Black Friday at The Gap

Where: Appalachian Trail to Mount Minsi
Mileage: 8.37
Type: Out and Back
Parking: Dunnefield Creek/Appalachian Trail exit off I-80

Black Friday here in America usually entails a day off work to scurry in the herds of crowds at shopping malls to begin your holiday Christmas shopping. Depending on your personality this could be your dream come true or your worst nightmare. I lean towards the latter. So this Black Friday I decided to head over to The Gap I prefer. Aside from the coincidental name, this location was primarily chosen as it is very convenient to get to the trailhead right off the highway on the way going to and from the Poconos on a visit with family.

To hike just Mount Minsi there is a better trailhead to start from within the residential neighborhood for the Lake Lenape Parking area.

http://www.nps.gov/dewa/planyourvisit/to-mt-minsi.htm

Being that I wanted to hike as much of the AT as possible, I included the extra highway walking along I-80. Not the best place to hike if you want just views and solitude in the woods. Although looking through my guidebook, I wasn't aware of how far it would be to actually include this extra mileage. I would definitely recommend skipping the highway and starting from Lake Lenape.

 

Some winter berries along the walk

 After going under the underpass of I-80 you will see Kittatinny Point Visitor Center.

Walking towards the highway

Street sign in town

Sign towards Lake Lenape Parking Area

 You will pass the lake towards the beginning of the hike and the trail will gradually ascend with some viewpoints along the way of the Delaware Water Gap.

Lush Green Tunnel

  There is an area where you walk through some very green trails and it is very peaceful and calming.

A side trail took me to this area where someone had placed the American Flag.

Keep hiking up and you will eventually get to the top of Mount Minsi marked by this sign on a tree log. There is not really a view here, but there is a makeshift campground nearby.

Here I turned around and headed back to the parking lot.

GPS maps below...

Food Recommendation:

Thai Orchid

I was surprised to see so many veg options on the menu here in PA. The pad thai was pretty good. :)

or within walking distance of the trail...

Zen Fusion

I could see this location as a tempting rest stop along the way on a thru-hike.

Paumanok Path - Long Island

Location: Paumanok Path, Manorville, LI NY
Mileage: 15.5 miles
Type: Out and Back
Difficulty: easy elevation, moderate distance
Sightings: Not much wildlife sightings this time, although bug season has died down noticeably!

The Paumanok Path of Long Island is the white-blazed "Appalachian trail" of Long Island. (In my eyes at least :)) It runs 125 miles from Rocky Point to Montauk Point, the very eastern tip of Long Island where the beautiful lighthouse is. So I guess you can consider the lighthouse the "Katahdin." I have designated this path my practice trail for the AT and have made it my goal to complete this winter....the best season to hike it when the ticks and other bugs are not so prevalent. There are no places to camp along the way, so it is best for section hikes currently.

For this post, I tackled a section of Part 3 of the link below...

Links:
http://sbmp95.ess.sunysb.edu/Maps/NewYork/LongIsland/LongIsland.html

http://www.litlc.org/fyi/paumanok.htm

A good place to start a section hike is along Halsey Road just off the LIE. You can park along side the road here. There is room for a couple of cars. Otherwise you can also start at the Manorville Hills County Park off Route 111 and take a connecting trail. The route from Halsey Road adds about an additional 2 miles one way to get to the entrance of Manorville Hills County Park. It is a nice section and worth adding on. I have hiked the loop in Manorville Hills CP many times and it is the best section of the hike, going through the pine barrens of Long Island. Taking the white path the entire way follows the orange trail for part of the way but cuts more directly through the park. A car shuttle would work best if hiking just the Paumanok and not doing the loop with the orange trail. But for this I did an out and back turning around at approx. 7.75 miles, for a total of 15.5 miles.

Mid November on Long Island has bought down most of the leaves on the trees by now and they scattered the trails. Much of the trail is also covered in soft pine needles, adding a nice cushion for your trail runs.

There are 2 glacial erratics along the trail.

 A nice clear day looking up through the trees...

The trail was pretty desolate for the majority of the hike. Midway, the first people I ran into was a middle aged couple making out in the woods. If you are a frequenter of the woods, you will find this can happen a few times. So I am sorry if I embarrassed you guys :) Other than that, only two other solo hikers passed through. One of them told me of his previous travels running the race they have up Mount Washington. Quite a feat!

I have a great recommendation for all hikers out there. I've finally tested out a gps app I've had on my phone for quite awhile, but never put to use before.

http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/products/backpackergpstrails/

I used it on my past 2 hikes in this area and it worked really well. It gives you the mileage, avg speed and a map showing your travels. Here are the details for this trip...

Here are the details for my previous trip as well...

It is easy to miss the turns on the white trails so be careful! You can easily find yourself on a blue blazed bike trail.

I should take this time to officially announce my tentative plan to thru-hike the Appalachian trail in 2015. Why 2015 and not 2014? As much as I yearn to be out there next year, I gave it much thought and think it wise to save up a bit more funds for the trek first and plan. There will be many practice hikes and backpack trips posted next year so stay tuned! I plan on carrying a feather I found in this very park with me for the entirety of the way from Georgia to Maine. It's a beautiful wild turkey feather and carries many meanings.

Some info on the turkey from the following website: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080320042649AAannxI

Symbolic meanings of the turkey:
Pride
Abundance
Generosity
Awareness
Virility
Fertility
Sacrifice

Turkeys are at their peak of power in the autumn months. As fall season animals, turkeys are also symbolic of:
Harvest
New beginnings
Cycles
Preparation

http://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com/native-american-culture/meaning-of-feathers.htm

Abundance, Pride, Fertility

That said I have thought of some possible trail names for my pilgrimage/trek .....
Paumanok - indicative of the place I was born and raised, being from Long Island
Freebird - indicative of my feather
Dolly - in memory of my passed grandmother on my father's side
Or rely on what is bestowed upon me...

Happy to be Hiking :)

A very good link for planning a hike in the area:

http://www.davidwaring.net/hiking/ManorvilleHills.html

Lastly, if you are one for poetry and photography, this a book compilation of poets of Long Island one may be interested in....Enjoy!