Date: 2003-06-26
From: Delaware Water Gap Hostel

To: Mohican Outdoor Center
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: clear sky

Boy, what a hot muggy day. Wench & I started it out by walking to the DWG diner for breakfast. Some of the best tasting pancakes I¢ve ever had, along with bacon, French toast, coffee and water. I stopped off at an ATM, then hiked back up the hill drenched in sweat, back to the hostel. I went to the Post office to get my bounce box & mail drop box, then sorted through them and loaded up my pack. I had way too much food, I kept some and bounced the rest ahead (I still kept too much, my pack felt very heavy). I still don¢t feel 100% after 20 miles in the sun yesterday, but we are only doing a 10 miler today, so I should be OK. We left the hostel at about 11AM, the sun burning down on us (yesterday was supposed to be 96, today even hotter, with an ozone warning). Today I need to be careful (I wasn¢t), since yesterdays hike in the sun made me feel sick for a while. Kind of strange to start a day by hiking the route 80 bridge over the Delaware river. It was a scorching, sunny start, and by the time I got into the woods, I was already burning up (the shade & cool breeze in the woods, still didn¢t cool me off). We talked to a hiker on the bridge that knew wench from her journal, she¢s famous¢¦ The climb up out of the Gap wasn¢t as bad as I expected it to be, but combined with the heat and ozone problems, it was a killer. I hate drinking hot water, but I drank 3.5 liters of it in10 miles.We saw lots of other hikers out on the trails today, including a couple big groups (this is a highly used area of the trail). Sunfish pond was very cool, and full of tons of HUGE Tadpoles.. Can you say mutants?!?!? NOTE: Pennsylvania you wussy! New Jersey has better ¢Pennsylvania rocks¢ than you do!! Better luck next time. There are nice views in NJ too, better than I expected (the Delaware river runs on one side of the ridge we are on, a big reservoir on the other), but still no bears! I should have drank more water today, but I drank all I could carry! I also should have eaten more, but in the heat, and especially after how I felt yesterday, I didn¢t. I skipped lunch and ate snacks instead (and not many of them, they were melted candy bars). So by 6-7 miles out, I was out of gas, stumbling amd overheated. Did I stop and get food out? Nope, I just wanted to get to the Mohican Outdoor Center (MOC) and stop hiking (and they have soda there!). We finally got there after what seemed like an eternity, and I really felt like shit. Hot, tired, weak, but happy to be there . I drank a sprite and an orange soda, followed by another orange soda with my Ham & cheese sandwich with chips. Yummm.. I felt a little better now, but a shower later helped. Wench & I are here with the lady footslogger, Truckin, Recycled, and another guy who¢s name I forget. There is no water in our bunk house (broken pump), but for $12.00, we have our own kitchen, and showers, a bathroom, padded chairs & sofa, and a fireplace in the main lodge building. After planning my itinerary for the next week, I ate the last of my cheese and jerky, had a candy bar and Gatorade & headed to my bunk. Now I am journaling & the mosquito¢s are trying to get into the building to eat us (they are nasty outside, we will need tons of DEET in the morning). We will have an early start tomorrow, it¢s 17.9 to Culvers gap and maybe a hotel. I don¢t think I can make it 21 miles to a shelter¢¦ Too far, too hot. I¢ll keep you posted. NOTE: Thanks to ¢Just Bob¢, we saw him hiking south from MOC (on the 80 bridge), and he told us where his left over ¢Welsh Farms¢ ice cream was at MOC (Awesome, Welsh Farms is my favorite local NJ ice cream).