Date: 2003-06-25
From: Mohican Outdoor Center

To: Culvers Gap
Miles today: 17.9

17.9 miles. From the Mohican Outdoor Center to Culvers Gap for a total of 17.9 miles. Tony, Tony, Tony, Tony, Tony, Tony. The reason I just said that is I just spoke to my boss on the phone yesterday and he jokingly said that he wasn¢t going to read my journal anymore online because I wasn¢t mentioning his name enough. But regardless, I¢m paying my dues to him. He¢s making it possible for me to even make this trip. Today was another horrible day for a number of reasons. It was the second sunny day in a row that we¢ve had and the weather has made a 180 degree turn. Now it went from being rainy and cool to being hot, hot, hot and very sunny. It hit a high of 92 degrees today and the worst part of it is the mosquito population has now literally exploded. They are overwhelming. Last night after I finished my journal entry into the voice recorder and I put it away I got into my sleeping bag. I went ahead and covered myself with DEET, put my long johns on and put my Pertex clothing on top of that. Supposedly mosquitoes can¢t bite through Pertex clothing. Then I put a head net on. I was sleeping outside on a platform. I was not sleeping in my hammock. For the next couple of hours I came under just incredible attack from mosquitoes. They were buzzing everywhere. I turned my light on to see how bad they were at one point and my head net was covered with them. There were probably 50 mosquitoes trying to get to my face through the head net. Every itch whether real or imagined¢¦I was sure that I was getting bit.. through the sleeping bag and through the clothing although I don¢t think I ever did. It was very creepy. So, this morning I actually woke up later than I normally do. I didn¢t wake up until 5:30. Now that it¢s getting light at 4:30 it seems like I¢ve been snapping awake at 4:30 and getting moving. But regardless, I did get up at 5:30 and got packed up very quickly. Mainly because the mosquitoes were all over the place still. I put another layer of DEET on myself, finished packing and got out of there. I didn¢t even eat breakfast. I just stuffed my bag full of candy bars and started walking up to where the trail was which was about a 12 mile from the Mohican Outdoor Center where I had camped. So, I was actually on the trail by 6:15. My intention today was to get to Culvers Gap by early afternoon which is exactly what I did. I get in there and there was a deli and a bakery right next to the trail. I was going to sit there and drink massive amounts of coke and get a sub and get out of there and hike another 9 miles to the Mashipacong Shelter and that would have given me 27 miles for the day give or take a few tenths. The hike to Culvers Gap was just plain miserable. I guess it¢s the time for new tests. We walked through the snow before and the cold weather and the month of rain through Virginia and the Pennsylvania rocks. Now we were going to get the heat and the bugs. To top it all off the rocks weren¢t over yet. They won¢t be over for another 20 miles or so I¢ve heard. Today was just horrible. I couldn¢t stop walking because the second I did I would be covered with mosquitoes. The rocks were horrible for good sections just like in Pennsylvania. They were just as bad here in this section of New Jersey in some places. My feet were just wrecked already. I had huge blisters on my heels and I was basically having to walk on my toes which is impossible when you¢re walking over rocks. Every time I stepped on something with my heel and bent my foot I felt severe pain. I felt slow. I felt like I was going slow. Regardless of the fact that I did 18 miles in 7 hours which is very respectable. That¢s good time for me. Especially over rocks and that kind of terrain. I started getting hard on myself. Definitely today was a low mental point for me. I just started wondering again what I was doing out there. I was recognizing that from the last time that I burned out and I didn¢t want to do that again. Anyway, I got into Culvers Gap through the mosquitoes and the rocks and the heat. I was just beating the ground like crazy just trying to keep the mosquitoes off me. I finally popped out at 1:15 on US 206. Culvers Gap. I saw the building right away. I walked right over to the deli. There was one hiker there already by the name of Prince William who was ordering a sub. We talked for a few minutes. While I was talking to him I noticed there was a grill next door called Delmonicos Sunset Grill, it was right up against the lake. This is what I really wanted to sit and do. So, I went over to sit for an hour and actually eat something hot and substantial. I walked over to Delmonicos Sunset Grill and sat down and talked to the lady there for a bit. She was a very nice lady. One of the locals was there with his son and they were asking questions about the trail and everything. I ended up ordering a ranch burger which was very good. It came with fries and I got a Corona. I just sat there wondering what the hell I was going to do the rest of the day. I was not feeling like I wanted to get out and do another 9 miles. My feet were just all beat up. I ended up taking off my shoes while I was sitting there and looking at the blisters. The blisters were really messed up. I just decided that if I got up from there and walked out and did my other nine miles that I would be miserable the rest of the day and I¢d be miserable tomorrow. I didn¢t want to get to the point where I felt like I wanted to quit. So, I asked the lady about hotels and she gave me a couple of choices of what was close by. She suggested the Codman Ridge motel down in Brentsville, New Jersey about 3 miles away. What made things even better was that they would come down and pick you up. She got the number for me and I gave them a call. The hotel room was fifty three bucks a night plus tax which is very expensive. A lot steeper than I want to pay especially considering that I can go to a shelter and stay for free. I mulled that over for awhile and thought about what I wanted to do. I decided I was gonna spend the money and sack out at the hotel then try to make decisions as to how fast I¢m gonna move and at what speed and where I¢m going to get to because I had a mail drop at Arden, NY. My intention was to try and get there before the post office closes Saturday at 12:30 or I¢d be stuck there until Monday. My not making the 9 miles today is going to make it that much harder to get the mail drop. I think in the best interest for continuing the trip I need to slow down. I¢ve been trying to do 25 or 30 mile days and I¢ve been doing it very well. What it comes down to is Pennsylvania just beat me up. The rocks got to my feet. I don¢t want it to get to my spirits as well so maybe I¢ll just take the loss of a couple of days. Slow down to 18 or 20¢s. Whatever it takes to feel good about walking instead of walking in pain. So, for the next couple of days I think I¢m just gonna slow it down. I¢ve already made up almost 9 days so if I lose a couple that¢s the way it¢s gonna end up being.