Mount Tammany

Last weekend I lived a big LITTLE life and had a fantastic weekend with Josh and Riley.  We hiked Mount Tammany!  The whole adventure was amazing and everyone had a blast.  Before our trip, I couldn’t find too much information about hiking it with a child carrier, so here is my experience. 

We used an Osprey Poco Plus, which is 6 pounds, and Riley is 24 pounds, so we had about 30 pounds on our backs.  I carried Riley up (I have a tall but narrow frame) and Josh carried her down.  I’m pretty fit and run regularly, and was grateful for this when climbing up all the boulders.  My heart was pumping but it was doable!  Hiking poles are A MUST for this hike if you have a child pack.  I am not sure I would have felt safe doing the hike without them.  Also, there were two spots where Josh had to push my bottom up and over a huge boulder (no pictures of those two spots, I needed him to stay near). 

One of the easier rock sections on the first half up

When we pulled up to the Delaware Water Gap and saw Mount Tammany and Mount Minsi, my stomach dropped and I was unsure of our decision to hike this with Riley.  The mountain is 1,526 feet high and the total elevation gain on the trail is 1,250 feet in only 1.5 miles on the red dot trail.  So, it is straight up, the whole time!  We took the red dot trail up (1.5 miles), stayed 45 minutes at the top, and took the blue dot trail down (2.2 miles).  It took us about 4 hours total (just over 3 hours hiking).  I had to take it slow on the boulders, so I imagine if you do not have a 30-pound human backpack, you could race up and down much quicker. 

Another easy section on the first half

The red dot trail starts with a set of stairs then gives way to an easy path to start.  Then, there are the first few ascents of rocks, which are very doable.  The first vista was about half-way up and beautiful.  So far so good and the stretches of rock that we did so far built my confidence for what was to come on the second half.

First vista on Mount Tammany

The second half was more intense, with steeper stretches of rocks and boulders.  These were not stair-like as the earlier stretches were, but were literally piles of rocks.  It was pretty much like this the whole second half of the hike.  I thought, “Well there is certainly no turning back now because I am not going back down all those boulders with her on my back!”  Josh hiked close behind me in case I slipped, which I didn’t.

One of the hardest sections of the second half of the red dot trail

Hiking poles are a must!

The view from the top was beautiful.  You can see Tammany’s sister mountain Mount Minsi across the way and a wonderful view of the Delaware river.  We stayed at the top talking to some really interesting people for about 45 minutes and Riley even had a diaper change on top of a big boulder (fun for her, challenging for me!).  After Riley stretched her legs and we ate lunch, we descended on the blue dot trail.  It was far more gradual, but there were still a couple of rocky stretches.  Riley even fell asleep on the way down.

View from top of Mount Tammany

I read the blue dot trail was 2.5 miles, but it turned out to only be 2.2 miles, so I waited too long to have Riley walk.  Once you get to the beautiful waterfall along Dunnfield Creek, it is completely flat for the rest of the hike and a super easy walk for young kids.  This conclusion along the creek coincides with the Appalachian trail and is absolutely gorgeous.  When we finished the hike, Riley loved playing in the creek.

A much more gradual descent on the blue dot trail

Some tricky sections on the blue dot trail

I found both the red dot and blue dot trails very well marked, and it is definitely doable with a child pack as long as you have hiking poles.  It was a great adventure for our family and everyone had a blast.  It was beautiful, soulful, and just what we needed to take a step toward more healing.

Apparently the Poco Plus is good for napping!

A fun creek to play in at the end of the hike