail passed by interesting wetlands, old stone walls and house foundations, and a beautiful lake.

We all (I hope!) had a great time. Adaptation was key to this trip and everyone played a part in making it work. It was also beautiful. We are now discussing a longer trip on the New Jersey Appalachian Trail later this year.

*For anyone researching this section of the trail, I suspect it is a seasonal stream and unreliable later in the summer).

Hiking up one of the steep, rocky sections of the trail.

The view to the east, into New Jersey, from one of the rocky outcrops on the trail.

 We passed several of these boggy spots. They are probably ephemeral. They were also full of salamanders, which was pretty cool.

Moss near the boggy spot above.

The little stream where we got water.

Taking a break while waiting for the water filter to do its job.

 A sign for the Appalachian Trail.

 Our friend and Michael blowing up sleeping pads

Sunset from behind the shelter.

 The Iris Trail, covered in moss and grass. This trail clearly doesn't get as much use as the Appalachian Trail.

 Epigaea repens (Trailing Arbutus). This isn't a great picture, but I'm still learning about my new camera.

 Rutherford Lake from the Iris Trail

 Thalictrum thalictroides (Rue Anemone)

 After we finished our hike, we drove up to High Point, which is the aptly named, highest point in New Jersey. This is looking north from the base of the monument.

The monument at High Point. One of our friends said she remembers being able to climb the stairs inside up to the top when she was in elementary school. Unfortunately, they don't allow you to do that anymore.

A Windy Spring Ride out of Brunswick, Maryland

We rode out of Brunswick, Maryland yesterday. We are starting to train for this year's bike tour and the ride we did yesterday helped us get back into some climbing. We are going to need a lot of it over the course of the next few months.

It rained all the way to Brunswick. I kept checking the radar and the forecast and both promised that the area would dry out in the morning from west to east. Since Brunswick is west of here, we had our fingers crossed. Sitting in the car in the parking lot watching it sprinkle didn't help. Finally, we decided it may as well be now or never. The sprinkles stopped and about 30 minutes into our ride, we actually saw a bit of sun. As the day went on, it got sunnier and windier.

The route took us from Brunswick to Burkittsville, then over South Mountain and down little rural roads along the west side of South Mountain. Eventually, we wound up connecting with the C&O Towpath at the Maryland Heights trailhead. We rode the towpath back to the car and then up to Beans in the Belfry at lunch. While we were waiting to order, a reporter from the local Brunswick paper asked us if he could feature us as this week's "Cyclists of the Week." This will be our second feature (which we let him know). A little over two years ago, we rode to Beans in the Belfry while on our way from Pittsburgh to DC and we were featured then!

 Farm fields north of Brunswick

 Michael and our friend riding past flowering trees

More farm fields. Everything is starting to turn green.

We stopped for a quick break and happened to see this pheasant. It isn't a great picture, but I can't say that I've ever seen one before in Maryland. (And it turns out, they are actually pretty rare in the state).

 An even rarer sighting: The lesser known Cotton-Tailed South Mountain Bigfoot.

Dicentra cucullaria (Dutchmans Breeches) on the C&O Towpath

 Mertensia virginica (Virginia Bluebells)

 My ride for this year's unsupported tour. I'm starting to ride with weight to get ready for carrying all of my stuff.

 The Potomac from the footbridge at Harpers Ferry.

Dicentra canadensis (Squirrel Corn)

Turtles on a log in the old canal. This is one of my favorite things about the Towpath in the spring.

Snowshoeing in Rocky Mountain National Park

I had to go to Boulder, Colorado for work last week. I decided to make the most of it by going out early and staying through this past weekend. We have lots of friends there, so Michael flew out at the end of the work week. We intended to stay with friends, but this wound up being a trip where flexibility was required. More on that in a bit.

I arrived late Friday night and stayed with my brother. We visited Garden of the Gods on Saturday. It must have been 75 degrees, which was a bit of a shock coming from the chilly weather here the previous week. It was crowded, but we managed to find a short trail with only a few people.

On Sunday, a friend and I borrowed snowshoes fand headed for Rocky Mountain National Park. For all of the times I've been to Colorado, I had never actually been there. We were warned that parking can be at a premium at Bear Lake Trailhead, but the lot was only about 1/3 full when we got there. We hiked the trail towards Emerald Lake. I expected to struggle. I arrived 48 hours prior to our hike and my friend arrived had been in Colorado less than 24 hours at that point. The trailhead is at nearly 9,500 feet. Much to my surprise, we did pretty well. We were slow on the uphills, but otherwise, we had a good hike to Emerald Lake. The views were just spectacular. There is a reason why this is such a popular area.

 Looking towards Emerald Lake from Nymph Lake

On the hike up to Dream and Emerald Lakes. Although it was relatively warm, the wind was fierce. I wore my parka the entire hike.

 Just above Dream Lake.

 The bark of an evergreen tree.

 Looking down on Emerald Lake

My friend snowshoeing above Emerald Lake. We turned around shortly after this. The legs were strong, but my lungs were burning a bit at this point from the lack of oxygen.

Frozen Emerald Lake

 I love this picture for the sense of scale. In addition to the group on the edge of the lake, there are two skiers about halfway up the chute in the top center of the photo, just to the right of the large pillar of rock.

A dead tree on the lakeshore.

Standing on Emerald Lake. I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've been out on a frozen lake. On this day, the ice was really smooth.

Bubbles trapped in the ice.

Our hike back to the parking lot was quick. The parking lot was a complete circus, complete with people clubbing each other for parking spots. We were still feeling energetic, so we decided to hike to Alberta Falls. I sort of expected the frozen columns of ice that one usually sees when waterfalls freeze. What we found instead was an inky black sheet of ice through which we could see water flowing. I had never seen anything like it. It was very cool and completely unexpected. Unfortunately, I couldn't capture it with my camera.

After my week of meetings was over, Michael flew out to Colorado to join me. As I said earlier, we intended to stay with friends for the weekend. That didn't wind up happening because several members of their family got sick. So, Friday, Michael and I borrowed the same snowshoes and I took him up to do the same hike. I know there are a million other places we could have gone, even within the National Park, but I was so impressed with Emerald Lake that I wanted him to see it.

 The weather wasn't quite as perfect as it had been five days earlier. There were more clouds and periodic snow flurries, but it also wasn't as windy. This is the view from Dream Lake.

Interesting tree roots.

 Another view of Emerald Lake

 Windblown Snow

Michael and I made it higher than I had the previous Sunday. This is working our way up a gully above Emerald Lake.

Crossing a rock slide. We turned around not long after this because we felt the terrain got to steep.

 The view from our turnaround point between 10,500 and 11,000 feet.

Michael at our turnaround point. Shortly after this, clouds started rolling in and it started snowing. We made the right decision in turning around.

 Michael out on the lake.

The view from Moraine Park on our drive out.

We had a great time. I loved both hikes. Now I want to go back and explore the park when I have more time.

Annapolis Rocks Snowshoeing

After last week's storm, we couldn't resist the opportunity to get the snowshoes out again. We picked up a friend and her dog and and met another friend at the Annapolis Rocks parking area on US Highway 40 west of Frederick, Maryland. Fortunately, road crews partially cleared the parking lot. We've hiked up to Annapolis Rocks and to Blackrock a number of times. This is the first time we have snowshoed up there. The first quarter mile of the hike has to be the least charming stretch of the entire Appalachian Trail. The trail goes under the US Highway 40 bridge, following a ledge perched over Interstate 70. The roar of traffic makes it impossible to talk even to the person hiking next to you.

After we passed under the bridge and turned up the hill, away from the highways, the hike improved rapidly. South Mountain still had nearly two feet of snow on the ground. There was a pretty wide path in the snow from hikers who had been up to Annapolis Rocks before us. We had lunch in the sun at Annapolis Rocks. From there, we headed north to Blackrock following only one set of snowshoe tracks. Then we hiked down the hill from Blackrock. The snow was still fluffy on the north-facing slope. We had a good time glissading down the trail. At the bottom, when we reached the creek, we decided it was time to head back.

We had a great time out in the snow and we saw a total of six other people (two of whom were climbers camped at the bottom of Annapolis Rocks). On a normal day, this area is crazy busy with hikers.

Michael at Annapolis Rocks

 The view northwest from Annapolis Rocks

 Our friends snowshoeing

The view from Blackrock

 Sumac seeds

Blackrock Creek. The trail continues on the other side. This is where we turned around.

My snowshoes on trail.

 The trail and shadows in the late afternoon sun.

 Michael and our friends hiking up the last hill on the way back to the car.

Michael had to do an emergency repair on his snowshoes. The rivets on the binding strap pulled out (this is probably his third time using these...we'll be contacting the manufacturer). He used utility cord to make a field repair, which got him back to the car.