From: Chris Roat
Subject: BF Vacation--Poconos, PA (Pt 1-Waterfalls)
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2005 21:15:37 EDT

Hi all,

My family and I just returned from 5 days vacationing in the Poconos, PA.
All in all it was a very barefoot-friendly vacation. I'll make a few
different posts about the highlights. First, the waterfalls.....

BUSHKILL FALLS (http://www.visitbushkillfalls.com/)

On Sunday, we headed to Bushkill Falls, "the Niagara of Pennsylvania." This
is a private tourist site run by Aramark, not a public park. However, the
staff's attitude toward bare feet was quite suitable in my opinion. The
ticket-seller warned that, "There are no paved walkways. Are you sure you
want to do this barefoot?" The ticket-taker at the other end of the entry
building (a display of local wildlife) also asked, "Are you sure you want
to do this without shoes?" I assured him that I had done much barefoot
hiking and it would be fine. Nothing else was said and my 11 year old
stepson also did the trail barefoot. The terrain is certainly nothing
challenging for even a somewhat regular barefooter. There is some small to
mid-sized (less than an inch/a few centimeters at most in diameter) at the
starting area. The main "trail" primarily consists of wooden staircases,
trails and bridges. The wooden portions were smooth with no splintering and
only a few out of place nail heads.

Between the boardwalks, there were a few dirt sections with occasional
rocks and tree roots. All in all, though, the steep staircases were of
much more concern than the ground beneath our feet. We did come to an
non-boardwalked and rockier steep section of trail leading to another set
of waterfalls called the Bridal Veil Falls. However, since we had a 3 year
old in tow and the sign said this trail was "for hikers only," we opted to
skip this part. When we returned to the starting point, I saw the
ticket-taker who had issued the previous warning and he asked how it was
barefoot. I said it was no problem and he simply said, "that's good." The
gift shop and snack bar were no problem (and we even ate inside). The
accompanying miniature golf was played barefoot as well without a problem,
except for a bit larger grade of gravel around the sales stand.

DINGMAN FALLS, DELAWARE WATER GAP (http://www.nps.gov/dewa)

On Wednesday, we headed to Dingman Falls in the Delaware Water Gap National
Recreation area run by the National Park Service. The trail to the Falls
was once again a boardwalk, but this one was even smoother and, though
woodlike in texture, appeared to actually be composed of some type of
recycled plastic (perhaps tires). Most of the path was level and led
through a wooded, rain forest-like area before coming to the main waterfall
(which seemed more impressive than the ones we saw at Bushkill--and these
were free to view). There was a final section of wooden staircase (230
steps) with dirt portions and rock portions like at Bushkill leading from
the base to the top of the falls. My stepson (also barefoot), daughter and
I climbed to the top while my wife waited at the bottom. Again, the climb
wasn't challenging for us from a terrain point of view. When we got to the
bottom, I gave my stepson a Barefoot Hikers shirt, as he was barefoot the
entire week everywhere I was.

When we returned to the Visitor's Center/Gift Shop, one of the Park Service
employees ( a college aged woman) asked if we hike barefoot everywhere. I'm
not sure if she noticed our shirts or our feet or both. :-) I replied that
we do and mentioned my trip on the Appalachian Trail a few years back (the
AT passes through the park and they had trail maps available in the gift
shop). She inquired if we ever stepped on anything nasty and my wife (not
barefoot) replied that we are more careful than most hikers. I added that
I'd never had an injury. The NPS person seemed genuinely interested and
impressed and certainly gave no impression that she thought it was
inappropriate or unsafe.

More vacation barefooting stories to come...

--Barefoot Chris
Barefoot Hikers of PA (NJ-DE-MD)

http://members.aol.com/CAR525/BFHPA2.htm
"Free Your Feet and Your Mind Will Follow."