(Crater Lake (mile 1,316) - High Point Observation Tower (mile 1,340.1))

Today is my birthday! I woke up as the others were leaving. They left early in hopes of catching up with Jasmine at the next shelter. When I left camp, I was unsure where I wanted to end up. Part of me wanted to hike 23 miles for my 23rd birthday, which was doable. But I also knew there were a lot of cool sites coming up, and I wanted to take my time. I might just stop a lot. I left camp a little after 7am planning to hike a couple miles to an overlook for breakfast.

After almost 3 miles, I stopped on Rattlesnake Mountain for breakfast. As I sat down for my granola jar, I received a long, lovely message from AC wishing me a happy birthday. I had service, so I gave her a call and we were able to talk for 20 minutes before she had to go to a meeting. As I packed my stuff away, I noticed that the rock I had been sitting on was crawling with ticks. An evening tick check was certainly in order.

After about 6 miles of beautiful ridge hiking, I started the climb down into Culvers Gap - home of Branchville, New Jersey. On the way down I encountered a baby bird sitting in the middle of the trail. The thing was little more than a ball of fluffy feathers, adorable in a pathetically helpless kind of way. I moved it off the trail, conscious that it would almost certainly become a meal for some lucky snake or raptor, but at least it wouldn’t get stepped on by some unaware hiker.

In Culvers Gap, I stopped at the Sandwich Lobby to eat lunch. The tiny shop is just off the trail and run by a friendly (Caribbean?) family who let hikers fill water, use the restroom, and charge electronics. I already had lunch, so I was not planning to buy anything, but the owner was still kind and welcoming. At the shop, I met a thru hiker couple named “The Hun,” a woman from Hungary, and “Wanderer,” an older man from the States. As we made small talk, The Hun offered me half of her sandwich because she could not finish the whole thing. They also told me they started their thru hike from Georgia last year in June. I did not mention this to them, but I am fairly confident that I briefly met them on an overnight trip I did last year north of Hiawasee. I passed them at Bly Gap and they told me they were thru hiking. I remember thinking they were getting a very late start. A short time later, as I was hiking down from White House Rock, I ran into them going the opposite direction as they were doing the incredibly steep climb up from Bly Gap. I made a comment along the lines of “I heard Katahdhin calling your name up near the top!” If I run into them again, I’ll try to verify this. I am pretty confident it was them, but really, what are the odds??

As I was leaving the Sandwich Lobby, I thanked the owners for their hospitality and they kindly offered me a drink from their fridge. I grabbed a Snapple tea/lemonade, which I had never had before, but it was really good. Free sandwich and free drink. Good vibes all around at the Sandwich Lobby. As I crossed the road and made my way back to trail I encountered a port-a-potty in the parking lot in Culvers Gap and immediately felt the urge to poop. After taking care of business, I made my way back to trail and almost stepped on the tail of a baby garter snake, which quickly slithered away through the leaves.

After an easy two mile climb, I made it to Culver Fire Tower. I didn’t stay long, and after another 3.5 miles, I made it to the summit of Sunrise Mountain, which featured a large, rugged stone pavilion built by the Civilian Conservation Core. Inside the pavilion I discovered a birthday present from the other Dinos, featuring a Little Debbie birthday cake, a wint-o-green Lifesaver, a bottle of wild flowers, an AWOL guide page with “FROG MAN happy birthday!!” written on it, and a bunch of small rocks carefully arranged to spell out “HBD FROGMAN!” The little display made me smile. I decided to take an afternoon break, kicking my shoes off, elevating my feet, and enjoying my birthday cake and Lifesaver while calling family to update them on my birthday whereabouts.

After making a few phone calls, I decided to make my own monument to the 1,300 mile mark, which I had technically passed yesterday. I rearranged the rocks from my HBD message to spell out 1,300, improvising the completion of one of the zeros with a stick. Thus, I celebrated a major milestone about 30 miles late, but better late than never!

9 miles later, it was almost 7pm as I approached the High Point State Park headquarters. I was getting tired, so my plan was to seek out a stealth spot somewhere near the headquarters to set up camp. Technically, I think this is a section of trail where hikers are supposed to camp only at shelters, but the state park headquarters was on a little state highway, and anywhere there is a road there is usually unofficial campsites. It had been a good day, but I was tired and did not want to push myself to the point of misery on my birthday. My plan was to use the restrooms and fill up water at the headquarters, then camp nearby.

When I reached the state park headquarters, I was disappointed to find the restrooms locked. Fortunately, the spigot was flowing. Then, I noticed a fenced off construction area on one side of the headquarters. I could see a port-a-potty peeking over the fence, so I gave the gate a push, and sure enough, it swung right open. After my pit stop, I felt like trying to make it to the shelter 1.5 miles away. It was 7:30pm, so I would probably make it to the shelter before dark, but I would need to skip the side trail to the NJ high point.

I ended up making it 1 mile, opting to stop at the high point observation platform, a raised wooden viewing deck offering a panorama of the high point monument and the surrounding New Jersey Mountains. I set my sleeping gear up on the platform, cowboy style. In the back of my mind, I worried that I might get cold sleeping on a raised platform, but the weather was fair, and my sleeping pad should provide sufficient insulation. The view was lovely (certainly much better than the shelter), and I felt content to sit and watch the sunset rather than push ahead another half mile. Plus, I’ll be able to visit the high point monument first thing tomorrow morning. I couldn’t help thinking that this was a good way to end my birthday as the sunset turned the clouds a vibrant ruby red.

After many hot miles

an afternoon siesta

on Sunrise Mountain