The following post-hike report was provided by Pat Horsch.

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Not discouraged by questionable weather, ten hardy hikers, led by hiking enthusiasts and volunteer hike organizers Wendy Summa and Pat Horsch, set off in the fog for Sunfish Pond on October 1, 2016, on a mission to represent HIKE for Mental Health.

Tom Kennedy was in stealth mode. After driving from Texas to New Jersey without telling anyone, he had hiked ahead of the group, leaving a series of Snickers bars and witty messages for Susan Letcher, co-author of the Barefoot Sisters hiking books. The trail of Snickers led up to where Tom and Jason would meet up with us on the trail as surprise mystery guests and join us for the remainder of the hike. (If you want to know what the Snickers bars mean, you’ll have to read Lucy and Susan’s book, Southbound. You will be glad you did.

The foggy view of Sunfish Pond was perfect for the lunch time reading that Susan did from her book Southbound, as it matched the conditions when she had first seen the pond.

The raffle of all registered hikers for a set of Susan’s autographed books was won by Sharon Guarino. Congratulations, Sharon!

After a nice lunch break and sharing of chocolates, we did a rocky descent on the blueberry bush-lined Dunnfield Creek trail down the ridge to the creek, where we survived 5 stream crossings on the way back. We enjoyed the gorgeous scenery along the creek and were treated to Susan sharing her vast knowledge of botany along the way. The weather gods were with us and thankfully held off the rain that was potentially in the forecast.

After the hike, most of the group drove across the bridge into Pennsylvania to the Village Farm & Bakery to reward ourselves with the best pie on the Appalachian Trail.

What a wonderful day! Thanks to everyone for coming out to support this worthy cause. We are already looking forward to next year’s hike. We may change the route a bit for variety, but it will most certainly lead us back to Sunfish Pond again to enjoy the beauty and serenity of the pond.

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Picture Gallery

Thanks to Sara Hart, Pat Horsch and Wendy Summa for the following photos from the hike.