Date: 2019-05-04
From: Delaware Water Gap Rodeway Inn

To: AMC Mohican Outdoor Center
Miles today: 10.5

Checked out of the hotel, mailed my package at the post office just as it was closing, and spent too long in town, having breakfast at the ice cream shop. Chatted with the staff a bit, and in a bit in walked WrongWay, who I had assumed had passed me way up. Was good to see a familiar face. We also chatted with a section hiker there.Finally left town and headed back on the trail around 1 or 2pm. Crossed the bridge into New Jersey and got closer to some weekender areas. Big picnic areas with lots of cars driving around. And a huge concentration of bear boxes and bear proof garbage that let me know I¢m finally in bear country (as if my sighting a few days back wasn¢t a good enough indication).In the Dunnfield Creek area there was a large parking area with folks strewn about, seeming to be content about not venturing very far from their cars. The parking lot loop was super reminiscent of some crowded Yosemite parking areas. But like always, the farther I hiked in, the less people I saw.Somewhere up the trail I got hungry again and sat on a rock to eat the turkey club sandwich I bought from the ice cream shop.Went past ¢Backpacker Site #2¢ which looked like a big tent city. I imagine that some of those folks must be disappointed to have tried to escape one city and found themselves in the midst of another one.Sunfish Pond was the next waypoint. Mostly some kids playing around here, and some older kids trying to look grown-up and puffing on cigars. A lot of my hike around this late had me breathing in that cigar smoke...Saw an red-eyed turtle here, and a very tiny thing that looked like a snapping turtle.Past the pond I saw no one for the rest of the hike. The clouds were closing in and the sky darkened so much even though sunset was only a few hours away. There were some little rain showers, but I checked the weather radar and found myself on the edge of the cell that came through. But soon after that my fortune changed for the worse - a fairly strong cell came right over me, just as I was walking across a pretty bare mountaintop. I tried to huddle under a tree a bit, but it was no use - I was getting soaked. In a super delayed fashion I resigned myself to my fate and put on my rain gear. Waited a bit for the rain to let up, but I wanted to make progress, so I kept hiking.When the rain finally let up, I was treated to an amazing view of the mist lifting off the valley carved out by the Delaware River. Made sure to get lots of photos, including a 360 photo!Kept making progress, but slipped a few times on rocks. Had one slip that was my first real fall of my AT trip. I fell sideways onto my left leg. I was fast to examine it for any fractures, but I got lucky this time. I am sure it would have been worse if the rocks were positioned differently...Shoes got completely soaked... which looks like it may have brought on some more blisters..Finally made it down to a road, with a sign to the Mohican Outdoor Center. Low mileage today at under 10 miles, but not bad considering it was raining, and the shelter was out of my range at 20+ miles from my starting point.Turned out to be a super nice place with great food and atmosphere, and lots of interesting books. Kinda pricey for food, since they had an all-you-can-day style buffet. But it was good quality stuff.Lodge was super comfy and reminded me of many years ago at the lodge at Camp La Verne.They even had places to charge phones, and some WiFi, which turned out to be useful because of lack of cell phone reception. But I¢m kind of torn whether it¢s a good idea. A lot of folks, including your truly, seemed to be just sitting around staring into their tiny glowing screens. Ten or so years ago, before smart phones, I wonder how different the experience was.