Date: 2015-07-07
From: Delaware Water Gap 

To: Mohican Outdoor Center 
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: light rain

It rained again this morning as I was about to get up, and laid there until it subsided. At 8 am I went to the Farmers Market and Bakery for their breakfast sandwich, but the electrical power was out and all they could sell me was pastry for cash. So I bought what they call a "cloud", a large square pastry filled with cherry puree and cream. It was heavenly. Then I went to the post office to pick up my maildrops, a ton of food, insoles and Rail Riders insect repellent shirt and pants. Good timing as the zipper busted yesterday on the convertible pants I have been wearing since the start of this thru-hike. I have been wearing them as shorts for the past two weeks and the only way to get them off was to unbuckle the belt and let them drop as I've lost 3 to 4 inches off my waist. Back at the hostel, I went inside to get a towel to dry off my tent and I was surprised to see Ice-fire, whom I first met on day 3, March 30th, at Nell Gap in Georgia. I hadn't seen him since Damascus and he's lost weight since then. He came to the hostel just to take a shower and was out and back on the trail by the time I finished packing up my tent and gear. I got back on the trail at 10:30, crossing over the Delaware River Bridge into New Jersey, the eighth state of this thru-hike. Thank God I'm finally out of Pennsylvania and it's rocks. New Jersey is a lot more scenic than Pennsylvania. The AT runs along side Sunfish Pond, a 41 acre glacial pond that is "one of the seven natural wonders of New Jersey". Who knew New Jersey had any natural wonders! I thought it was just petro-chemical plants, and the stomping grounds of Bruce Springsteen and Southside Johnny. But Sunfish Pond is a beautiful place. While I was taking a break there, Iceman comes around the corner hiking this section southbound. I'd be surprised now if I didn't see him every day! I reached 1,300 miles of hiking the AT today in a little over three months. That's more miles than my daughter Amy puts on her car in the same amount of time! New Jersey has rocks but it's not as incistant as in Pennsylvania. As I approached Kittatinny Mountain it started raining, but for only 15 minutes. My shoes and socks were soaking wet again but the rest of me stayed dry under my umbrella. I came across three youth groups hiking south. The second group chanted "No rain, no pain, no Maine" when they saw me coming. They asked my trail name and how long I have been hiking and were impressed when I said this was my 100th day. By 4 pm and with rain forecasted for tonight, I decided to stay at the Mohican Outdoor Center. I paid $33.00 for a bunk in the bunkhouse, which I thought was expensive. But the bunkhouse is a building with four rooms with four bunks in each room, a large living area with four couches, and a kitchen with hot water, stove, microwaves, and two refrigerators. It's pretty nice inside and I am the only one here. So it's a pretty good deal for $33 to have the whole place to myself. I dried my socks in the oven (thru-hikers have to be innovative sometimes) and cooked the 1 lb summer sausage from today's maildrop in a frying pan on the stove, which is a far better way to eat that thing. At least that's one less pound I have to carry tomorrow.