Date: 2009-06-29
From: Wind Gap

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: scattered clouds

As no breakfast was offered at this place, I set my stove outside my door to boil water for another oatmeal breakfast. Then it was time to head out for my final full day in PA! On the road, I discovered that Wind Gap is an Indian community. I paused for a moment to look at the trailers and ponder their lives, and then it was back into the woods for another climb. I must admit that although the rocks in PA were not nearly as bad as I had repeatedly heard, I was having a tough go of it on these last two days of the state. As long as there is dirt to step on in between the rocks, I don't consider them to be much of a hindrance. I did turn my ankles a number of times in this state, but never got injured from them. Today, however, I was finding it harder to find dirt patches in between the rocks, my pace was slow, and the soles of my feet were hurting.      I took a break at Kirkridge Shelter, hearing the "caw-caw" of one of the twins, as I made my way up the path. Newt and Miss Scarlett liked to talk in bird language and would let out "caws" whenever they sighted another hiker. I never determined whether these were warnings to each other about another's presence or a friendly greeting. Bison and Squeegie were there, as well. We all left together- Bison and I returning back down the same sidepath we had walked up, so as not to miss any of the AT. A few raindrops fell and the group stopped to put on their packcovers. I continued on, believing it was only a passing sprinkle. A little ways later, my foot got stuck under a good sized rock as I lifted up my foot. I thought I was going down for sure, but managed to get my foot free just in time. However, the movement kicked the rock into the heel of my other foot, causing a good amount of pain and definite bruising.      Up ahead, along a level stretch of terrain, I noticed three bags of something on the side of the trail. They turned out to be huge bags of rice. I don't know what they were doing there. They seemed to be free for taking, but who want want to carry all of that rice?   It wasn't long before I came to a lookout with the Delaware River in view! I was almost in New Jersey!   The last couple of miles were slow and the bottom of my feet ached. I almost felt like I could not walk the last half mile! But ever so slowly, I made my way into town and came to the driveway of the church hostel where the other hikers were staying. I saw Stud the Dud and a pretty girl walking toward me. She started talking to me as if she knew me. I then realized it was Martha who I had met and last seen in Georgia! She was now going by Kiwi. They had yellow blazed to town and were now going to slackpack back to Wind Gap. It was now 4 o'clock and they weren't carrying anything. It didn't register to me at the time what distance they were attempting to cover. Martha said she would be back in the evening and that we could catch up then. I was excited to talk with her again!   All of the bunks were already taken in the hostel. I usually manage to find a quiet lull in the midst of large bubbles of hikers, but not today. An explosion of thru- hikers were congregated at this spot. Gaspard and Tinman had already set up their tents on the grass and were hanging out beside them. Bison and the twins had also set up theirs. There didn't seem to be any trees suitable for my hammock- only woods thick with undergrowth. I asked Bison if I could stash my pack under his rainfly while I went to pick up my maildrop and get something to eat.   The twins and Squeegie were sitting outside the post office with their bounty. Squeegie offered me a delectable mint candy from hers. I had to send back much of my food as I had too much to carry and my energy was now low enough that this task required all I had left. I glanced through the notebook at the desk for thru- hikers to sign and read that Braid was diagnosed with Lymes disease a few days earlier. He wrote that he would be reducing his mileage in the coming days.   I made my way down to the Village Farmer Bakery, and wandered around this large farm store, perusing all of its delights- breads, pastries, ice cream, fruit, pies, and jams. I decided on a breakfast sandwich made with French toast and sat at a table to start labeling my pictures and composing a journal entry. It wasn't long before I ordered dessert and coffee. Because I still had to figure out where I was sleeping, I headed back to the hostel and finally found two trees on the edge of the property to the side of the church. I still had to set it up in the undergrowth, but I managed, and was glad to have found a semi- secluded spot. Back inside the hostel, I looked around to see if Martha had returned, and was disappointed to find that she had not. I returned to my hammock, settling in to glance through the Outside magazine that Erik had sent me and went to sleep.