Eight people arrived Friday night. Some came early and went hiking during the day. I got there in the late afternoon. After dinner, we built a campfire and Garth played his trumpet for us until quiet hour. Then we went on a night hike on Sawmill Road.
Seven more people arrived on Saturday. The group I was with hiked on the Monument Trail. Deidre went looking for a NJ fishing license, but couldn’t find a store that sold one. Another group went swimming and sunbathing at Lake Marcia.
If Friday night was a campfire, Saturday night was a bonfire. Garth played the trumpet for us again before leaving. Then we went on a long night hike down Park Ridge Road. We stopped at a bench overlooking a field, but the fog made the field look like a lake. By the time we returned to our campsite, it was 1:30 AM.
Although the skies were clear when we went to bed, it began to rain around 3 AM. The rain continued until mid-morning, and it was cloudy and cool for the rest of the day. Several people rode bikes, and another group hiked to the Sawmill campsites. We had lunch at an empty campsite and then hiked up the Blue Dot trail to the AT. This climb was the most challenging hike of the weekend; the top part reminded me of Breakneck Ridge.
On our way back, we found Diedre fishing alongside Sawmill Lake. She finally succeeded in getting a fishing license at the Stokes Sports Shop on Route 206. She enjoyed fishing but didn’t catch anything, and she returned to the campsite in the dark.
We built another bonfire Sunday night, but our trumpeter was gone. I played Fischer chess and "A King and Four Pawns" with another David. Sunday night was the chilliest of the three nights, but I don’t believe that the temperature ever fell below 50 degrees.
On Monday morning we packed up. David and Ken rode their bikes. Before leaving the park, Chet and I hiked on the AT to an observation deck. We ate wild blueberries along the way, probably for the last time in 2004.
David Levner
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