Memorial Day weekend
we've been wanting to get back into camping for a long time now and are finally feeling like we can start to ease the girls into it. we went out and bought a larger tent (9'x9') and got the girls sleeping bags and camp pillows, and over the 3-day memorial day weekend we drove to the Deleware Water Gap National Park. This park follows the Deleware River thru the Pocono Mountain range down to where it emerges from the mountains in a steep gorge called the Deleware Water Gap. The Deleware is a very long river that runs thru quite a few states, and the area we headed for was along the New Jersey/Pennsylvania border, on the Penn. side in a little town called Dingman's Ferry.
The water was clean and cold and, close to the banks, filled with millions and millions of black tadpoles. It was amazing and the girls spent what seemed like hours catching (and ultimately killing) them. most of our time in the water was spent slowly making our way across, exploring every little pool and eddy we came upon.
the rocks were a serious problem on bare feet, so luckily the site's well-stocked camp store sold plenty of rubber soled water shoes in all sizes. they really saved us.
home.
the place was crawling with caterpillers which the girls loved.
here we are roasting marshmellows
our last day there we drove down the rode a few miles to see some local waterfalls. the place was a bit of a tourist trap, and a bit too crowded (I somehow managed to exclude any shots of the people in these photos, but they were all around us), but it was absolutely beautiful, as i think these photos show.
there were about 5 different trail routes thru these heavily forested cliffs. the easiest was a 20 minute loop around the main waterfall, and the most difficult route took about 2 hours and took you to all the falls in the area (about 12 if I remember correctly). We did a moderate route which lasted about 45 minutes, just about right for what the girls could handle before we needed to find food and a rest.
this is funny, mette was going crazy and there were so many people around us at this one bottleneck that both hennie and i were just about to jump over the side. honestly though, the day was not nearly as stressful as our faces would seem to imply.
the last night in the tent, it rained cats and dogs... and fly larvae. this not a cat or a dog.
(hege and i researched them after we returned and found out that it is a river fly larvae, which, amazingly enough was indeed supposed to be 3 inches long). we slept fairly well and stayed bone dry, but when dawn came and the rain stopped, we slowly became aware that the entire campsite was writhing with these things. the leaves were slowly churning with them. they would fall out of the trees and bounce off our rain fly. then they would begin to climb up the sides of the tent and reach a critical angle of ascension before they would slide down the sides with a sound you will just have to imagine.
during the night, when the storm hit and we instantly awoke, i automatically unzipped the tent and quickly scooped up all our shoes an boots that were sitting outside. later, towards morning, i began to dream lucidly and to start that slow ascent up from confusion to full consciousness. what was that in my sleeping bag, climbing up my inner thigh?
one of these primordial insects was about a thorax away from reaching the closest thing to a rainforest I could provide after 3 days with out a shower, when i finally came to and sat bolt upright and unzipped my bag. it turned out there were 3 of them inside the tent, and though I handled it with a laugh and some honest curiousity... I didn't like it all. The creepiest thing about these things was that they were FAST. they were slow and deliberate most of the time, but would lunge and scurry at unexpected moments. and would aggressively attempt to attack/defend themselves their large mandibles if you poked at their heads. when you picked them up, they would curl into a ball like a fiddlehead.
i was proud of the girls for showing almost no fear. they were deeply fascinated and we spend that whole morning examininging them as we cooked and cleaned up the site. Heres a video:
the river is quite picturesque and peaceful, and obviously, very very shallow. (at least in this area). its a major canoe site, and there was a constant lazy stream of day-trips floating by us.
about 2/3 of the width of the river never rose above my thighs; there was a deeper channel at the far bank which the canoes used. A lot of fishermen would station themselves there as well and cast into the darker water.
The water was clean and cold and, close to the banks, filled with millions and millions of black tadpoles. It was amazing and the girls spent what seemed like hours catching (and ultimately killing) them. most of our time in the water was spent slowly making our way across, exploring every little pool and eddy we came upon.
the rocks were a serious problem on bare feet, so luckily the site's well-stocked camp store sold plenty of rubber soled water shoes in all sizes. they really saved us.
we actually ate very well, with plenty of firewood to cook on, as well as my having brought my stove. we'd use both and quickly cook up large hot breakfasts with hot tea, oatmeal, eggs, hotdogs, & toast.
there was a concert the first night we were there, as the sun went down. it was very informal and very relaxed (and the music very mediocre), but the girls loved it and were free to run around in the large open field that formed the center of the campground. mette plopped down with this black lab and pet him and talked to him for about a half hour.
view back across the field, towards the campsites.
the girls drawing by the fire. hennie was actually trying to draw the fire, which impressed me. (I had not suggested that she try this)
this is the mighty deleware river the morning after we arrived. our tent is pitched up a short, steep slope directly behind me.
home.
the place was crawling with caterpillers which the girls loved.
here we are roasting marshmellows
our last day there we drove down the rode a few miles to see some local waterfalls. the place was a bit of a tourist trap, and a bit too crowded (I somehow managed to exclude any shots of the people in these photos, but they were all around us), but it was absolutely beautiful, as i think these photos show.
there were about 5 different trail routes thru these heavily forested cliffs. the easiest was a 20 minute loop around the main waterfall, and the most difficult route took about 2 hours and took you to all the falls in the area (about 12 if I remember correctly). We did a moderate route which lasted about 45 minutes, just about right for what the girls could handle before we needed to find food and a rest.
this is funny, mette was going crazy and there were so many people around us at this one bottleneck that both hennie and i were just about to jump over the side. honestly though, the day was not nearly as stressful as our faces would seem to imply.
the last night in the tent, it rained cats and dogs... and fly larvae. this not a cat or a dog.
(hege and i researched them after we returned and found out that it is a river fly larvae, which, amazingly enough was indeed supposed to be 3 inches long). we slept fairly well and stayed bone dry, but when dawn came and the rain stopped, we slowly became aware that the entire campsite was writhing with these things. the leaves were slowly churning with them. they would fall out of the trees and bounce off our rain fly. then they would begin to climb up the sides of the tent and reach a critical angle of ascension before they would slide down the sides with a sound you will just have to imagine.
during the night, when the storm hit and we instantly awoke, i automatically unzipped the tent and quickly scooped up all our shoes an boots that were sitting outside. later, towards morning, i began to dream lucidly and to start that slow ascent up from confusion to full consciousness. what was that in my sleeping bag, climbing up my inner thigh?
one of these primordial insects was about a thorax away from reaching the closest thing to a rainforest I could provide after 3 days with out a shower, when i finally came to and sat bolt upright and unzipped my bag. it turned out there were 3 of them inside the tent, and though I handled it with a laugh and some honest curiousity... I didn't like it all. The creepiest thing about these things was that they were FAST. they were slow and deliberate most of the time, but would lunge and scurry at unexpected moments. and would aggressively attempt to attack/defend themselves their large mandibles if you poked at their heads. when you picked them up, they would curl into a ball like a fiddlehead.
i was proud of the girls for showing almost no fear. they were deeply fascinated and we spend that whole morning examininging them as we cooked and cleaned up the site. Heres a video:
posted by hege at 11:10 PM
0 comments
