Date: 2003-08-13
From: Eckville Shelter

To: Williams', Walnutport, PA
Miles today: 24.3

What a high! I haven¢t had that much fun since Damascus, with Toby & Ben, Anne, Hal, and Jo. These three guys ¢ Smoky, Cephas, and NanoWolf ¢ were the greatest. We tried to convince each other to go the other way so we could stay together. One of them said, ¢Let¢s take a vote¢¦¢ which would obviously come out three to one, in favor of me turning back South. I joked, ¢Yeah, but I¢m a woman, so I should get two votes!¢ They thought about that for a minute, then agreed, ¢Okay, you can have two votes.¢ Duh ¢ I¢d still lose three to two and have to turn back South. (Not all dumbs are blonde, right Janette?)In the end we settled for photos and exchanging e-mails, then went our respective ways. I was a little sad! But I hiked off their energy all day. Thanks you guys ¢ you helped me more than you know! Looking back, that interaction with people who have come from where I¢m headed was one step towards changing my mind¢¦The morning went fast and I didn¢t really stop until I got to the Cliffs, intending to eat a quick lunch there on the exposed rock ridge. As I began eating I watched a big thundercloud headed my way from the West; it¢s big boom echoed off the hillsides. Then the lightning began, so I got up and headed on. Not long after I was again under cover of the trees the rain came down ¢ in sheets. I passed a group of boy scouts or something ¢ maybe ¢inner city¢ kids. Poor things did not look prepared, despite their adult leaders. I met BS, another SOBO I¢d been told about by the guys last night, right around Bear Rocks and stopped to talk to him for awhile in spite of the shower we were taking. (If we had just had some soap, we¢d have been good to go!) I told him, ¢It¢s true¢ for NanoWolf. He laughed. Nice guy ¢ I would have enjoyed camping with him, too.The rain lasted about 30-45 minutes, broke for awhile, and then started in again for another 30-45 minutes right about the time I came to Bake Oven Knob ¢ another exposed rocky area. It was really somewhat frightening, and maybe not the smartest to keep hiking on the exposed rock, but I wasn¢t sure what else to do. Don¢t they say not to sit under trees in the lightning, either? So I kept on to the shelter and sat for a little while. At last I dragged myself back out in the rain, my ¢appointment¢ to meet the Williams at Lehigh Gap a beacon in my mind. At Lehigh Furnace Gap I met two day hikers, I think a father and daughter. They asked lots of questions; I could see it in her eyes she¢d like to thru-hike someday. I encouraged her to make it happen if it was her dream, and gave them my website.Interestingly, the North Trail (I think that¢s the name) branches off from the AT near here and rejoins a mile or two later. Apparently it is the more scenic of the two; the AT has really not been as scenic as you might expect, not as scenic as I expected, for all its climbs! I had to wonder why when the opportunity was available, as it was here, the scenic route was not the AT!George W. Outerbridge Shelter was mobbed with a youth group, some setting up their tent so its stakes were in the Trail, others cooking dinner sitting on the Trail. That¢s really a pet peeve of mine. I got so disoriented I took a wrong turn and went way down the mountain. Well, just a few minutes. But at the end of a 24 mile day things like that count!The Williams were waiting in the parking lot at Lehigh Gap. I¢d gotten off the phone with Jenny the other day and worried I¢d imposed to call and ask if I could stay the night with them. But she and Amy were so nice I felt at ease immediately. We drove the ten minutes to their house and they kindly escorted me to the shower, showed me where the laundry was, and Amy whipped up an absolutely scrumptious supper of homemade oat waffles with fruit sauce, watermelon, and etc. Even ice cream for dessert! Yummy. Then they let me check my e-mail and make some phone calls so I was able to work out a plan for this weekend.Remember, I had made up my mind I was done and would get off the Trail at Delaware Water Gap on Friday. A friend from high school, Alan, lives in New Jersey, and he is going to come and pick me up in DWG for the weekend. I¢d planned after that to go on home to my parents¢. Fate (or something ¢ I don¢t really believe in fate, per se) had a better idea.I found an e-mail from Toby. He¢s never caught up to me yet, and is a little farther behind then I thought, so he won¢t get to DWG until probably Sunday or Monday. He said, ¢I¢m coming to get you, Pepsi-Buns!¢ I¢d pledged to myself the day I was heading into Duncannon that I wouldn¢t get off the Trail without talking to him. I was sure that even though his motivational speech didn¢t work on ManBird in Damascus, he¢d have some words of wisdom for me.I also got an e-mail from Bushwhack with a detailed itinerary outlined for the last week of August when he and Bramble have been planning to come out and hike with me. I¢d been worrying about what to tell them, having decided to get off the Trail before then. But I looked at that e-mail, and it was such a relief to rely on someone else¢s energy for a little while and I let myself get swept along into their plans. I want to keep going. The promise of Toby¢s company going into New Jersey and Bushwhack and Bramble¢s after that became another beacon and I wanted to keep going.My other beacon is this weekend. I haven¢t seen Alan in about four years. He has since moved from Southern California out here. He¢ll pick me up in DWG, 20 minutes from his house, and I¢ll spend Friday and Saturday nights with him. I¢m so excited. Especially so, because I also get to see another of my dearest friends from high school and college. I called Aprille two weeks ago from my parents¢; kind of randomly, and she mentioned their plans to be in New York City this weekend. So Alan and I will go into the city and meet up with Aprille and her husband Todd to do a little sightseeing. The idea this might work out is largely what¢s kept me racing through Pennsylvania, and what¢s going to get me two DWG three days ahead of schedule. I¢m so excited I can hardly stand it. It will also be my first time to New York.So after some pleasant conversation with Jenny I finally got to bed late¢¦always in civilization! It was fun to sit and talk. Jenny is a sweetheart; she shared some of her art and writing with me, which I loved. The Williams are incredibly nice, generous, and hospitable. I hope I communicated in some small way how much it meant to me to stay there!