ABOUT THE PARK:
McDade Recreation Trail - National Park Service
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 41.15610, -74.90808
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| Jerry Lees Parking |
GPS Coordinates 41.12541, -74.95262
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| Egypt Mills parking to start this hike from the opposite end. |
TRAIL MAP:
Kittatinny Trails Map #121 - New York New Jersey Trail Conference
McDade Trail Map - National Park Service
HIKE DISTANCE: 8.1 miles (4 miles each way)
THE HIKE:
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| The first raindrop fell as I locked the car doors so I grabbed the old car umbrella. |
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| Oh no, a blow down. |
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| Fortunately Shawnee was able to slide right under because it would have been difficult to get by otherwise. |
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| A gray catbird that there are always so many of. But they are so easy to photograph because they sit still and pose. |
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| Finally, the rain pulled out and the blue skies appeared. |
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| There aren't many Delaware River views along this section but there is a glimpse now and then. |
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| A balloon! |
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| Actually two balloons - these would be #31 and #32 of the year. |
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| At the Eshback Trail Access you can go down to the boat launch for river views ... |
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| ... but on this day it was too muddy to go any farther. |
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| Yellow Warbler |
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| Back on the McDade Trail. |
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| We weren't even hiking in tall grass and I pulled a total of 23 ticks off of Shawnee during this hike. They really are horrendous this year. In all my years of hiking I have never seen so many ticks. |
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| As I was taking a picture of one of the partial river views I saw a bird land on the other side ... |
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| ... zoomed and and got him - a Baltimore Oriole. |
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| There was a side trail to the left down to the river but I could see people down there so decided to wait until the return trip to investigate. |
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| Common Yellowthroat - they might be common but they sure are hard to photograph. I actually got a couple of shots of this one as he flitted aound. |
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| Song Sparrow |
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| But first, a side trail down to Tom's Creek... |
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| ... for a dip in the water. |
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| Getting her bottom half soaked actually kept the ticks off until she started to dry out. |
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| The barrier on the other side is where we sent down to Tom's Creek hiking the previous section. |
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| Heading back. |
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| That side trail, now on the right, goes to a camping spot on the river. It's a very steep trail down so we had to abandon the wheelchair at the top. |
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| Nice river views here. |
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| Regulations for this camping spot. |
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| Heading back up to the McDade Trail. |
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| It was getting very hot in full sun but fortunately most of the trail was shaded around noon. |
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| Eshback Access was much busier on the way back. |
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| We took a water break at the bench after crossing this bridge where Shawnee got pets from a family and their children, which she always loves! As a group of bikes passed, the last woman turned out to be a blog follower, recognized Shawnee and gave us a shout out. How cool! |
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| The family who stopped to pet Shawnee ... |
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| ... stopped at the blow down, other bikers stopped to help ... |
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| ... and they worked together to move that downed tree off of the trail. All clear now just as we were coming up on it. Thanks! |
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| Back at the parking lot. |
