WNJ Exclusive: Camping Survival Guide for the Delaware Water Gap


All photos by Dana Patterson

By WNJ Correspondent Dana Patterson

A 400-pound black bear strolling across the road to the Appalachian Trail just a half-mile from my tent.  A beaver building a dam along the banks of a beautiful glacial lake.  6-foot snakes molting their skin next to our wood platform.  Turtles basking in the sun along the shore in the 70,000-acre Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.  

As I set up my tent on its wood platform on a clear Friday night, excited to spend an early Autumn weekend in the wilderness of wild New Jersey, I run through my head how to protect myself if a bear visited me in my sleeping bag.  I had been warned by some locals to secure not only my food and alcohol, but as odd as it sounds, my toothpaste, cigarettes, and chewing gum too. The sweet smells of those items can attract large, destructive creatures to our camping area.  

Their suggestions work!  I survive the first night, and look forward to a family event-filled day - a birthday at the boat house, fishing from a canoe with my dad, and roasting marshmallows with my little cousins as the sun sets in the distance over the lake.  Relaxing on the balcony that overlooks the river, I spot a huge beaver lodge constructed with sticks carefully intertwined with each other.  Soon white-tailed deer prance around the campground, turning their heads suddenly to every human movement.  Falling asleep, I start to worry if the bears will come visit me tonight because I failed to secure my Orbit peppermint gum that I keep in my backpack.  

                          

"Phew!" I woke up the next morning to rain pouring into my tent, thunder and lightning crackling overhead - but highly relieved that the bears didn't pay me a visit in my sleep.

                           

As my father drives out of Camp Mohican, just a 1/2-mile down the road from the tent, he spots a 400-pound black bear slowly crossing the road. He quickly jumps back into his car to grab his camera, but by the time he turns back around, the bear is lost in the thickness of the trees, on his merry way.  

Camping in the Delaware Water Gap region offers many of these memorable moments. And its fun for those of all ages.  As 88-year old Virginia Rist says, "Wow, I feel like this weekend was a mini-vacation.  And, I feel like I'm in the middle of Pennsylvania, but we're still in New Jersey!"

Here are some suggested links for additional reading: 
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Posted by WILDNEWJERSEY at 10/4/2010 6:00 AM
Categories: WNJ Exclusives, Recreation, Bears
Tags: camping Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Camp Mohican Bears Appalachian Trail
 

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