AT Overnight: Culvers Gap to High Point, NJ (difficult)

Day hiking the AT is cool, but did you ever want to see what's it like to spend a night in the woods along America's most legendary long distance hiking trail? The AT is one of the world's most well known and celebrated long distance hiking trails, stretching over 2100 miles from Maine to Georgia. It takes most thru hikers 6 months to complete end-to-end.

We will start at 9AM from the AT parking turnoff along Greenville Rd below High Point (41.329395614707636, -74.64295565028807). This is a point-to-point hike. Car shuttling will be necessary. After leaving one set of vehicles at High Point we will backtrack to Culvers Gap and start our hike from the AT Culvers Gap parking area (41.18029650750362, -74.78785484235429). Make sure you are on time as after we start I will not be checking for late comers.

We will split the ~17 miles in half between both days. From Culvers Gap we will ascend 500ft to the top of the Kittatinny Mountain ridge, then proceed north on the AT to Rutherford Shelter where we will camp for the night. There is a large grassy area for tent and hammock camping here, as well as a short hike to Rutherford Lake. Along the way we will cross Sunrise Mountain and several vistas with views to the north and south.

The next morning we will continue north to High Point, descending from the ridge and returning to our waiting set of vehicles to complete the shuttle. All together we will hike about 17 miles, split roughly in half, with a total elevation gain of around 2800 feet. Most hiking will be on the ridgetop, so most climbs will be short, if steep on occasion. This is a more difficult day hike, but a relatively easy overnight backpack trip for experienced backpackers.

This is NOT a backpacking/camping class. You should have the appropriate gear for a night in the woods and know how to use all of it. There is a water source near the shelter. Make sure you have a water filtration or purification system. While we will overnight at the shelter site, the shelter itself is for AT long distance or thru hikers FIRST and overnight/short distance backpackers second. Do not assume you will be sleeping in the shelter. Make sure to bring a tent or other sleeping solution. There are ample tent sites around the shelter. There is a privy available at Rutherford Shelter as well. Make sure you are comfortable camping away from amenities and quick egress from the camp site before you sign up. That means if you get in trouble you can't hop in the car and leave.

Bear activity near the shelter site is common. There is a bear box for food storage at Rutherford Shelter.

Once we make camp you will have several hours of free time. I am not curating everyone's time so you are free to occupy yourselves however. Bring a book. Rutherford Lake is a short walk from the campsite.

We will break camp shortly after sunrise so be prepared for an early morning.

Link to GPS route below.
https://www.gaiagps.com/public/6ZZOcz0i0e8kTPDJ2MfP2xOu/

Hike will cancel from severe weather.