Today we parked in P9, which requires an at-least 1-mile drive down the dirt Schoolhouse Cove Road with some potholes, south of Clinton Reservoir. When we arrived at P9 the nasty bugs descended on our car, and plagued me (they didn't really go after Laura that much) for the entire hike! We hiked the western bank of Clinton Reservoir almost exactly eight years ago. On that hike, while using my hiking poles, I iunkowningly walked right over a huge rattlesnake which was directly on the path. I had no idea what happened until Laura (walking perhaps 40 feet behind me) shouted. Had I merely touched that snake, with either foot or either pole, surely he would have bitten me and I would have been in danger. Miraculously I walked over him without scaring him. Thank God!

Today we didn't see any rattlesnakes! We headed north on the yellow-blazed Bearfort Waters Clinton trail to the exact point where we stopped (coming from the north) last week. At this point we headed west on a woods road, which then headed south, eventually turning left on the wide woods road (though filled with ponds of water) called Lud Day Road on the NYNJTC Map #116 for Northern New Jersey. This we took south to the Highlands trail, which we took east, and then headed south on another overgrown woods road back to yellow, which we took back to the car. But first we ate lunch on two rocks overlooking the Clinton Reservoir.

Total distance hiked today was 5.6 miles in three hours and 15 minutes. You can see our track by clicking here. A permit is required for hiking in this area, which can be purchased at the office on Echo Lake Road.