View Full Version : Delaware Water Gap to NY border HELP !
mfgeneral
05-20-2008, 09:35
Does anyone have a good guess as to how long this hike will take? If anyone has done this I'd appreciate any tidbits about this strech. GOing to give it a try in the end of May - start of June.
Thanks, MF
Time To Fly 97
05-20-2008, 10:08
Here is an informative link: http://members.aol.com/visitnj/
The NJ section is only about 75 miles total and is not difficult terrain-wise. The southern sections up to High Point have more hills and rocks, while the West-East section is pretty mild. Number of days depends on you. I would say 6 days for an average hiker doing 13-15 miles per day.
NJ hiking is beautiful and you will certainly enjoy your trip. Take care to stow food properly against bears.
Happy hiking!
TTF
sofaking
05-20-2008, 10:17
NJ hiking is beautiful and you will certainly enjoy your trip. Take care to stow food properly against bears.
Happy hiking!
TTF
so don't bear bag? pile your food up against the bear, very clever, kinda like reverse psychology or something? do the bears have to be sleeping? i imagine it'd be pretty difficult if not, huh?
Time To Fly 97
05-20-2008, 11:21
LOL They have bear boxes at some of the shelters that have frequest visitors.
Happy hiking!
TTF
It took me seven days last year but that includes a zero along the way. I am a bit slower than the average thru-hiker though. My mileage from high to low for those days was: 17.8, 14.3, 14.1, 10.8, 10.6, 8.8, 0.
LIhikers
05-20-2008, 15:24
From the NJ/PA state line to the NJ/NY state line that overlooks Greenwood Lake it's about 72 miles. If you know how many miles a day you are likely to hike then you can determine how many days it will take you.
Cookerhiker
05-20-2008, 16:29
You can't just look at the overall mileage or terrain; you also have to consider the "authorized" camping locales. As recently discussed on another forum, stealth camping is not allowed along this section.
For example, from DWG you have 2 camping options for your first night, one very short (4 1/2 miles) but the second 17 plus .8 side trail, perhaps a lot for a first night especially if you're not getting an early start. An in-between option is staying at AMC's Mohican Center 10.3 miles.
Bottom line is don't divide 78 (mileage from DWG to Rt. 17A Greenwood Lake) by x number of miles per day to come up with your estimate. Study the mileage summary so you can decide which days may be short and which ones are 17-19 miles.
I did Greenwood Lake Rt./NY 17A to DWG a few weeks ago and it took me 5 days. This included a side trip to High Point monument. By the way I did a mail drop for food to High Point State Park which is about way.
In DWG hikers can camp along the trail as long as they are between 50 and 100 ft from the trail. A few placs have restrictions for example there is no camping within 1/2 mile of Blue Mountain Lake Rd. I hiked 13 or 16 miles per day and mostly stayed at shelters. My itinerary was:
09.9 mi. Rt. 17A, Greenwood Lake to Wawayanda Shelter
11.8 mi. Wawayanda Shelter to Pochuck Shelter
12.4 mi. Pochuck Shelter to Highpoint Shelter
13.0 mi. High Point Shelter to Gren Anderson Shelter
13.6 mi. Gren Anderson Shelter to 1/2 mile past Blue Mt. Lakes
16.6 mi. Blue Mt. Lakes Rd. to Backpacker’s Campsie to Del. Water Gap
I had this trip planned out for this week, but had to cut short due to my dad having problems with his knees. im not quite sure how fast you hike, but the section from DWG to Rt 206 in culvers gap, is a bit of tough terrain. We had problems with a few of the rock crossings and such, but that could just be because we are out of shape :D. Make sure you have some extra time if needed. Have fun, there are a lot of great views to be had.