Delaware Water Gap, NJ (USA)

It was COLD this morning! I could feel it in my room and didn't hurry out to the trail. Instead, I headed back over to Jumboland Diner and had a nice breakfast (0825). Once the temps had reached 30 degrees (brrr...), I left Branchville for the Delaware Water Gap NRA. This was one of those times I had to "drive 30 miles to drive 5 miles" but I still made it to the Blue Mountain Lakes Road trail-head by 0930. Headed NOBO, bound for the Rattlesnake mountain summit again (from the other side). It was quite chilly (temps never reached 40 degrees all day) but I was layered (3) up and had plenty of warm stuff in my backpack. Most of the trail was rocky but there were occasional gravel road surfaces (which the AT weaved across multiple times). I also wasn't on a ridge, per se, but it was more like a plateau. There were lots of lakes in the area but the trail only got close to one of them. The only wildlife I saw all day was squirrels. Near Crater Lake, I did encounter one of the hikers I'd seen yesterday (the one who wasn't chatty) - learned that he was "flip-flopping" between Fahnestock State Park (NY) and Harper's Ferry and then back north again (he said he'd try the Georgia to H/F leg last). Turned out that he was also from Fairfax County - for a second I thought I'd found the "trail buddy" I've been needing (to shuttle between long sections) but then I realized he was getting it all done at once and didn't need me at all. Oh well... When I turned around for my backtrack, I encountered three (local) ladies who were on a round robin hike between Buttermilk Falls and Culver's Lake. I talked to them for a bit (one of them insisted that I needed to "hike the Catskills") but was glad to head back to the south after noting that the views from the ridge weren't anywhere near as nice as the previous day. On the way back, I ran into two section hikers (Tom and John) with big backpacks - they were headed from Wind Gap (PA) to the CT/NY line in two weeks. They'd been in the cold and wet for a few days and were aching for a drink, a well cooked meal and a real bed. I shared my weekend itinerary and the motel's phone number and they left with a spring in their step, looking forward to food and warmth at US-206. I used some of the gravel roads (instead of the AT) for about half the backtrack and found some other day hikers near Long Pond (quick chat). Made it back to my car by 1345 after almost 10 miles. While I was figuring out the final tally on my last leg of AT in NJ, I discovered that I'd "missed" 0.6 miles somewhere in the last three years - it was nice to tack on to my daily total. Returned to NoVA via NJ-94 and US-46. Got gas at BP in Delaware, NJ (1425) and then used the Belvidere crossing, PA-611 to Easton, US-22, I-78, I-81, PA-581 and US-15 to I-270 to get home. Weather was great, traffic was light - very pleased with my return leg (quicker than the way north). What a good weekend of hiking! AT Today = 5.40 miles / G.T. AT = 1109.07 miles