Date: 2005-07-13
From: Flat spot, mile 1267

To: Backpacker campsite
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: broken clouds

It rained a bit during the night but not enough to get my tent real wet. That's a good thing. Makes the packing a lot more pleasant. Socks passes me while I'm organizing my stuff. She seems to do much better at getting up early than I do. I just lack motivation and my therma rest is really comfortable.I finally get out around 8am. I'd like to get back to starting around 7:30 but 8 is not bad. I'm moving pretty slow because it's quite rocky again and I don't want to trip or twist my ankle. It's a pretty long stretch and I get tired of it. You just never get into a nice walking rythm. At Wolf Rocks the trail upgrades to really big slanted rocks. I spend some time at the viewpoint eating lunch and enjoying the foggy vista. It looks just like a rainforest. Too bad you can hear traffic. I'm thinking that I really like being in the middle of nowhere but that I never have that feeling here. There always traffic sounds. Or roads to cross. The view is still cool though and lunch is pretty good.When I move on it starts to rain. Great combination, rain and slanted big rocks. Stuff gets pretty slippery. I survive though.I take a short break at the shelter and then it's only 6 more miles to Delaware Water Gap. It's not a hard 6 miles but I get a little bored. Singing along with music helps. It might also scare the weekenders but who cares?I catch up to Socks at the parking lot. She's talking to two guys. One of them later asks us about the biggest obstacles of the trail. I say loneliness is my biggest problem. Although I must say that I've been doing really well lately. He also thinks that the people on the trail must have a positive attitude to finish the trail. Mmm... really? I know lots of people who are complaining all the time and I think they will make it all the way. Needless to say we don't agree with this guys' thinking. (He wrote a book about positive thinking).Town doesn't have much in the form of resupply but the Trail's end cafe has great food. Socks and I order some good sandwiches and nice desserts. Brownie Sundae, Yum!I meet up with UG, Ox, Mouth, the Troll family and others at he church hostel. Mouth has just given Ox a mohawk. Great! There are clippers here. My hair has been driving me crazy and I've been wanting to have it cut since Boiling Springs. Lately I've been wearing my hair in four little 'knobs'. Very cute ; ) It's just not long enough to put it in a pony tail and I don't have the patience to put up with it anymore. I was toying with the idea of having it shaved off completely but the consensus is that real short is short enough. I'm only the second person ever to receive a haircut from Mouth. He's having a lot of fun with and is trying the punk rocker look first. Yeahh.... not quite what I'm looking for. Then he cuts it all the way short. It's looking rather sporty. Ox doesn't like it and asks me when I'm going to join the army.After a little bit of shopping I head out to the trail. UG catches up to me and we are camped at the Backpackers site with no water. Tomorrow we'll see our first glacial pond on the AT. Oohhh! How exiting! Of course less than five minutes past my mediocre campsite I pass a great one. Oh well...