Appalachian Trail At The Delaware Water Gap

Each time we are in a new state, if there is an Appalachian Trial entrance, we seek it out and hike another portion of the 2,200 mile trail. When we were in West Virginia, we hiked a portion of it by Harper’s Ferry. We are not currently on the adventure pathway to hike the whole thing on foot right now. As you all know, we have other plans. None the less, we like to hike the different sections. This time we entered the Appalachian Trail at the Delaware Water Gap.

The Delaware Water Gap is actually a little town on the Delaware River, in Pennsylvania, a stones throw from New Jersey. We arrived at the parking lot that would allow us to traverse southward. If we went northward, we would have crossed the Delaware River via bridge into New Jersey. This time we wanted to stay in Pennsylvania.

We set out on the trail and noticed that there are significantly more mosquitoes here than in West Virginia. We thought it was odd since it was colder here. However, it is considerably damper in Pennsylvania. And, as we all know, mosquitoes like water.

The path started out well-marked and kind of leisurely. Slowly but surely the pathway was no longer a simple pathway. We began to walk down natural stone steps and cross creeks on the tops of flat rocks. The Appalachian Trail in Harper’s Ferry was nothing like this. It went up and down and, at times, would wind like a snake. But, it was always a trail.

The Appalachian Trail gives you markers to know you are still on the trail. They are white, painted rectangles. If the traill is going to split off in one direction, you will see two rectangles; one in the middle on the bottom and another one on top offset to the side the trail is heading. We followed along many trail splits. At times we thought someone was playing a joke on us as far as the trail route was concerned. Why? The rectangles were painted on rocks that you had to climb over to keep going.

Along the way we saw some breathtaking views of the valley that the Delaware river ran through. We could see twists, turns, valleys and mountains all around both in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. We finally climbed to one of the highest points on the trail. We decided to sit, enjoy the scenery, eat some grapes, hydrate and recharge. After a quick snack and some much-needed water, we decided to head back.

On the way back we ran into a couple that was passing us. They had started in Georgia and had made it here on foot. They were hard-core. They were both wearing sandals and the female was in a skirt! After them we ran into a few solitary hikers who were hiking the length of the Appalachian Trail. They had our respect. The Nomads had hiked the width of the trail many times…hahaha! But never the length! One thing we noticed about all of those that were hiking the entirety of the trail; they were all fast movers. They did not wait around at all.

We always let the whole trail hikers pass and wished them safe travels. We meandered back towards Ebony as we already had our hike in for the day (about 4 hours). We were about a quarter-mile from the parking lot and one of the whole trail hikers that passed us was standing in the path pointing his walking stick upon the ridge. We were not sure what he was pointing to. He headed out before we got there.

When we got to his spot, we looked in the direction he was pointing and what did we see? Why a big black bear looking back at me! The ridge was at a higher elevation than the trail, by about 10 feet. And the American Black Bear was about 20 feet away. It was looking over the edge of the ridge and eating on the vegetation. It looked over at us, but really did not pay us any attention. We admired it for a bit, snapped a few images and we were on our way.

Trevor has wanted to see a black bear the whole time we have been on this nomadic Journey. Now he can cross that off of his list. And we achieved it safely. The hike was exhilarating and the black bear siting was wondrous. If you like to hike and you are near the Delaware Water Gap, hike a piece of the Appalachian Trail and check that off of your bucket list. Safe Travels.