Date: 2017-07-15
From: Wind Gap, PA33

To: Delaware Water Gap, PA
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: broken clouds

Tonight we are camped at Delaware Water Gap Recreation Area, poised to cross the river into New Jersey tomorrow.  Pennsylvania did her best to charm us as we were leaving, perhaps so we won't hold a grudge about all those rocks.  The second half of today's hike was lovely.  There were several cleared spaces where we got nice views of farmland below.  Near the end we got a good view of the Delaware River from a rocky spot (see photo).  As we got lower we saw the rafts and kayaks of weekend boaters.  Lower down the mountain we passed through thickets of rhododendron, cool and clean smelling at the end of the day.  We also saw some lovely purple mushrooms.  We've been seeing fruitings of many different kinds of mushrooms, fresh and lovely, in every imaginable color.  If I had to make a slogan for Pennsylvania's share of the trail I'd call it "land of many mushrooms."  (A less flattering, but also truthful, one would be "land of ever present traffic noise."  The AT corridor through Pennsylvania is narrow, and I heard traffic noise nearly every mile of the way.).   Most hikers refer to it as Rocksylvania.  There were a lot of rocks, but it was not nearly as bad as I had expected.We have been seeing a different kind of blackberry here.  A man in Shenandoah National Park told us earlier that there was a blackberry that had large fruit - much larger than the ordinary ones. For the past several days we've been seeing - and eating - this kind of berry.  The ones we saw today grew on very short bushes, and the berries were nearly on the ground.  We also met a nice ridge runner named Master Splinter (see photo).  (Ridge runners are hired by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy to patrol the trail to encourage hikers to obey the rules that apply to each section of the trail.  Various sections restrict or prohibit camping in areas that have suffered environmental damage from overuse or are being reforested.). He had had a long chat with Rennie in the parking lot and had showed him a very nice campsite that is tucked away in the woods not far from the van.  We're now camped there listening to the sound of steady traffic crossing the bridge into New Jersey.  White noise rather than the bird sounds I expect at night.Tonight Arlene, Bill, Terri, and I had dinner at a bakery in the small town of Delaware Water Gap. As we finished Terri got a box so she could take her macaroni and cheese for lunch tomorrow. She looked at it and announced that tomorrow she would be eating it with her fingers.   I asked, "Don't you have a spork?"  She responded, "Yes, but I don't keep it in my pack.  It's [extra] weight."  There was a brief pause, then Bill spoke.  ¢I saw a hiker today all hunched over, weighed down by his pack.  And I thought to myself, ¢Now there's a man with a spork in his pack.¢" We all laughed so hard we cried.  Each time one of us thought of it again it started all over again. It made me feel a bit less tired and grouchy.  I've not been getting enough sleep.  Yesterday was a mail pickup day in Wind Gap.  I hit the jackpot again.  Thanks to Will and Janice for the scrumptious Medjool dates and to Tony for his assortment of Greek baked goods.  And special thanks to Meggie for her assortment of protein-rich food packets, each labeled with its protein content and calorie count.  If I don't get enough protein in my diet it won't be your fault.