Blairstown, NJ (USA)

Managed to get out of bed this morning - slowly... Left my hotel at about 0900, driving back to Stillwater (picked up breakfast in Newton at 0920) and exploring near the southern ridges in the middle of Kittatinny Mountain. I found a place to park at the top of Fairview Lake Road (dead end) where I could have hiked up about half a mile to the AT. I wasn't inclined to do that when I saw that the map had another access point - plus, there were some serious flurries at that point. I drove back down the mountain and made my way back (west) to the trailhead on Millbrook Road. It was clearer by then (1030), so I headed NOBO on the AT. It was quiet, breezy and cool (mid 30s) - I felt good in two layers (no gloves). I was a bit more prepared in this section, wearing my gaiters in anticipation of deep snow. After passing a pretty lake (with two beaver dams) near the road, I faced the biggest climb I'd seen this weekend. This area was pretty well traveled and the slush had frozen almost solid. Didn't fall, luckily... While it was a bit overcast, I could see for miles on the ridge. Birds were coasting on the wind at eye level and I encountered wild turkey tracks in several places. The snow was only about four to six inches for most of the day (with occasional drifts close to a foot) but fortunately someone had blazed a trail for me. It was mostly flat terrain that eventually widened out to a pleasantly graded gravel road for the last half of my outbound leg. My turnaround point was Flatbrookville-Stillwater Road. It was there that I met the first person I'd seen all day - a guy who was day hiking. We didn't talk much and I ended up passing him when he stopped at a vista. A bit later in my backtrack, I encountered a group of about 10 day hikers that were strung out for a hundred yards. Otherwise, I had the mountain to myself and made great time (and again avoided disaster during the steep descent) to my car. Finished hiking - feeling good - at 1400 (after eight miles) and headed for home. I used NJ-94 to get back to Belvidere (stopping for gas in Delaware, NJ, at 1450) and then took almost the same route (reverse) to get home that I had on the previous day (except for US-15 and I-270 after Harrisburg). Traffic was light and I made good time. Glad to have a chance to get away on the trail - looking forward to a few more weekends before the Thru Hiker Bubbles reach my hiking zones... AT Today = 3.80 miles / G.T. AT = 1083.47 miles