Date: 2015-06-25
From: George W. Outerbridge Shelter, PA

To: Wind Gap, PA
Miles today: 22.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Up at 7:30am once the sun was high enough to begin warmoing my skin after a cold night huddled in a ball inside of my liner, hands in pants. Moosehead, Burnsides, and I chatted with a few section hikers from South Bend, IN that we had camped next to. We were soon off, moving downhill to where we crossed a bridge spanning the Lehigh River, blue skies promising a nice day of hiking ahead. Looming overhead before us as we crossed the river, however, was a behemoth of a rock rising ~1,000ft in under a mile. I mentally prepared to eat this mountain for breakfast as we approached.With General Burnsides leading the way with a small American flag attached to his pack that I found a few days earlier, I felt like Colonel Chamberlain charging the Rebel forces down Little Round Top at Gettysburg, only moving uphill in this case. In contrast to his successful decisions that day, my charge up the mountain would fall flat close to a third of the way up. With limited water the day before and only 1.5 liters to last me the first ~16 miles today, my body quickly felt the lack of energy and I had to pull off. As Burnsides valiantly continued on with Moosehead, it was obvious the two were familiar with the rocky terrain of the Northeast that awaits us. I, on the other hand, fell to the ground unable to hold myself up. What little extra water my body had was being lost in sweat as it soaked my clothes, eventually leaving salt stains all over my shirt. I eventually composed myself, drinking more of my precious water supply than I wanted to, and continued on.After a couple hundred yards of hand-over-hand climbing and balancing up layers of rocks with minimal room for error, I caught with Moosehead and Burnsides waiting at a point where the climb began to flatten. We were treated to an awesome view looking back on the ridge we had climbed down this morning, a single runway in the distance, the Lehigh River meandering below, and a steady flow of vehicles heading in several different directions. We enjoyed a few moments before continuing on. As we did, we met a few hikers taking a quick break, one girl named Switchback back from Indianapolis.The morning hours would be spent traversing a superfund area along a ridge running above Palmerton, PA. The stretch offered a couple of miles of open views as we walked the length of Palmerton, tucked between 2 ridges. Decades ago the town released zinc pollution, all but killing life on the ridge we were hiking along. As a result, the few water sources in this ~20 mile stretch are pretty much drink at your own risk. Not wanting to test our luck, it'd make for a very long day as we rationed our water. It was during a quick break in the shade of a tree where Moosehead spotted a rattle snake curled up no more than 10ft away. We approached and noticed it was in a coma due to a recent meal + being in the shade. I'm sure it knew we were there, but made no movement until, using our trekking poles, we pushed it away from the trail. We discovered then just how big and heavy it was, wider than the circumference of my arm, as it became pissed and rattled. We soon vacated the area.Skirting along the summit, an erie feeling loomed in the air as we passed through a stretch still in the process of regrowth from the earlier days when pollution caused by humans left this mountain a rocky wasteland. Although now covered with areas of small grasses, shrubs, and occasional trees, dead, limbless trees still dot the ridge, looming like gravestones of the life once taken. Life in the form of many blackberry and raspberry bushes lined parts of the trail and we stopped many times gorging on handfuls, our hands stained purple as a result.We eventually reached Little Gap where we breaked for lunch. It was one of our least enjoyed lunches for we were all low on water and the food was simply a way to add some kind of energy into our bodies. We continued on, shooting for a spring a few miles away that would potentially over water. As I neared its location a section hiker heading south informed me that it was dry. She offered me the last of her water, no more than a cup, which I drank on the spot. The next ~10 miles would pass in a state of deliriousness, fits of dizziness, and an overall state of thinking of nothing more than water. Moosehead and Burnsides would later comment that their experiences were the same.We eventually reached Leroy A. Smith Shelter that had water .4 miles off trail, down a steep hill. With only ~4.5 miles left before reaching Wind Gap, we juggled the idea of pushing on, but ultimately decided it be stupid not to refill. I peed for the first time for the day and my urine was closer to orange than yellow. Time to refill - which I did, in the form of 2.5 liters instantly. The remaining ~4.5 to Wind Gap passed by relatively quickly, if not painfully due to a nagging blister on the bottom of my foot, just below my toes. I somehow pulled away from Moosehead and Burnsides and arrived at the gap over half an hour before them where I didn't move from my horizontal position on the ground during this time.Plans popped up during the day that Burnsides had an old friend who just so happened to be passing through Wind Gap on their way to North Carolina and she wanted to be a part of our journey via spoiling us with trail magic. Plans were to originally meet at the gap, hike back into the woods, and camp for the night. However, with rain threatening overnight (that would never happen, for what it's worth), we scratched those plans and decided to stay in a cheap motel in Wind Gap, PA. I'll skip the details regarding the conditions of the Travel Inn, but do yourself a favor and look elsewhere if you happen to find yourself in Wind Gap, PA.I took a quick shower though I almost felt dirtier after exiting the bathroom, and Burnsides' friend, Ali, and her friend Steve were just arriving. With one of the hotel rules stating no guests, we'd spend the next few hours sitting on the sidewalk outside of our room. Ali and Steve wanted to spoil us and spoil us they did. Klondike Bars smeared all over our beards, Doritos, Pringles, Pirate's Booty, Twizzlers, blueberry cupcakes, dehydrated fruits, beef jerky, NY strip, hotdogs, corn on the cob (still in husks), Coke for me, and beer. Good thing they were entertained by us stuffing our faces because we enjoyed entertaining them. Delicacy after delicacy, we passed the goodies around, slowly slipping into a food coma.With no way to cook the steak and corn, we asked a neighbor who just so happened to have a grill outside of her door. She said to go for it. Ali and Steve went to a nearby store and returned with charcoal and 2 food cooling rack since the grill was missing its heat rack. Time for Chef Cambo to shine. One thing we Midwesterners know how to do is grill steak and corn. I prepared 2 of the steaks medium, 1 medium well, and mine medium rare since I know how to eat a steak. There's a fine line between your meat mooing and moving, and I nailed it. As we worked in on the sliced steak, I took care of the hotdogs and the corn as well. This morning I deuced out what appeared to be an entire corn on the cob so that should tell you how good the corn was.Listening to music, finishing off the food, and enjoying cold beer, the night came to an end too soon as it neared 11:00pm when we entered our room. Moosehead was quickly out beside me in bed, Ali and Steve shared a bed after we invited them to stay as a small show of appreciation, and Burnsides crashed on the floor. We ended the night with an episode of Undercover Boss and it was lights out at 12:00am.Tomorrow brings the Delaware Water Gap NRA, marking the end of Pennsylvania and start of New Jersey. Hopefully the rocks ease up a bit so my blistered foot can find some relief.Here's to the last full day in Pennsylvania, mother nature slowly reclaiming what's hers, and receiving more than we deserved from Ali and Steve.