New Jersey's Pochuck Quagmire

November 13, 2007

As a side trip I re-visited the Pochuck Creek crossing, an area where suburban development has left only the swamp land free for the Trail.

Back in 2001 when I was hiking this area, I looked out from the heights trail north, and spied this tall suspension bridge in the distance. But alas, there was no path to get to it - so the AT then was a road walk detour.

In 2002 the connecting boardwalks were finished by the hard-working trail builders, so now we can stroll over a mile of walkways through the marshes, crossing the bridge in the middle.

You can see this route clearly on Google Earth as well.

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It seems a popular route for local aerobic walkers, bird- and butterfly-watchers.

This is probably the last new addition to my AT miles for 2007 - I'm up to 1557 miles total - can't wait for spring 2008!

Water features

May 26, 2007

A watery day - the bridge across Kimberling Creek is a US Forest Service standard suspension foot bridge, the second one I've been over.

And then moving northward, I followed Dismal Creek for several hours. The Falls of Dismal are a major attraction, a chance for through-hikers to cool off. It's not actually very big, but a nice slatey ledge set among rhododendron jungles.

I've settled into my Trail Name - Eeyore - for my deliberate pace - some of the folks I meet go totally by their Trail Names, it's a different reality out here.