Date: 2004-06-13
From: PA 611 at Delaware Water Gap, PA

To: Day 76: Blue Mtn Lakes Rd, NJ
Miles today: 15.1

On AT Day 76 Hot Chocolate and I slept in until 7:00 a.m., ate a big fried eggs, corn beef hash and toast breakfast and then drove from our Bear Mountain campsite in Florida, NY to Delaware Water Gap, PA in time for me to start hiking by 11:30 a.m. The weather was very nice, clear and warm (70¢s in morning and low 80¢s in afternoon) all day. Within a quarter mile of my start, I crossed the Delaware River on the I-80 bridge and entered NJ ¢ my eighth state on the AT. Shortly thereafter the AT entered the Worthington State Park where I found lots of Sunday day-hikers ¢ having this much company was an interesting diversion.   Once the crowds thinned out a bit I turned on my MP3 recorder to listen to an eclectic mix of music (Meatloaf¢s ¢Bat out of Hell,¢ Cher¢s ¢I Believe,¢ James Taylor¢s ¢Greatest Hits, Vol. II,¢ Simon and Garfunkel¢s ¢Greatest Hits,¢ and the Beach Boy¢s ¢Greatest Hits¢). Since we were not able to record any new books during the break, all I had was the one disk of music that I listened to over and over again for the first two days ¢ on the third day, I went back to my radio.As for the hike, once again, as was the case during my last AT hiking segment, the trail continued to be VERY rocky. So much so, that by the end of the day, the stone bruises that I tried to heal during my last break were back with a vengeance and the crimped (or pinched) callus on the inside of my right big toe hurt real bad. Unfortunately, the new boots did not appear to be any better than my old pair in preventing these injuries. To make matters worse, I quickly discovered that I forgot to bring any vitamin I with me and I was sure not looking forward to three day¢s without this essential analgesic.About six miles into the hike, the trail came to Sunfish Pond, a lovely glacier carved lake surrounded by rocky shores (over which I had to climb) and blooming rhododendrons and other plants, where in addition to meeting lots of day hikers and a few SOBO section hikers, I ran into Swiss Miss once again. It seems that she took four day¢s off in Palmerton¢s hostel (¢The Jail¢) and thus we were once again in synchrony. Within the first quarter mile or so after we started hiking together, Swiss Miss took a nasty face first tumble on the rocky trail. I don¢t mind saying that I was worried, but after laying there for a minute or so, she ¢ with my help ¢ got up and proceeded onward. Other than being embarrassed and having a red rash on one side of her face she seemed entirely OK ¢ one tough young lady¢¦With my hearty breakfast, I skipped lunch but ate both of my Power Bar snacks alongside the trail at 3-4 hour intervals. The hike up and across the Kitatinny Mountains provided lots of beautiful views of the Delaware River to the west and the Lower Yards Creek Reservoir and storage ponds for Yards Creek to the east. After passing by the Catfish Fire Tower where Swiss Miss and I compared map notes, we passed a small-coiled water moccasin on the trail and then we descended to Rattlesnake Spring to load up on water for dinner and breakfast. Since I filter and she uses iodine, Swiss Miss finished first and pushed on to find her campsite (for her hammock) alone.Shortly after my water stop, I came across an impressively large beaver pond just off the trail. My goal was to hike for a mile or so, giving me a total of about 15 miles for the day, and then camp. Sounds easy enough, but for me to tent camp I needed to find a relatively level spot without a lot of big rocks or trees and this proved to be quite difficult. In the end, around 6:30 p.m. I gave up and settled on a treeless level spot with some rather troublesome rocks. Needless to say, positioning myself between rocks made sleeping that night an interesting challenge.