We hiked this section on December 31, 2011.
We dropped Knitting Bull’s car off at NJ 94 and then drove to NJ 284. We initially went too far on 284 and wound up in New York. The parking lot was on the left side but did not have any sign next to the road so we missed it.
We started in the woods and then did some road walking before reaching the Wallkill River NWR. There were lots of geese in the river and part of the river was frozen near the middle. We enjoyed watching one goose slip and slide on the ice to join his comrades.
Slip Sliding Away
We also saw two beautiful swans in the water. As Knitting Bull and Dirigo were getting ready to take pictures of the swans, they flew off and we think they did a circle around the NWR and landed in another section.
We also saw what we think was a duck blind used by hunters or maybe observers?
As soon as we left the NWR, we saw lots of bog bridges. We took our time on this section because some of the planks were slippery.
Knitting Bull and Dirigo on bog logs
We climbed to the Pochuck shelter and had a nice lunch. Everyone was enjoying the warm weather on the last day of 2011. The privy was in really good condition and had a ramp.
Pochuck Shelter
As we were descending into 565, we saw a mink! Initially, Dirigo thought it was a muskrat but then we later looked on the web and discovered it was mink.
As we approached 517, we saw several cars parked along the side of the road. We were excited because we knew we were close to the Pochuck Boardwalk! We have seen pictures of the boardwalk many times but nothing compares to seeing it with your own eyes.
Pochuck boardwalk
There were several families out on the boardwalk enjoying the warm weather just like us. Initially, we tried to distance ourselves from one family so we could take some pictures. But, the father asked us if we were thru-hikers. Ha! Us, thru-hikers? Haha!
Python on the Pochuck Boardwalk
The father told us he used to be a trail angel and enjoyed meeting and helping hikers. This experience reminded us once again to slow down and enjoy the trail. We took our time on the boardwalk and enjoyed taking pictures.
Dirigo on Pochuck Boardwalk
Knitting Bull also took several group shots of us at the Pochuck Creek Bridge.
Pochuck Creek Bridge
One jogger was nice enough to break her stride and offered to take our picture. She told us that it was really muddy after this point. And she was right!
Pochuck Creek Bridge
The last part of this section takes you through a cow pasture which has planks over most of it except for the last 100 or so yards.