The AT leaves the pond behind and passes through hardwoods and past swampy depressions, a reminder of the glacier that scraped over this broad highland. At 6.0 mi., you cross an open power line, offering views on both sides of the ridge. In another 0.2 mi., the trail crests Mt. Mohican (also called Raccoon Ridge). This bare rock summit, with 360-degree views, is the Herb Hiller overlook, named for the NY-NJTC volunteer who in the 1970s led the effort to place the entire AT in New Jersey on protected land. Look for the plaque placed in Herb's honor.
The Hiller vista looks north to where the spine of the Kittatinny Ridge splits into several ridges, east to the Yards Creek Reservoir, and west over Pennsylvania's Pocono Highlands and down to the Delaware River. The cultivated fields of the valley bordering the river were home to Native Americans for 12,000 years. Dutch settlers arriving in the 1600s found Lenape longhouses, thriving fields of squash and corn, plus dugout canoes plying the waterway. This always-breezy vista is a favorite gliding zone for hawks and turkey vultures, and a perfect stopping point for a snack or water break. (You can tell a turkey vulture from a hawk by the irregular back-and-forth wobble of the vulture's wings, as compared to the hawk's smoother flight. The soaring vulture also folds its wings into a shallow"V" shape, while hawks glide with wings held flat.)
Just beyond the vista, the trail enters the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. At 6.6 mi. the AT briefly follows Kaiser Rd., named for a local landowner. The windswept ridge walk that follows is less traveled than the Sunfish Pond area, and offers several great views east over New Jersey farmland. Camping is legal inside the National Recreation Area (stay at least 75 ft. off the trail and 0.5 mi. from roads). Wildlife abounds. A friend doing a solo backpack trip here once heard an urgent scurrying sound rushing his tent. Looking out, he spotted a red fox barreling straight toward him. The fox suddenly thought better of its bold move, turned, and dashed back into the woods. Surprisingly, this agile animal is a European immigrant, brought to New Jersey after 1760 by wealthy English landowners who missed fox hunting.
The trail descends through mountain laurel at 8.5 ml., and soon reaches the Coppermines Trail (8.7 mi.). This 2.0-mi.-long trail is one ofthe area's most lovely, descending to the Delaware River through a hemlock ravine, past waterfalls and the openings to several copper mines. These mines, dug in 1904, yielded little profit for unwary investors (only two copper bars were ever smelted) though the operation did line unscrupulous promoters' pockets.
At 8.8 mi., the AT crosses Yards Creek on a newly built bridge, arriving at Camp Rd. and hike's end. Parking for a few cars is found uphill and around the bend from the trail. The Appalachian Mountain Club's Mohican Outdoor Center is about 0.4 mi. up the road from this AT crossing. Call (908) 362-5670 for parking information or for AMC Mohican camping reservations. Overnight tent sites and cabin space are available to the public at reasonable rates.
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