Days 101-106: The Surprising Bear Density of New Jersey

Day 101. July 22nd: Delaware Water Gap to Rattlesnake Spring campsite – 14 miles

The trail crosses into New Jersey on a concrete bridge. There’s a pause in the morning drizzle, so we pose with the painted border sign on the ground, celebrating the end of Rocksylvania. We soon learn that the rocks do not stop at the state line, but I still enjoy myself. Our first day in New Jersey takes us deeper into the woods. The AT in Pennsylvania is almost always near enough to civilization that you can’t escape the road noise from the interstate or the drone of airplanes overhead. But from Delaware Water Gap, we climb back up into the hills. It rains off and on, but it’s nice out when we reach Sunfish Pond, and then the rocky summit of Kittatinny Mountain offers the best views we’ve seen in days.

Following Greg, Rob, and Ash across Kittatinny Mountain.

We stop for lunch at the Mohican Outdoor Center. It rains into the evening as we set up camp at the Rattlesnake Spring Campsite. We hiked into a bubble of thru-hikers in PA and sometimes shelters and towns were crowded, but tonight, at a campsite that could accommodate dozens of tents, we are the only hikers out here. One day into the state, with its sudden solitude and restored sense of remoteness, it now makes sense to me that New Jersey is actually the state with the greatest likelihood of bear sightings on the entire AT outside of a national park.

Day 102. July 23rd: Rattlesnake Spring to Gren Anderson Shelter – 18 miles

The next day, it rains a lot. I never take my phone out of its ziplock bag for fear of getting it drenched. My rain jacket soaks through, and the trail turns to mud. At the shelter, there’s a horde of middle schoolers participating in some kind of summer camp, and as the rain continues to pour, they complain loudly, convinced they are being tortured. On a different day, it might have reminded me how far I’ve traveled and how adaptable I’ve become. But tonight, I’m feeling exhausted and dejected myself. The rain and rocks and pain in my knee wore me down today, and Maine feels far away.

Day 103. July 24th: Gren Anderson to High Point Mountain Motel – 11 miles

The visitor center at High Point State Park had this exhibit to show just how tiny an adult black bear’s den is, so naturally we had to take turns trying to fit inside it.

Day 104. July 25th: High Point State Park to Unionville – 9 miles

Day 105. July 26th: Unionville to Wawayanda Shelter – 17 miles

After resupplying in Unionville, New York, we walk back across the state line into New Jersey and cross the boardwalks through Wallkill Reserve. The rain has subsided, and the wooden pathways make for easy, scenic walking, but I can’t quite relax because there are a few places where hikers have written “BEWARE. BEES!” But we make it through without incident. After a steep climb nicknamed the “stairway to heaven,” we end the day at Wawayanda Shelter.

Day 106. July 27th: Wawayanda to Wildcat Shelter – 12 miles

It’s our last morning in New Jersey, and it occurs to me that we haven’t seen any bears. Less than an hour later, I see movement off to my left.

“Bear!” I stop and point it out to Etienne, who is a few paces behind me.

“I see it,” he says, but when I glance back, he isn’t quite looking where I’m pointing. I turn back to the woods and realize there are two bears. They are snuffling around the forest floor about a hundred feet away, but once they notice us, they lope down the hill and out of sight. A few miles later, we cross into New York, and we share a lukewarm beer that we packed up from Unionville. For the first ten miles of NY, the trail profile looks mild in AWOL’s guide, but there’s a note in the margin warning us that it is “surprisingly difficult.” And it’s true. The footing isn’t the same ankle-rolling rocks that plagued us in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, but the trail climbs up one steep, 15-foot rock scramble only to have you scramble back down fifty yards later. It does this over and over, and in the bright sun, I’m sweaty and my knee is aching. But it isn’t raining, and we’re in our ninth state of the trail. Only five to go.