Delaware Water Gap in the Fall

Vanlog, Maple Run campsite, Delaware State Forest 

Oct. 10, 2020

We drove up to the Delaware State Forest last evening, arriving around 9:15 PM. Woke at 7:00 and drove over to the NJ side of the Delaware Water Gap at the Kittatinny Visitor Center where a friendly ranger gave us the lay of the land. We climbed Mt Tammany using the red dot trail up and the blue dot trail down. It was a steep climb to the top but the views were well worth it. It was a beautiful day for hiking, a mild Indian summer in mid-October and sunny skies. The fall foliage was at its peak and so were the crowds at the top and on the trails. Mask on, mask off, clean the fogged glasses, etc. The total distance on this hike was 4.2 mi. The roles have been reversed. It used to be that “vacationing with Brian” meant no breakfast, racing up the trail, and leaving everyone else in the dust. Now that is what we call “vacationing with Jessica,” who has a quest to hike 100 miles in PA in a year for Keystone Trail Association bragging rights. She is a true Warrior Princess (her new trail name).

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After an early picnic lunch at the now very full parking lot, we drove north to Millbrook Village and then on to Blue Mountain Lakes, where we hiked another 3.1 miles. We also drove the gravel Skyline Drive to Crater Lake, where we tacked on another 0.3 mi wandering around it’s edge admiring the fall colors.

We drove the scenic Silver Lake Rod back through the Delaware State Forest to our campsite, where we had mammoth-sized steaks and broccoli cooked on the coals and then a nice early campfire! Living the loca #vanlife vita.