MIND THE GAP

1ST HIKE: MOUNT TAMMANY

Facts

Location:  Bushkill, PA and Dunfield, NJ (borders on both)

Park: Delware Water Gap

Trails: Red dot (1.5mi), Blue Blaze/AT (2.5mi), Appalacian (1.5mi) = 5.5 miles

Time: 2 hours

Elevation: 1200 ft

Date: 4/17/11


Adventure

It was a rocky beginning for my hiking adventure.

• high winds
• cloudy
• two hour drive
• steep, difficult climb
• no address to plug into GPS (just coordinates)

I looked outside saw sun and knew that I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't get in the car and go. I let Papa Childs know I was hiking alone in case of emergency and used the old fashion pen and paper directions copied from a website to navigate there. I took the red dot trail up and the blue dot trail down for a 4 mile hike. The red dot trail is a steep climb up rocks most of the way, it kind of reminded me of BLUE HILLS RESERVATION (which is 10x better). It's a fun climb, but you gotta earn it!

 

THE GAP

There were great view points of the Delaware Water Gap and surrounding hills/mountains while going up the trail. Arriving on top of the mountain was anti-climatic. The views from the top were nice, but it was far too windy to maintain balance while capturing a decent photo. I started following the blue trail and ended up on the Appalachian trail (AT) because I was looking for a good spot to each lunch. I spent most of the day hopping around and climbing. The blue trail was less scenic and the rocks were smaller.   

It's a great hike, good cardio, and endurance training, but not worth the two hour drive. The Delaware Water Gap is a pretty sweet view!

VIEW FROM THE TOP