I was wondering if anyone would be interested in setting up a camping weekend now that the weather is getting nicer. I have been camping many times and love it! Maybe we could toss a hike into the mix as well? Let me know your thoughts.
Ok. Let's shoot for June 11-13. I was thinking someplace in Morris County might be the most convenient. Mahlon Dickerson has a lot of trails / fields and is only $10 per day. Also, it's only about 20 minutes from where a few of us went horseback riding yesterday, so we could take a side-trip there if anyone was interested.
Sounds good to me, I live less than 15 mins from there so everyone is more than welcome to come before or after or whatever for drinks, food, etc. Not really sure what to do, just wanted to offer the place up :) Also, I have room for one in my tent if needed.
That weekend is fine with me. That's also not too far from High Point State Park, which I believe includes part of the Appalachian Trail -- I'd love to hike some small part of that and then be able to say I've hiked the AT! (Or they appear to have camp sites there, I know nothing more than what's here: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/highpoint.html)
And horseback riding would be great -- hey, how about that night ride/BBQ?
Also, I believe I can share my tent with one female.
I've got a commitment on the 13th, but I should be available for the first night and most of Saturday's activities. Whether I could camp Saturday depends on the timing of the Sunday plans.
maybe for Rebecca: do you know if Mahlon Dickerson takes/requires a reservation? I don't know if the price you were quoting was for individual sites or a group site -- or we may not be big enough to merit a group site.
Since they are only up the street from me I figured I'd call and figure it out in case we needed to stop by or something. Here is the deal: camp sites and Adirondack shelters (which is something like this http://www.camphickoryhill.org/tour/images/shelter1.jpg) are available as first come first serve or reservations. Each site can hold up to 6 people (no more) but we can get sites next to each other (I roughly counted 12 people replying to the thread). Each site needs a separate person to reserve. Here is the problem, for the weekend of the 11th, they only have the 11th, not the 12th, a big boy scout troop is taking the whole grounds. While I had him on the phone I asked about the weekends after, 18 and 19th are tent sites only, 25, 26 both avail, and after is open. So the choices are, camp for just that one night, or pick another weekend, or pick another place altogether...forgot to ask about the 4th and 5th (although I can't go that weekend). Here is the website for that park specifically http://www.morrisparks.net/aspparks/mahlonmain.asp. The only other place I've done anything like this is Jim Thorpe so maybe someone with more experience can offer some suggestions.
My personal vote is for going the 18th and 19th at Mahlon Dickerson. I would prefer to be in a tent anyway as I find they protect from insects better than shelters (yes, I know camping = bugs, but I was stung in my sleep once when staying in a shelter). The location is pretty central for anyone in Northern NJ and it's close to the place we went riding if we wanted to do that as well.