Saturday, August 25, 2007
The Ben Went Up to the Mountain
I am not a hiker. Indeed, in sharp contrast with my friend the Skiing Chemist, I tend to embody the more traditional stereotype of an academic, content to sit inside an air conditioned library enriching the mind rather than devoting an equal amount of time to physical fitness.
As a wise muppet might have said, "Adventure? Excitement? A grad student craves not these things!"
But every so often, generally once every year or two, I find myself confronted with an opportunity to go out and embrace my inner German romantic with an old-fashioned hike through the woods. And for some reason, likely the result of failing memory in my old age, I suddenly forget that I am not a hiker. I think that nature could be fun and interesting and that there is really something quite beneficial about waking up early on a weekend to go tramping up a rocky path at 50 degree elevation, something that is far superior to sleeping or typing blog entries.
I suffered from one of those lapses of judgment today. A friend in my graduate program with an interest in outdoor activities dropped me a line on Thursday to ask if I might be interested in joining him on a hike near the Delaware Water Gap. Foolishly, I said yes. The two of us were then confronted with a dilemma. The weekend forecast implied that we could go hiking on Saturday when the heat and humidity were likely to reach their maximum or on Sunday when the thunderstorms would finally set in to dispel the aforementioned heat and humidity. We decided that the discomfort of hiking in high humidity conditions would be nothing compared to the discomfort of trying to hike up what essentially amounted to a creek bed in a driving rain.
And so, this morning I set my alarm for 6:30...and slept in until 7ish so that I could stop by the 24 hour newsstand to grab some hiking snacks before meeting my friend to drive to the trails. With granola bars, a Nalgene bottle full of ice water, and my digital camera safely in hand, we hit the road towards the Water Gap. The drive north was relatively uneventful besides some traffic right near the end of the trip. We chatted about research projects and plans for our fall class load. (I really need to figure out what I'm going to write my second year research paper about...soon!) After finding a parking lot with restroom facilities (if one can call a porta-john a "facility"), we gathered our stuff and began climbing.
We started on the appropriately named "blue" trail, marked with blue dash marks on the trees. This was the more gradual of the two trails up Mt. Tammany, which is also part of the Appalachian Trail despite lying in the Kittatinny Mountains. Along the way, we crossed a small creek fed by a small, but photogenic, waterfall:
Then it was time for the ascent. The blue trail is widely acknowledged to be the more gradual trail up the mountain, but with the temperatures rising and the humidity preventing sweat from evaporating, I still found it to be more than enough of a challenge. I had thought that my hikes in Europe, especially in Heidelberg, Neuschwannstein, and Salzburg, would prepare somewhat for this trip, but I found myself just as out of breath as I would have been. Thankfully, I was able to keep pace with my friend and make it to the top. After wandering around for a little bit, we came upon a rocky outcropping perfect for panoramic photographs. At least in theory...
For those who aren't in the know, a water gap is not an upscale clothing store specializing in aquatic apparel, but rather an opening carved by a river through a mountain range. Mount Tammany was a mountain on one side of the river. According to the online guides, the view to the opposite side and of the river below is one of the best in the Mid-Atlantic. And I suppose I would have to agree except for one thing:
As this picture shows, the haze hadn't quite burned off by the time we reached the top. And unlike in Germany where even a bad view could be forgiven after a visit to a mountaintop Biergarten, there was really nothing else at the summit...not even wild blueberries. But, hey, it's all about internal motivation, right? Who needs a tangible reason to climb a mountain? It's all about the adventure.
I suppose it was lucky then that we decided to hike the way we did, because by deciding to take the gradual trail to the top, our adventure was only beginning. The red dot trail, which we had originally planned to tackle first due to its more difficult terrain, now lay between us and the parking lot. And let me tell you, there's only one thing that can equal the fun of hiking up a steep trail with large rockfields over which to clamber...hiking downhill. Yes, my knees thoroughly enjoyed that part of the hike, all 1.5 miles of it.
This is not to claim there was nothing interesting to be seen along the way. Apparently, the Delaware and its surrounding mountains are havens for local raptors. We saw a few large vultures, and this fellow...who is not a vulture. He looks like a raven in this picture, but he seemed much larger in person. Perhaps an ornithologist in the audience could identify it.
Eventually, we shambled down the trail, crawling over tree trunks and large rock fields. It was an adventure, no doubt of that. The trail covered about 1200 feet of elevation in 1.5 miles, which from what I've been told is relatively steep as these things go. By the time we arrived back at the parking lot, it was getting close to 90 degrees and we were more than willing to get into an air conditioned car, grab some food and drive home. As I munched on granola bars and lapped down the remaining water in my pack, I could feel the dull throbbing pain in my legs, just another intangible souvenir of my hike reminding me yet again that I am NOT a hiker.
Yet despite the aching joints I will likely have tomorrow morning, I am glad I made the trip. It was nice to focus on something other than studying German for a little while and the views, though not great, were still better than those I could find at the Old Ivy Library, where I've spent much of my time lately. Plus, now I've gotten the urge to hike out of my system, at least for a little while...
I am not a hiker. Indeed, in sharp contrast with my friend the Skiing Chemist, I tend to embody the more traditional stereotype of an academic, content to sit inside an air conditioned library enriching the mind rather than devoting an equal amount of time to physical fitness.
As a wise muppet might have said, "Adventure? Excitement? A grad student craves not these things!"
But every so often, generally once every year or two, I find myself confronted with an opportunity to go out and embrace my inner German romantic with an old-fashioned hike through the woods. And for some reason, likely the result of failing memory in my old age, I suddenly forget that I am not a hiker. I think that nature could be fun and interesting and that there is really something quite beneficial about waking up early on a weekend to go tramping up a rocky path at 50 degree elevation, something that is far superior to sleeping or typing blog entries.
I suffered from one of those lapses of judgment today. A friend in my graduate program with an interest in outdoor activities dropped me a line on Thursday to ask if I might be interested in joining him on a hike near the Delaware Water Gap. Foolishly, I said yes. The two of us were then confronted with a dilemma. The weekend forecast implied that we could go hiking on Saturday when the heat and humidity were likely to reach their maximum or on Sunday when the thunderstorms would finally set in to dispel the aforementioned heat and humidity. We decided that the discomfort of hiking in high humidity conditions would be nothing compared to the discomfort of trying to hike up what essentially amounted to a creek bed in a driving rain.
And so, this morning I set my alarm for 6:30...and slept in until 7ish so that I could stop by the 24 hour newsstand to grab some hiking snacks before meeting my friend to drive to the trails. With granola bars, a Nalgene bottle full of ice water, and my digital camera safely in hand, we hit the road towards the Water Gap. The drive north was relatively uneventful besides some traffic right near the end of the trip. We chatted about research projects and plans for our fall class load. (I really need to figure out what I'm going to write my second year research paper about...soon!) After finding a parking lot with restroom facilities (if one can call a porta-john a "facility"), we gathered our stuff and began climbing.
We started on the appropriately named "blue" trail, marked with blue dash marks on the trees. This was the more gradual of the two trails up Mt. Tammany, which is also part of the Appalachian Trail despite lying in the Kittatinny Mountains. Along the way, we crossed a small creek fed by a small, but photogenic, waterfall:
Then it was time for the ascent. The blue trail is widely acknowledged to be the more gradual trail up the mountain, but with the temperatures rising and the humidity preventing sweat from evaporating, I still found it to be more than enough of a challenge. I had thought that my hikes in Europe, especially in Heidelberg, Neuschwannstein, and Salzburg, would prepare somewhat for this trip, but I found myself just as out of breath as I would have been. Thankfully, I was able to keep pace with my friend and make it to the top. After wandering around for a little bit, we came upon a rocky outcropping perfect for panoramic photographs. At least in theory...
For those who aren't in the know, a water gap is not an upscale clothing store specializing in aquatic apparel, but rather an opening carved by a river through a mountain range. Mount Tammany was a mountain on one side of the river. According to the online guides, the view to the opposite side and of the river below is one of the best in the Mid-Atlantic. And I suppose I would have to agree except for one thing:
As this picture shows, the haze hadn't quite burned off by the time we reached the top. And unlike in Germany where even a bad view could be forgiven after a visit to a mountaintop Biergarten, there was really nothing else at the summit...not even wild blueberries. But, hey, it's all about internal motivation, right? Who needs a tangible reason to climb a mountain? It's all about the adventure.
I suppose it was lucky then that we decided to hike the way we did, because by deciding to take the gradual trail to the top, our adventure was only beginning. The red dot trail, which we had originally planned to tackle first due to its more difficult terrain, now lay between us and the parking lot. And let me tell you, there's only one thing that can equal the fun of hiking up a steep trail with large rockfields over which to clamber...hiking downhill. Yes, my knees thoroughly enjoyed that part of the hike, all 1.5 miles of it.
This is not to claim there was nothing interesting to be seen along the way. Apparently, the Delaware and its surrounding mountains are havens for local raptors. We saw a few large vultures, and this fellow...who is not a vulture. He looks like a raven in this picture, but he seemed much larger in person. Perhaps an ornithologist in the audience could identify it.
Eventually, we shambled down the trail, crawling over tree trunks and large rock fields. It was an adventure, no doubt of that. The trail covered about 1200 feet of elevation in 1.5 miles, which from what I've been told is relatively steep as these things go. By the time we arrived back at the parking lot, it was getting close to 90 degrees and we were more than willing to get into an air conditioned car, grab some food and drive home. As I munched on granola bars and lapped down the remaining water in my pack, I could feel the dull throbbing pain in my legs, just another intangible souvenir of my hike reminding me yet again that I am NOT a hiker.
Yet despite the aching joints I will likely have tomorrow morning, I am glad I made the trip. It was nice to focus on something other than studying German for a little while and the views, though not great, were still better than those I could find at the Old Ivy Library, where I've spent much of my time lately. Plus, now I've gotten the urge to hike out of my system, at least for a little while...
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