Date: 2014-06-16
From: wind gap

To: mohican outdoor center
Miles today: 26.4
Weather: clear sky

I packed up early and was off by 6:30. I started out with my friend bubba in nice cool air. Once we turned into the woods it was much warmer, the trees must have held in some of the warm air from yesterday. As normal it was a climb out of the gap and back up to the ridge. This morning was the longest stretch of rocky trail we have had yet. It went on for about seven miles. Once we got to Wolf rocks it was time for a break and a snack. Wolf rocks is big boulder rocks piled up, better to walk on than smaller stones. We sat for a bit on the boulders and talked about the pie store in town. A different sort of fella came along and gave us the advice of the century. He said to stick to the white blazed trail, that was the nicest trail, dont take the fire road. We have been taking the white blazed trail for nearly 1300 miles, why change now? I think the toughest thing about PA is there is nothing exciting for long stretches, just walking through the woods., today was like that for the first fifteen miles. The last few miles into the water gap we got a couple nice views of the river below, that was nice. Then we dropped down into town and the first thing we came to was an ice cream store so we ate ice cream. It was a pretty fancy ice cream place and the food was real good too! A good first stop in town. I walked with bubba to thw hostle, he was going to stay there for the night, i was gonna push on after doing some more eating. I first went to a pizza store for a slice and a couple drinks, i ate there with shortcut, the fella that ate the ice cream challenge the same time i did. Then i crossed the road to the pie store. There were tons of well made pies and pastries to be tried so i did what i could but i had to leave some untested. I had an eclair and a cherry cloud. The eclaire was fantastic and the cloud was even better. I cant really describe it very well but it was a puff pastry on the top and bottom with cherry filling and whipped cream like substance in the middle. Soooo good. I also thought i should hydrate some more so i bought a gatorade to go. I picked up my pack at the hostel and moved on down the road. It really hard to leave a town at 3:30 in the afternoon, really hard. Jon and Dini said tomorrow night would be better for them so i would have to get to Branchville by tomorrow night to meet them. I rolled out of town and over the delaware river bridge to cross into new jersey! I was now in another state, that made leaving town a bit easier. It was a two mile road walk till i got back in the woods and within a half hour of being in the woods i had seen two bear. One up on a bank across the river from me and the other on the other side of the trail fairly close to me. Bears are tricky bwcause they look so cuddly but they dont really like cuddling. Still, its nice to see em. It was a hot afternoon and i had made the choice of not filling up from the stream at the bottom of the long hill, my guide said there was water at the top. My thought was why carry it, i had some still in my resevoir. At the top of the long hill the stream up there for me to get water from was seriously yellow. I made the choice to not get water there and plug up my filter, there was water not too far away at sunfish pond. Once arriving at the beautiful sunfish pond i read the sign that said sunfish pond was highly acidic. Soooo, can i drink it? I hate heart burn so i chose not to get water there. Do you see where this is going? It was onky a mile to the next stream, that would be my drink. I got there and was truly ready for a drink. I took off my pack, grabbed my water fetching bag, and headed to the stream. This water was worse that the first stream that i didnt get water from. I sat down and weighed my options. It was starting to cool down but it was still three miles to the next guaranteed good water source. I was theersty, that means dry. I really wanted a drink but didnt want to mess up my filter so i could never drink from it again. I dumped the water and headed for the spiggot at the mohican outdoor center. I walked at a fairly slow pace to try to keep from sweating out water i didnt want to lose. I went up and over kittatiny mt and of course found a ton of nice camping spots that i could not stay at because of my drought. About 8 o clock i walked up to the spiggot and out came the water. I was never more glad to see clean water come out of a pupe. I gulped down a quart, sat a bit, and gulped down one more for good luck. Then i filled my camelback. Water sources have been pretty reliable up till now, today was not the best. I tented in the woods just below the mohican and drank some more water. The mosquitos were bad again but i crawled in my tent as soon as i got it set up so they didnt bother. I didnt cook, too tired. I ate a couple protein bars and laid myself down in my mobile home. I was glad to have water and glad for my shelter and glad for food enough in my belly. The trail is not an easy place but for the time being it is my place and i have all i need.