Day 63 - Sunrise Mountain

A little behind in my postings. . .my excuse is that I need a lot of time to post because these pictures take so long to load. So, like everything else, I put it off.

Last weekend Ace and I went back out for another mountain and another adventure. This time it was Mount Paradise, the second highest peak in New Jersey and #5 on my list for the state. I hadn't been out in the woods since Christmas so I was realy jones'n for some hiking. The overall hike was pretty easy--5ish miles one way with only about 700 feet of vertical--so it was pretty relaxing overall. We also put most the elevation behind us right away, making for some good views the entire trip.

The summit was developed, unfortunately, but the road to the top was closed for the winter so no big crowds. Just a big stone shelter and some wonderful views of Stokes State Forest and the Deleware River Valley to the west, Jersey farmland and a number of frozen lakes to the East and more "mountains" (inlcuding the monument on Jersey's highpoint) to the north. We stopped for a while to take in the views and I brewed up some hot tea using my new jetboil cooking cup--a gift from my wonderful girlfriend (doesn't she know me??)

The hike down was along the road so it should have been uneventful. We became quite intrigued, however, when we noticed a blood trail going down the road. Eventually it turned off into the woods. We followed it, half expecting to find a grisly Sopranos-style murder scene. The blood kept getting worse and worse, until instead of just drops there was streaks and puddles. At the end, instead of a murdered henchman from a rival mob, we found the innards of some sort of large animal, likely a deer. Pretty gross, really. I guess the hunter killed it, gutted it and dragged it up the mountain. Fun.

Normanook Watch tower, on top of a sub-peak. We climbed a bit but the wind was too cold to stay long

View from about 2 flights up the watch tower. Sunrise Mountain was our goal for the day, but you could see all the way to High Point.
A wintery walk on the Appalacian Trail. . .I think I've done more miles on it already than the CDT (note: that's likely not actually true).

This apparently wasn't Ace's first time at the summit shelter.

Taking a tea break on the summit. Very good views, especially for New Jersey.

My new Jetboil cup, and my new beard.

Well that's it. I'm going to post again laer tonight with more on my week and my trip this weekend, which was a blast.

Song: "Unguided" - The New Pornographers

-U