We hiked this section on July 10, 2011.
We met Knitting Bull at the Culvers Gap Parking lot. We then drove Knitting Bull’s car to Deckertown Pike. When Dirigo was getting her pack out of the car she noticed that there was water in Knitting Bulls’s car – she realized that her bladder wasn’t properly closed and was leaking.
We started hiking just before 9 am. We stopped at the Mashipacong shelter, which is very close to the road, and saw ATC volunteer Hot Sauce.
Mashipacong shelter
Hot Sauce volunteered at the ATC’s booth at Trail Day and helped apply tattoos.
There was another hiker at the shelter but he was in the privy for a really long time. There was also a bear box in front of the shelter.
We all started getting eaten alive by bugs and dosed ourselves with bug spray.
There was not much change in elevation in the first part of the hike so we made good time to Sunrise Mountain.
Knitting Bull
There is a parking lot with pit toilets just before the pavilion.
As we approached the pavilion there was a hiker leaving. When he saw Dirigo taking a picture of the pavilion, he angrily said “Don’t take my picture” – he said this at least twice. There was something not quite right about this guy.
Sunrise Mountain Pavilion
We had a nice leisurely lunch under the pavilion and were eventually joined by other people.
Inside Sunrise Mountain Pavilion
West view from pavilion
When we left the pavilion, we came down some big rocks with “Do not fear the shadows…” Too bad there was graffiti.
We met a really nice female Australian thru-hiker who was traveling very light. She claimed her dry weight was 8 lbs! Her pack was tiny just like her. She graciously accepted an apple and snack bar from Python.
A couple minutes later we ran into a thru-hiker that was lucky enough to attend Knitting Bull’s 4th of July picnic. She shook Knitting Bull’s hand and thank her again for her generosity. She spent last night in a motel and was well fed by her friend’s parents.
Appalachian Trail
We decided to pass on the Gren Anderson shelter because we could not see it from the trail… and our feet were hurting.
We came to Culver Fire Tower but it was getting real hot and no one wanted to climb it so we moved on.
Culver Fire Tower
Just as we were starting our descent into Culvers Gap, we met a very nice lady and her son who had hiked up from the parking lot. She had hiked in this area many times but had never hiked past Sunrise Mountain. Dirigo told her about the next road crossing for the AT where we had started. She said that she wasn’t an experienced hiker like us – we all just laughed at this!
The descent was in the shade and was a bit rocky.