jamescuarterodotcom

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i contemplated spending sunday playing halo 3 but instead i went up the red dot trail of mount tammany in the delaware water gap. it’s one of the more demanding hikes in new jersey with the reward being a rather spectacular view (by the way, i used photoshop’s photoedge to put the above image together out of four individual images). jozef purdes has an extremely well-organized and informative guide to hiking in NJ here. even though some of the information is a bit dated, it’s still an invaluable resource.

it starts out simple enough, with a set of wooden steps that lead to a short clearing. soon after it becomes increasingly steep (it rises about 1250 ft in under two miles) and rocky for about a mile. it’s not too difficult to navigate but at the same time you want to be extra conscious of your footing. twisting an ankle or falling on a sharp rock is one of the last things you’d want to do, especially as you go higher up.

there’s a nice resting area when you arrive at the first section of outcroppings and at this point you could probably use the break. you’re already high enough that you can look down a couple of hawks and i was even looking down at a helicopter at one point. also, there’s a great view of the water gap if you look over the cliff and out to your left.

for me, the next part of the hike was the hardest; it was pretty much all rock and quite steep. at one point i had to throw my walking stick up and ahead of me and use all four limbs to sort of crawl through. to make things worse, i was so careful about where i was stepping that i totally missed the next set of trail markings. the group ahead of me had suddenly disappeared and there was no obvious way to go. after venturing out east and west, i ended up backtracking until i found the trail, which ran immediately to the right. the rockiness lessens here and there is another resting point, which i gladly took advantage of. after a few more hundred feet, i was at the top and the view made it well worth the trip.

following purdes’ guide, i took the blue trail down. it was longer than the red dot trail but not quite as rocky and there is a lot more plant life. i was definitely starting to feel fatigued; about 2/3 of the way down i’d stopped for a break and my right leg was totally shaking. at the very bottom, there’s a stream that i was able to cross and then meet up with the green trail, which promptly leads to the white trail and finally, the parking lot.

purdes gives the difficulty of the red dot trail an 8 out of 10 and i’d be inclined to agree. even if you’re in shape, there will be spots where it will be slow and tough going. however, you can always take the blue trail up all the way to the top for a more leisurely hike, and there are a number of other trails on mount tammany as well. strongly recommended.