A Trip Through New Jersey Day 2

I watched the sunrise from our tent this morning. Frosty didn’t sleep well last night. A whippoorwill started calling before we went to bed and continued all night. I slept fine, but it kept Frosty up.

Soon after leaving our awesome tentsite on Kittatinny Ridge, we were at the Catfish Fire Tower. There were some section hikers hanging out at the top. We stopped and talked for awhile.

Catfish Fire Tower

We got some water from a nice pipe spring on the Catfish Fish Fire Tower access road. It was cold and flowing well.

Today was breezy and cool much different than yesterday. We saw a lot of blooming flowers, but very few animals. We did see a large black snake. Frosty saw a bunny, but I only heard it.

We encountered several LARGE school groups today of 30 to 50 kids each. They were very polite. I was nervous that the shelter that we were heading to was going to be overrun with teens.

There was a water cache at the junction of the blue blaze trail to the shelter.

We got to our destination quite early in the day, before 3:00, and there were already people set up. A large number of hikers ended up here for the evening. There were a lot of tent and hammocking spots.

We spent the night at the Brink Shelter. The privy was pretty clean and had hand sanitizer!

The Brink Shelter

This shelter had a deck and windows and was in great condition. The spring was relatively close and there was a bear box for food storage.

A Tree Chair at the Brink Shelter

I got cold at the shelter when I stopped moving and had to put on warmth layers. Frosty took a nap soon after arriving, since he was so tired from not sleeping last night.

We ate supper with some of hikers at the picnic table. We met a few other the many hikers here. We met: Tin Man and Nick – who were sectioning, Copper, Saunter, and Princess Buttercup- who were flip floppers, and Little Bug – a section hiker aiming to finish (she started in 2015).

There Were Lots of Lady Slippers Around the Brink Shelter

Princess Buttercup was the only hiker to sleep in the shelter with us. She needs to get a bit more aware of flashlight/headlamp etiquette. She snored, but so do I. A majority of backpackers do, and that’s why I always bring earplugs.