NJAT Continuation

Lisa and I met up with Joe T. for another NJAT section hike. We left my car (with coolers full of lunch) at the halfway point, and took Joe's car back to Wawayanda SP for the start. It took us a while to get there, but as Joe decreed, we were walking by 930. Before long, we came up to a horse and rider. The horse was as curious to see us as we were to see him on the intersecting trail. We crossed through more forests, ravines, and even some farm fields. The last stretch before lunch was through the wetlands around the Pochuck Creek. This was a birder's paradise, as we were accompanied by many birds, including red-winged black birds, yellow warblers, herons, and even a loon (I think).

Lunch was very leisurely, as we did a tailgate picnic at the edge of the birding area. Lisa and I still brought "trail-quality" lunches (still a rookie mistake), while Joe brought avocado, salad, and tofu Chinese food. This was mile 7.5, and Lisa's end point; she would meet us at the end.

The hills immediately after lunch weren't too fun; Joe insisted that I guaranteed it would be flat after lunch. Well, I was half right - the last 4 miles were flat. Over mountains we went, running low on water. As we were on the downside of the last mountain, we made it to a water spigot - what a Godsend. After this, it was an "easy" 3.5 miles to the end. This last section was the flat part, as promised. It went through another birder's area, an inland marsh, part of the Wallkill River NWR. Yes, this place is a restored sod farm. Some road walking and a couple more hills brought us to the end, where Lisa was waiting for us by the creek. We finished those final 8.5 miles in 3 hours, great time! We cracked a few beers, relaxed, and made our way home.

It's interesting how diverse the terrain and scenery can be along the AT, in NJ of all places.

Pictures here.