Category Archives: New Jersey

Day 5

I crossed the Delaware today!

I was out of the parsonage by 9:15 this morning and headed down the road a tenth of a mile to the UMC church. Recall that this is Pastor Dave’s second church. He was there to conduct the service and it was lovely. He had a little lesson for the children in which he got me to go the front with my cart — great fun!

image

Tom and Bonnie were there so we had breakfast at the nearby (500 feet away) Deli. They seem to know everyone in town. One of the workers there is a niece of Alan and Deloris Schetelich!

Bob Dadd said he would like more pictures with me in them. OK, here’s one, after breakfast:

image

So I got a late start to my walking, at about 11:30. With high spirits, I headed for the Delaware River crossing, the one that leads into Milford, not Dingman’s Ferry (see yesterday’s post for the reason for this choice). It was pretty level for a while and then sudddenly started to descend into the river valley:

image

When I saw this sign I started wondering how they would collect my toll:

image

Am I a car?

image

Rats — I should have brought my EZ-Pass!

image

Is that a footpath I see to the right of the bridge?

image

Indeed! And I even got the right river!

image

It was a beautiful crossing. Here’s a picture I took with one foot in New Jersey and the other in Pennsylvania:

image

It wasn’t far to Milford, and by the time I got there the light cloud cover had lifted to reveal this very pretty town in all its autumn glory:

image

I stopped at a Dunkin Donuts for a slurpie (or whatever they call those things), plugged into the mains and free wifi and did a little research. It turns out that my destination campground is a gated community. The plots are privately owned and the only thing that makes it a “campground” is that its residents put RVs on their properties, rather than houses. Anyway, that was out as an option. The next segment on Route 6 after Milford is a pretty steep climb and there is effectively no opportunity for lodging — no hotels, no towns, no campgrounds, no friendly (or otherwise) farmers and bears to contend with if you just set your tent up in some random location off the highway — no thanks. So I elected to go to a nearby campground about three miles away, though in somewhat the wrong direction. I think I won’t have to backtrack tomorrow, but more of that on the Day 6 post.

I arrived at the campground forthwith:

image

It is right where 209 merges onto I-84 — you can see I-84 high and in the background; the lower highway is Route 209. I hope it won’t be too noisy. Soon I was assigned a site with water and electricity ($26 for the night):

image

That water you see is the Delaware — yup, I’m right on the bank, practically. Lovely. Here’s a shot from my site into the campground:

image

and here’s another picture looking down the Delaware:

image

I set my tent up without making too many mistakes (I had practiced in my backyard a month ago):

image

Do you see the black cord snaking into the left side of this strategically placed tent? I can charge up my devices overnight.  Here is a close-up:

image

I used my iPhone level app to figure out which way to put my head:

image

then laid out my sleeping bag, and it was as good as a hotel room!

image

In the middle of this process, a hawk landed just 20 feet away from me on a post. I managed to snap a photo before it flew off. Anyone care to identify it?

image

Because of the change of plans today, I didn’t get my 15 miles done, but I will make up for it tomorrow with an 18-mile hike with a lot of climbing. I hope I’m up for it!

Total for Day 5: 8.75 miles
Total so far: 70.45 miles
Total “in the bank”: -4.55 miles (I’m in debt!)
Estimated remaining: 383 miles
Estimated date of arrival: 2013-11-07

Day 4

Wen-Ling took me to a chiropractor friend of hers for a quick (free!) adjustment and back massage — what a great way to start the day! She then dropped me at the exact spot (thank you GPS!) at which David had picked me up yesterday and I was ready to begin.

But before recounting the entire day spent on Route 206, let me mention something that happened yesterday that I WISH I had been able to photograph — it just happened too fast. When David was driving me back to the manse after picking me up, we turned a corner and saw a man (who turned out to be the mayor of Frankford) driving slowly towards us with his left hand out the window holding the reigns of a horse that was walking beside the car. The explanation was simple — he owned the horse and it had gotten away and he was leading it home. But it certainly was a bizzare sight.

Here are a few scenes from today’s walk.

Has anyone ever visited any of the other towns in the Union named after the Marquis de Lafayette in 1824?

image

Pretty nice banks in Sussex Country:

image

More pumpkins waiting to be picked — just a small portion of this field:

image

First usage of my solar charger. I think it worked, but it got a little cloudy just after I deployed it:

image

I have a greater appreciation of the phrase “just ahead” now:

image

Passed lots of markets like this one:

image

YES! I reached Stokes State Forest! I’m stoked!

image

Near the end of the day I was walking past this shop:

image

when the man on the left of this picture (they are both Toms):

image

walked out the driveway onto the road and asked me if I was the guy who was walking to Toronto. I’m a celebrity! NOT. Last night David had arranged with Tom for me to stay in the parish house of his second church. Earlier in the day Tom had prepared it for me and was hanging out with his friend (the other) Tom, and proprietor of this lovely shop, when he spied me coming down the road. We had a nice chat and proprietor Tom let me have a free bottle of water. So many nice people!

It wasn’t long after that before I reached my destination:

image

I took a welcome shower, washed out some clothes and napped for a few minutes. Then I called greeter Tom and he and his wife Bonnie picked me up and took me to a fantastic Greek restaurant in Layton:

image

Tom has performed as a skater in Ice Follies and Holiday on Ice around the world and Bonnie is a show-dog trainer. What a great time of food and fellowship we had!

Tomorrow I hope to attend the church which is just a few buildings away, before setting out on my trek across the Delaware. I close with today’s enticing road picture:

image

Total for Day 4: 14.38 miles
Total so far: 61.70 miles
Total “in the bank”: 1.70 miles
Estimated remaining: 386 miles
Estimated date of arrival: 2013-11-07