Day 9 – Friday 9/24

Miles: 80.0
Final Destination: Westwood Forest Campground (Delaware Water Gap, NJ)
Last night was so warm that I slept on top of the sleeping bag! (We’re not in Maine anymore, Toto). Said Goodbye to Yogi Campground around 7:30am (pictured). I have found that getting on the road between 6:30 and 7:30am is best. That way I am not under any pressure come late in the day to get to the next camp. The worst is setting up camp in the dark!
The day started out threatening rain (picture of the Shawangunk Mountains in the mist) but got progressively nicer. Infact, it got up to 89 degree and sunny by 1pm! Morning was flat and rolling then up over the ‘Gunks. I entered my 6th state as well...New Jersy!(pictured) Once over, I was in the Delaware Water Gap next to the Delaware river...NICE! Who knew that Jersey was so beautiful. The road I was on was pretty desolate all day. No eateries, convenient stores or much of anything for that matter...just amazing nature.
I finally made it to my planned destition of Walpack Center campground around 4pm in plenty of time to get cleaned up, set up and relax. But when I got there I saw that it was a "converted" farm. It smelled like manure, was dirty and had no showers or bathrooms, just port-a-potties!....Yuck. I noticed that there was an “Under New Management” sign on the barn that was mildewed and half folded over hanging off. I quickly made the decision to push on to the next campground which was 20+ miles away so my easy 60 mile day turned into a tough 80 miler.
Turns out it was very much worth it! Beautiful state run-campground right next to the Delaware river (Pictured me at campsite) and I was placed right next to the nicest couple...Paul and Liz. They instantly came over after I was set up and saw that I was eating Ravioli out of a can and brought over 2 gourmet hotdogs with all the fixin’s. I ended up spending several hours with them at their campsite talking and getting to know each other well into the night. They are wonderful people, real salt of the earth types. It was hard prying myself away from them but I had to get some sleep. Thanks for the food and fellowship Paul and Liz!
Til Tomorrow...
Pictured: Bulldozer – Finnegan, there is a lot of digging and dumping along the road!