Finchley's Hike Ah! Worthington State Forest. On the Jersey side, in the Delaware Water Gap. Strange that you should mention it. The Jersey side is Mount Tammany. The Pennsylvania side is Mount Minsi. How could a mountain named Tammany inspire awe? Tammany was named after the Lenni-Lenape chief, Tamamund. The mountains rise like skyscrapers on both sides of the river. Minsi has a better view, of course. The view is of Jersey. To my eyes, Tammany is the prettier mountain. There is not much level ground in the gap. The parking lots are exits on the Interstate. Finchley and I were here to hike up Mount Tammany. This is mostly because I threatened Sharon with a picture of Finchley on a mountaintop. Mount Tammany is a twelve hundred foot climb. It’s a very rocky climb. I prefer hiking up the Red Dot Trail, and back down on the Blue Dot. The tougher climb is better done on the hike up. Finchley was petrified as we drove into the gap. “We’re gonna climb that” We pulled into the parking lot at Dunnefield Creek. The parking lot here frequently overflows onto the adjacent lawn. This is a very popular place. It’s a convenient starting point for section hiking on the Appalachian Trail. A few days hike north would bring you to Route 206 in Culvers Gap. Southward, a few days would take you to Lehigh Gap. Sunfish Pond is a popular day hike. Many people like rock climbing here. Our hike today, however, was Mount Tammany. Finchley girdled his courage. Pink flamingos are not noted for their climbing abilities. He needn’t have worried; I secured him to my backpack with bungee cords. The first rest stop was the scenic overlook southward along the Delaware. The trees on the north end of Arrow Island are starting to grow back. Six or seven years ago, during an extremely cold winter, ice floes sheered off most of the trees. They’ll grow back. We were only about a third of the way up the mountain, but this was an excellent place to rest. We continued our climb, through columbines, and mountain laurel. There are bear here, but we didn’t see any. Finchley was happy about that. The Red Dot ends at the top. Here, rock ledges lead downward into the gap. We went a short way down, to rest and admire the view. Fortunately, Finchley was still secured to my backpack, or he might have lunged over the side. The river curls through the gap, over a thousand feet down. One can barely see the traffic on I-80, but the noise can be heard. We basked in the beauty. The Blue Dot Trail winds across the top of the ridge. For this is a ridge. At the Great Offset in Pennsylvania, the name changes from Blue Mountain to Kittatinny Ridge, but is a continuous ridge, a thousand feet high, stretching from west of Harrisburg to High Point in New Jersey. This mountain is several hundred miles long. As the land rose to form the ridge, rivers cut through it. There are many gaps, some large, some small. Wind Gap is only a few hundred feet deep. Lehigh Gap, and the Delaware Water Gap are over a thousand feet deep. At Harrisburg, the Susquehanna cut several gaps, through Blue Mountain, Stony Mountain and Peters Mountain, leaving Cove Mountain on the western bank. The top of Mountain Tammany is relatively open. Forest fires and gypsy moth wreaked havoc here. The undergrowth shrub here is blueberry, which is why bear are attracted to this place. The Blue Dot is also a very rocky trail. It wanders gently back down the mountain to Dunnefield Creek. The trail along the creek is more level, attracting more day hikers. We pass a picnic bench on the upper reaches of the creek. “A flamingo shaped backpack? Where did you get one of those?” asks a picnicker. “No, actually, it’s a flamingo strapped to my backpack.” “Why are you hiking with a flamingo attached to your backpack?” he asked incredulously. “Because Finchley wanted to see the view.” That left him speechless. The trail crosses the creek and ends at the Appalachian Trail. Northward, the AT climbs Kittatinny Ridge again, toward Sunfish Pond. We headed southward into the Dunnefield Creek Gorge. This is a deep, narrow gorge. There are tall hemlocks. Ferns grow up the walls. The water in the creek falls over ledges into pools, frothy as if someone had poured soap or shampoo into it. A mile down the trail, we find ourselves back in the parking lot. “Thank you”, said Finchley. “That was fun.” We head west on I-80 to make the U-turn at Copper Mine Road, just before the bridge, and we head home, back through the gap. ~ © Paul (AHikingDude@aol.com) ~ Photograph by Paul (AHikingDude@aol.com) February 2004 BACK This is a LINKWARE webpage. 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