At 5 PM on Friday, I was the first to arrive. All the lake sites were taken, but most of the other sites were vacant. I chose site 20 in loop A because there was only one other camper in the entire loop. I set up, made dinner and built a campfire. A lot of firewood that had apparently been cut from dead trees by the park staff was lying around.
Just before 9 PM, another car arrived with three more campers. I set up a Campers’ Group tent for Emily and Wendy on site 21, and then helped Josh with his tent. After they ate, Emily and Wendy went to bed and Josh and I took a night hike (without using flashlights) to Mongaup Pond.
The next morning, the four of us decided to go hiking and not to wait for the other campers. We walked from our campsite to the trailhead of the Flynn Trail and took that to Hodge Pond. There were no signs prohibiting swimming, so I put on my bathing suit and swam to the middle of the pond. On my way back, a snake and I crossed paths in the water. It was the first time I had ever gone swimming with a snake.
We ate some snacks and continued on to the Beech Mountain Natural Area. While hiking through the natural area, a thunderstorm thoroughly drenched us. It rained hard for at least an hour. When the rain stopped, an army of mosquitoes appeared. We stepped and swatted, swatted and stepped.
When we got back to our campsite, we found that five other campers had arrived and some of them had set up on site 22. Our friends were at Mongaup Pond when the rain started and had taken shelter under one of the buildings near the beach. After the deluge, Ken paddled his kayak around Mongaup Pond.
We ate dinner, struggled to build a campfire with wet wood, and eventually succeeded. Ann bought a birthday cake for trip leader Carol, and we sang Happy Birthday for her. For unknown reasons, all the women went to bed leaving the men sitting around the campfire. We used this opportunity to exchange off-color jokes.
On Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast and packed up. Some people were planning to hike to Hodge Pond, but it started to rain and everyone left.
I was impressed with the friendliness and environmental consciousness of the Mongaup Pond staff. The rangers patrolled in an electric-powered vehicle that resembled a golf cart. At the recycling center, we separated our cans and bottles from our trash. Campers’ Group really enjoyed Mongaup Pond and will return!
David Levner
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