Date: 2008-06-02
From: Delaware Water Gap, PA

To: Stealth site .1 past Rattlesnake Spring, NJ
Miles today: 13.4

Man what an eventful day!! It started with an alarm courtesy of the Bangor Waste Management trucks @ 6:45 a.m. Eileen and Scribe took me back to Delaware Water Gap @ 8:15 a.m. They dropped me off at the PO, because I had to mail my sleeping pad and down jacket up to Hanover, NH and my old set of maps\guidebook home. It was hard telling them goodbye, because they made me feel so at home. They are just fantastic people, and one of those rare famlies that are genuinely happy. So thanks again for everything!I mailed my stuff and had my NJ-MA maps and guidebook waiting for me as well as my memory card from my mom. But, the lady brought out THREE packages, not two. Well guess what, my buddy Persistent totally surprised me with a care package!! What's cool is that she mailed it May 10, way before I'd contacted her about transcrbing for me! I was like a freakin kid on Christmas morning. I opened the box to find all sorts of goodies...chocolate, fruit snacks, granola bars, and a bottle of the ever so important Vitamin-I. She wrote a note and also put an encouragng saying for me as well as another hilarious note saying if I needed hand warmers, she has some extra (remember..she always carried like 5 lbs of them!) Man, what a great surprise! Thanks lady, I SO appreciate it...put a huge smile on my face!So I repacked my stuff and headed out of Delaware Water Gap @ 9:19 a.m. It was a beautiful sunny day with high's in the 80's and a nice breeze.I hiked over the Delaware River Bridge and into my 8th STATE!! Whoo Hoo!! Welcome to New Jersey! I just smiled all morning. I stopped @ the visitor center to look around. It's brand new and very nice.Then I headed into Worthington State Park. It's a gorgeous hike up along a stream. I saw a black snake lounging under a bush.I noticed there were day hikers in front of me with a dog. I eventually caught up and it was none other than Trooper and Chef with their Husky Aska, who I so enjoyed meeting @ the 501 Shelter! They had more friends with them and were doing a loop hike today, but it was so cool to see these great women again.We all talked a bit and I headed on to Sunfish Pond, named this because the water is so acidic that only sunfish can survive in it. I really would call this a small lake, and it was beautiful. I stopped on a rock and ate lunch. I watched the sun sparkling on the water. The trail goes right along the banks, and is quite rocky and narrow. During lunch, a water snake swam right in front of me. I went to grab my camera in a rush, and it slipped, fell, hit the ground, bounced, landed on a slanty rock and KURPLUNK! right into the water it went!! I grabbed it quickly, but luckily it's waterproof to 10 feet, so I wasn't worried. Needless to say, I missed the snake.I kept on and a long brown colored snake slithered away by some rocks and then it was a climb up to a ridge. NJ today was rolling ups and downs, nothing overly taxing. I got about 2 miles past Sunfish Pond and was at the high point in the area. It was a fantastic view.I sat there in the sun, strong breeze and just soaked up te almost 360 degree view. Then I hear this weird Swoooooosh sound gettig louder and I shit you not..a freakin glider plane flies RIGHT past me almost at eye level and about 75 feet off the ground!!!! I was like, "WOOOOOOOOOW!!" So I grabbed my camera quickly, but it was going so fast it was almost out of site. Then it turned around and came back right over me so I got 3 fantastic shots of it. I mean how freaking COOL is that!!I finally hiked on and of course I'd been looking for bear all day, but nothing yet, only very tame deer.The ridge was different here, very very thick undergrowth all around it, sporatic trees so you got sun, and the trail was very narrow with bushes and trees often hitting you...what the..HOLY SHIT.. a black bear just came crashing up the hill and walked about 20 feet away from my hammock (I'm typing this in camp obviousy)!!! Hang on...I just snapped a picture through my bug netting, and it isn't the best but I got a pic! WOW!! HOW COOL!!! I'm camping tonight just past Rattlesnake Spring with a group of Outward Bound kids 13-14 yr olds, from Philidelphia, so that bear ran away quickly when all the kids started screaming! LOL I'm safe for sure with them around.Anyways..where was I? Oh, the trail was different than other states, and it's almost claustrophobic at times. I was feeling a bit low energy and thought about stopping @ the Mohican campgroud for hikers. I got to Camp Road and decided to go check it out. I walked the .3 up the road and they offer a bunkhouse bunk for $17.00 or a free campsite. I was interested in camping, so I went into the office to see about it. This place is run by the AMC (Appalachian Montain club), and lets just say I had my first horribly negative experience of the year @ this place. I told the guy I was hiking to Maine, and he asked if I was thru-hiking. I told him I did 955 miles last year, due to an unexpected family issue, and am doing the rest this year. I almost crapped myself when he cups his hands and goes, "Well, if you aren't hiking the whole trail in 1 calendar year then you have to pay a fee for the campsite."ARE YOU SHITTING ME?! So let me get this right, because the AMC seems to hold one "class" of hiker over the other, only "the elite" thru-hiker gets a free campsite while the rest of us lowley hikers have to pay because our hike is somehow lesser? I mean, they are catering to the smallest percentage of hikers out there because the majority of people don't or can't do the whole trail in 1 calendar year and then I'd like to point out the obvious here. Just because someone started on Springer this year and have made it to NJ, it's still no guarantee they'll finish, so this policy is the biggest bunch of crap I've heard yet.Furthermore and most importantly, the AT is for EVERYBODY..every kind of hiker. The trail is the trail, it doesn't care if you're out for 1 day or 8 months, the miles are still just as hard. The AMC is creating a class system with their ridiculous policy and it goes against everything this trail is about! I was so pissed, I turned around and hiked away. I WILL NOT support an organization that turns this incredible trail into a place of privilege for some and not others. Shame on the AMC!! How do we fix this? Either have everyone pay or nobody pay. It's that simple. And no, the fee wasn't huge, but that wasn't the point for me. Class systems don't belong out here.So I left in a rage and climbed out of the gap and headed down towards the Catfish Fire Tower about 2.5 miles away, and snap crash..I actually saw my first bear today here, about 50 ft away in the bushes. We surprised each other completely! It was a full grown bear and it tore away through the thick bush. I didn't even see it till it moved. Amazing these huge animals are afraid of me huh?I got to the fire tower and met Hike Farm from VT. Nice guy. We both climbed the tower and it was HIGH! I kept thinking about poor Persistent freaking out on top of Albert Mt.'s tower. Great views here and very windy up top.We chatted for a bit, and he's a hanger too! We left and he was gone quickly, so it ws down the mountain and to Rattlesnake Spring. I needed water and by now it was almost 6:00 p.m. I decided to set up at the first place I could, and you're walkng along a gravel road here, but a campsite appeared.I set up and ate some of Persistent's snacks for dinner. Just as I was hanging my food, this Outward bound group showed up. I'm cool wth it, but as I type this, they're cooking dinner and I imagine 1\2 the bears in NJ will be attracted to this place. Oh well....They set up camp right under my bear bag, so I took it down and moved it further away to be courteous.It was an exciting day huh? I saw 2 bear, 2 deer, 2 snakes, a glider plane, a beautiful pond, got a surprise from Persistent and dealt with the ever so disappointing AMC. I'm exhausted and now hungry from smelling their food. Hope I still have food in the a.m.! LOLIt's 61 degrees @ 9:30 p.m. I was in shorts and tank top till now and I added my long sleeve shirt, thermal bottoms, fleece pants and knit cap. I think I'll be fine tonight. This group of kids is pretty loud. I'm glad to see them out here though.~Certain