Date: 2004-07-29
From: Near Leroy Smith Shelter, PA

To: Will These Rocks Ever End?
Miles today: 20.2

The weather looked promising this morning so I put on dry socks. My other pair of heavy duty hiking socks were damp; I clipped them to the rear of my backpack where they would be exposed to the air and hopefully dry.Within forty minutes of hiking, my previously dry socks and shoes were soaked. After 3 1/2 months of hiking, I should have known that the grasses on the trail would still be wet following a heavy downpour the night before. Now, thanks to this oversight, my two key pairs of hiking socks were wet as I began hiking.The rocks eased up for a while, but then things got nasty after I passed through a place called Wind Gap.For mile after mile, the trail was covered with those "ankle slapper" sized rocks. There were few opportunities to place a foot on flat ground. I spent most of the time hiking slowly and keeping my eyes glued to the trail immediately in front of me. My feet, already sore to begin with, became all the more painfulMy hiking shoes¢my second pair of hiking shoes¢have been ripping apart; they will have to be replaced.I met a former thru hiker who was on a day hike. He told me that I was going to have a tough time making it up to Mount Katahdin by the closure date at Baxter State Park. During our conversation, Wipeout showed up. She was hiking the stretch of trail to Delaware Water Gap where her boyfriend was waiting in a rental car.I hiked with Wipeout for the rest of the day. We stopped to rest at a shelter and read the register to find out where other hikers were located on the trail. To our surprise, Chuggs, one of the hikers from Day 1, was only a few days ahead of us. He had taken a few days off. We agreed that it would be great to catch up to him.There was a middle aged man at the shelter who was drying out his gear. His clothes, his tent, and all kinds of stuff were hanging all over the place. Amid this mess, he was sitting and reading a paperback book.I asked him, "What are you reading.""A book," he replied in a curt manner, not bothering to look up at me or Wipeout.He did say a few things as Wipeout and I were preparing to leave. He smiled and said something like, "Watch out for the glowing nuclear materials when you get to New Jersey."Huh?It was gradual, but the spaces between the rocks widened as we got closer to Delaware Water Gap. Could this mean the infamous rocks of Pennsylvania are petering out? Or do the rocks continue beyond the town where New Jersey begins?We were picked up in town by Bill, the boyfriend of Wipeout. My plan had been to visit a hostel and take a day off in this town. The hostel owner permits stays of only one night, so I planned to spend the second night in a hotel. My plan changed when I learned that tomorrow night, the hotel rate jumps from forty something dollars to around one hundred and forty dollars. There is a big NASCAR event happening this weekend at the nearby Pocono raceway. The hotel operators are jacking up the rates for the racing fans. Accordingly, I asked Bill to drop me off at the hotel for the first night of my stay, before the rates jumped.Later, Bill and Wipeout drove Baloo and I to a nearby town where we visited a laundry, grabbed a bite to eat, and resupplied. I even found the time to visit a barber shop.Back at the hotel, I took a bath with Epsom salts. My feet are hurting bad. Is the pain only a reaction to hiking among the rocks for several days? Or are my beat up hiking shoes the culprit. I can't know for sure because even when I walk barefoot on the carpet in my room, my feet ache.