Last Friday I was driving the portion of the Atlantic Coast route through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area on my way to Pond Eddy, NY for a weekend of camping and rafting. I took the scenic route up rather than U.S. 209 on the PA side of the because I was hoping to see a bear.
I got my wish--times two. Saw two sickeningly cute, jet-black cubs playing on the edge of the road. When they saw me, they stopped and starred for a few seconds then ran off into the woods. Mom was likely up there. Back in 2018 I saw a very young cub in the campground at Worthington State Forest, which is not far south, during a bike tour south from VT. Several years before that, one ran across Old Mine Road just before a group of us came along during the...wait for it...Black Bear Century. It left behind muddy paw prints. And earlier this summer I read about increased bear activity in Connecticut.
Just because you are in more populated areas in the northeast doesn't mean you should not take precautions.
BTW...Many of the road surfaces south of the Walpack Inn all the way to the pedestrian walkway of the I-80 bridge are in terrible shape. Use extreme caution, especially if it has rained a lot recently. That puddle might be a deep pothole. I rode south through there in 2021.
I remembered the stretch immediately south of the U.S. 206 crossing being in very poor condition. No longer wanting to be jostled around even though I have AWD, I crossed back into PA using the Dingmans Ferry toll bridge. ($2, and they do charge bikes.)
