AT west of Culvers Gap

AT west of Culvers Gap, Stokes State Forest (4/26/2008)

Last week we hiked the AT east of Culvers Gap. This week we returned to the same trailhead (at the large parking area on Route 636) to hike west of the gap. The NYNJTC map #17 had four viewpoints marked on the 4-mile portion we hiked to the intersection with the Shay Trail at the Brink Road lean-to. But the weather didn't cooperate, and we spent 4 hours on the ridge in fog! We caught a couple of views of Culvers Lake near the beginning, as we climbed the ridge. But once on the ridge, nothing. However, the fog created a gorgeous ethereal sense to the entire experience and it turned out to be a beautiful hike. And ... we saw our first bald eagle! It was in flight over Culvers Lake. When I hurriedly aimed my camera and zoomed in, I thought I was photographing some sort of water bird -- but after zooming into the image once the photo was taken, it was clearly a bald eagle. And I caught it just before a near-by branch would have obstructed it! See photo 61 (first photo in the next to last row).

This 8-mile hike took us about 4.5 hours. The only somewhat challenging part was the steady uphill climb to the ridge near the beginning, west of Route 636.

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