Mt. Minsi, 4/11/10

I just found this in my drafts section--apparently the last effort before my two-year unintentional hiatus!

Although we had Bushkill Falls on the menu for today, Eric decided at the last minute to try to avoid the crowds and find something else. The Delaware Water Gap has been on our list, so we found a couple of maps and identified a short loop on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River, which runs as the border between PA and NJ. The Delaware Water Gap is home to a great variety of trails, and the Appalachian Trail cuts through here as well. A trailhead to climb Mt. Minsi looked easy to find, so we loaded up the CamelBacks, made a couple of sandwiches and headed out.

We parked on Rt. 611, just past Mountain Rd. in the (adorable) village of Delaware Water Gap, at the Resort Point Parking Area and a short spur trail took us to the AT. We went left on the AT to head south toward the top of Mt. Minsi. The first mile or so was easy going and there was a steady amount of traffic. There are a handful of spur trails--all unblazed--that lead to different views, areas and loops maintained (or not) by the Delaware Water Gap. One overlook mid-way to the Mt. Minsi overlook checks out a little beach on the river at Kittatinny Point in NJ. We caught some great views of hawks at this point. From here, the climb to the top of the ridge intensifies and certainly had me panting. We didn't have a great map, so at the next clearing we thought maybe we had reached the summit.

We knew we wanted to take the unmarked Mt. Minsi Fire Rd. back down the ridge, but knowing that you're looking for something that isn't marked can have you envisioning paths through the smallest of clearings. But it looked like the trail was still gaining elevation, so we kept going--and panting--up the AT. The AT and the Mt. Minsi Fire Road cross awkwardly and form a figure 8 just before the peak overlook, but despite our earlier confusion, when we finally got to the trail we were looking for, it was clear. We stuck to the AT for another couple of hundred yards to get to the peak, which was a fantastic treat.

The peak of Mt. Minsi, at 1,463 feet, stares directly across to the slightly-higher Mt. Tammany (1,527') in NJ. There was only one other couple there when we got there, and they were looking skyward at the hawks circling above. I took in some of the incredible vistas--we could see for miles and miles into New Jersey. I pulled out my camera to check out the hawks and was thrilled to see that one of those "hawks" was an EAGLE! It's the first "in the wild" sighting I can recall, so I was excited. I was even more excited that Eric had his binoculars so we could really get a great view of its white head and tail. It curved around the mountain before long, but I was so glad to see it. What a great reward for at the top of the mountain!
We ate at the summit and headed back out to take the Mt. Minsi Fire Road north, back down the mountain. The road is wide and clear and is a gentle descent, compared to the sudden rise that is the last half-mile of the AT. The loop we did--including a couple of spurs we wandered off to looking for vistas--was about five miles, and we took about two-and-a-half hours, including a leisurely lunch. The only thing that really detracted from the enjoyment of the trail was the traffic noise rising up from I-80 while moving south up the mountain on the AT. The Delaware River and the AT cut through the Delaware Water Gap, with peaks on both sides, so the noise from the interstate really carried. However, the more gentle Mt. Minsi Fire Road was blocked from much of that noise.

Distance: 5 miles
Wildlife: Hawks, bald eagle
All-in-all: A great hike when it comes to time and effort versus the payoff of the views. The vistas at the very top of Mt. Minsi really were stunning--of course, the bald eagle at the top was the real payoff--but this is certainly a hike I'd recommend to anyone near the Delaware Water Gap.

Horse-Shoe Trail, Part III

Two weeks ago we did a nice 12 mile stretch of the trail, picking up at Brightside Farm and emerging at Welkinweir Nature Preserve. It was a gorgeous day and a really nice stretch. We were on the edge of several horse pastures to start, which was nice--who doesn't enjoy looking at grazing horses? Right at the start, we stumbled upon a scattered skeleton, including the jawbone pictured. I have no idea what kind of animal it was, but it was kind of neat to see the skull, jawbone and all of the bones scattered--they were dry bones that had been there for a while.

We startled (and in turn were startled by) three white-tail deer, and there was no shortage of chatter from birds. Flowers are blooming all over and the trees are getting greener and fuller by the day.

As we're learning is the normal on this trail, there were quite a few miles on roads--and at some points, on windy, narrow roads with car flying past. Yikes. But there were certainly some great woodsy sections, too, and one section even included some nice elevation to get the blood flowing. When we emerged at Welkinweir--tired after walking 12 miles--we were unsure how to find where we'd left the car. We walked around the lake where we emerged (there's definitely an active beaver population there!)  and had to wander around a bit to figure out where we were going, but it's a gorgeous area, so despite achy feet, it was nice to see. Add it to the list of things to explore further in the future!

Distance: 11.7 miles
All-in-all: A few awful section on a road with speeding cars, but plenty of nice walks through woods and around pastures to balance it out.
Links: www.hstrail.org