Appalachian Trail: High Point SP Boundary to Route 517
Distance: 15.35 miles
Elevation: 1991 feet
Time: 6 hours, 57 minutes
Hiking Challenges: New Jersey Appalachian Trail; 52 Hike Challenge
Hike #3, the last hike, and the longest hike of the weekend! We dropped one car at Route 517 just before the AT boardwalk, and drove towards Route 519/Greenville Road, where I had tried to park during the winter but the pull-off was frozen over. Halfway there my body told me that my morning poop was READY, so Gen and I decided we should start the day by driving up to the High Point monument, since she's never been (and there's a bathroom). We didn't realize that the gate was closed until 8:00am, and it was 7:45am. We decided to wait it out, and oof my body was not thrilled. Turns out it was a great idea - we got the whole top to ourselves, saw a beautiful oriole, and got to christen the toilets for the day - PLUS all NJ state parks are free this summer so it didn't cost a thing. After taking care of our business we drove back down to the pull-off on 519 and suited up for our longest day yet.
There is a short blue-blaze from the pull-off to the AT, and then the AT crosses 519 into a cut meadow full of wildflowers and then into the woods where we saw two red efts - the "juvenile terrestrial" stage of the red-spotted newt. According to wikipedia, the red efts eventually find a body of water they like and then turn into aquatic adults. After writing the previous two sentences, I learned that we saw one red eft (the bright orange one) and one terrestrial adult red-spotted newt (the one that's more of an olive color). Very cool! Just after this, a couple thru hikers passed us and commented on how great our hair smelled (they were smelling our bug spray) which gave us a good laugh.
This whole section of the Appalachian Trail was uniquely beautiful. It continually altered between hardwood forest and open farmlands. Some of the farmlands had wildflowers, some had scattered hay bales, some had boardwalks through tall grass, and all were gorgeous. There was a long boardwalk section through some wetlands, a few road crossings (none too busy), and one long section of trail that was either on old railroad grade or an abandoned road. The best part of this hiking was that we finally broke free of the rocky Kittatinny Ridge - most of this hiking was on soft dirt. Our feet were definitely feeling it after 8-ish miles, but it was nothing compared to the past few days (I also had new insoles and loosened the laces around my toes, but I choose to believe it was the terrain). A few groups of thru hikers passed us slowpokes in the first few miles, but the rest of the day was mostly just the two of us.
The final field that the trail skirts around was the most beautiful, with views of Pochuck Mountain and the surrounding hills and farms through the hay bales. The trail then descended to State Line/Oil City Road (both names appear on Google Maps), where the trail followed into New York and for just enough time before I got sick of it. It passes a bunch of homes, some of which were threatening and very clearly not welcome to visitors, but others (I think at least three) welcomed hikers with open arms and had a ton of trail magic. One house had a sign that pointed in one direction to Maine and to Georgia in the other. One woman was hosting trail magic and gave us a wave as we crossed the bridge over the Wallkill River. It was another one of those moments where my heart was full but I also felt like a poser - I waved and smiled back.
The next section of trail was also very unique - the Liberty Loop around the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge. The first side was a long straightaway along a wide, road-sized path. Right when the trail re-enters the great state of New Jersey, there is a phenomenal tree and bench where we took a nice long break. It was here that I remembered I brought a slice of pizza with me, and I nearly peed myself from giggling with excitement. Dramatically, this break saved my life. I didn't realize how badly my feet were feeling until they had some time to rest. The funniest part of this break was the massive sweat stain that my butt left on the bench - whoops!
The wetlands in the NWR were gorgeous, but I assume drier than usual due to this uniquely dry summer. There were endless amounts of birds that I could have stared at forever, but it was exceptionally hot at this point so we kept it moving. There were some more beautiful wildflowers, and one final bench before the trail leaves the NWR and starts the last leg of the hike - a brutal climb through Pochuck Mountain and its peaks. We took one final rest, looked back at the meadow to see the final field we hiked around, and headed back into the woods.
This section starts on another long boardwalk, but the grasses were a little overgrown which made this one much less enjoyable, but it was very scenic. There is another road crossing, and then the climbing officially begins! In hindsight, I can't tell if it was actually steep or if I was just exhausted from hiking over 10 miles at this point, but these were slow miles. The trail passes the blue-blaze to a shelter and a possible water source (we didn't investigate, even though we should have - we ended up running out of water about 2 miles from the car) and then continues to climb. Looking at the AllTrails recording, this section roughly has 5 climbs, some more brutal than others. All very rugged. The first climb rewarded us with a lovely view back towards High Point, which was an amazing indicator of the progress we had made.
We were definitely feeling gassed out for the last few miles - I didn't even take any photos. There were rolling hills, some steep climbs, woods roads/ATV/mountain biking trails, and a lot of solitude. We only passed one other hiker, and he was a bit of an awkward chatter, but it was no bother. He asked about the stone walls and I was so excited that I actually knew the answer (property boundaries when all of North NJ was farmland)! Crankiness began to set in, but thankfully the mountain rewarded us for our work at the end with an endless supply of wineberries! It was an incredibly poetic bookending to this weekend of hiking. That last mile was one of our slowest just from stopping to nosh every two feet. I was so happy we were able to end this hike on such a fun, positive note.
After we made it back to the car, we headed to the ACME (former A&P) to stock up on liquids and candy, made our way back to my car, and then stopped at the Market Creamery on Route 23 and had what may have been the best ice cream of my life. They had an excellent view with lots of seating/grass and a bunch of animals to gawk at. Such a beautiful ending to a long weekend of hiking! Next up on Gen's visit was a trip to Great Adventure and a Backstreet Boys concert, but for now, sleep.
- Stay on the AT Northbound for 15.35 miles.
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