Last weekend was my first backpack of the season. It wasn't a particularly strenuous trip, although I'm out of the habit of carrying that much weight. Day 1 was tough because it was the first warm day of hiking, and my body always freaks out. (You would think it would remember "warm" from, like, every other year of my life, but no.)
We started near Greenwood Lake, in sight of the New York state line, but within Jersey. From the State Line trail, we detoured on the Quail and Ernest Walter trails to get the high, rocky views of the lake. We then descended and followed the Appalachain Trail west to the Wawayanda shelter.
We did a few side trips that evening, once to get water at the park office and another to look for the mines north of the shelter, which we didn't find.
During the night it started raining. While it wasn't unexpected, I still grumbled at having to put away a wet tent. Still, the cooler temperatures made the second day easier going. And wet weather brought the young newts out.
We followed the AT back to the Ernest Walter trail, but this time we turned south and followed Bearfort Ridge out to the road.
It was a great warmup backpack for the season. I have a big trip coming up in a month, so it's time to start getting ready.
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