Date: 2014-09-02
From: Delaware Water Gap, PA

To: Palmerton, PA
Miles today: 35.7

Leaving Delaware Water Gap in the afternoon (rather than the morning) meant I had to book it to make it to Wind Gap 16 miles away before dark. I should have been running on fumes after getting virtually no sleep the night before. Instead though I felt like I was on fire, racing down the trail fueled on adrenaline and high spirits. Northern Pennsylvania is a lot of ridge walking. Once you climb up onto the ridge it is fairly flat until the next gap. Lots of hikers complain about the rocks. And yes, there are lots of rocks. But compared to what SOBOs have seen before it is not that bad. It just means you have to watch your footing more. My hatred of night hiking kept me going at mach speed the whole day, determined to get there before the sun went down. The rocks meant my head was down with my eyes focused on the five feet in front of me all day, but I managed to get to Wind Gap and get my tent set up before dark! And best of all I was reunited with Knives and Unplugged. Hurray! I had been hearing about the hiker-friendly Beer Stein in Wind Gap for hundreds of miles. To this day it still amazes me that the owner is so generous to hikers. Not only does he let hikers tent behind his property he even has a trailer out back where hikers can bathe and do laundry for a nominal fee. I feasted on a large burger and the darkest beer they had on tap. After that I persuaded one of the customers who was headed out to give me a lift to the grocery store a couple miles away. He was so nice. Not only did he give me a ride up to do my resupply, but he then generously waited while I shopped and drove me back. People are so awesome sometimes! In the morning we waited patiently for the owner of the Beer Stein to arrive. He let the hikers come in the kitchen while he was cleaning and setting up the dining room. What I mean by come in the kitchen is that he let us raid his stores of food and prepare breakfast, as much as we could eat! He does this every single morning for hikers! To me this goes beyond trail magic. Just think about the amount of food he gives away to hikers each season. May he be blessed beyond measure for his kindness and generosity! Hikers have a limited amount of time in the morning to prepare and cook. Sparkle Pony had warned me to have a game plan in mind before walking in there. Luckily we had Thor with us. Thor used to be the executive chef at a restaurant and knew his way around an industrial kitchen. We had talked out what dishes to make, assigned tasks to specific people. Thor supervised as we diced, toasted, chopped, whipped until we had a veritable feast of eggs, home fries, saut©ed veal, bacon, toast, and beef. Everyone filled up until they could hold no more. I took the time to shake hands with and thank the owner. He does not have to do what he does, and I wanted to make sure he knew how much I appreciated it.The restaurant breakfast meant a late start to hiking for a second day in a row. My full stomach weighed me down, the hot sun not helping to quicken my paces. With the exception of Groundfloor, none of the other eight SOBOs made it more than 10 miles that day. I ran into Redwood, who I had met in Delaware Water Gap, at Stempa spring. We both needed a break after the steep and rocky descent to get water. Water, or rather the lack thereof, was still a chief concern. It was at this spring that I did the unthinkable. I drank water without treating it first. I know. I should always treat my water. But watching it pour clear and cold out of the rocks I knew it was fine. Redwood and I tented together not far down the trail beyond the spring. He is tons of fun and brewed us up some homemade chai before dinner! No tea bags for this guy. He packs out a wide array of ingredients and spices so he can still eat well on the trail. Delicious.In the morning the rest of the guys all caught up. They were only camped about a mile behind Redwood and I so it didn't take long. Ranger Stack and Latin From Manhattan raced off to Palmerton on a supply run. And when I say raced I mean that literally. Latin From Manhattan came flying by me on the trail. He loves to trail run. I don't know how he does it with a pack on, but then his pack weighs a lot less than mine. He has opted to go without some of the creature comforts I haul around in exchange for a lower base weight. Knives, Unplugged, and Chicken Fat caught up and passed me next. Redwood and I hiked together for most of the day which was a welcome change. Normally I hike by myself during the day and just meet up with other hikers at camp. Having someone to talk to in northern PA was a nice distraction from the rocks. In fact, Redwood helped me reframe Rocksylvania in my head. He taught me to dance with the rocks." Suddenly having that optimistic mindset made it more of a game and not such a pain in the rear. Staying positive is essential on long-distance hikes, and the trail rewards you for it. Redwood and I made it through the Superfund detour, a deforested section due to zinc smelting, before he blue blazed down to Palmerton for the night. He had inadvertently forgotten his guidebook in Delaware Water Gap and needed to get a new one.Just after that was the descent to Lehigh Gap. This is a rocky, steep downhill lasting a little less than a mile. It reminded me of the rock scramble on Chairback Mountain, only on crack! These rocks were more like boulders. Going down this almost gave me vertigo. I made it through just fine but standing at the top looking down was quite intimidating. Thor caught up to me just as I was finishing this. We both agreed that it was nuts but ultimately kind of fun once you get down. Thor and I caught up to Knives, Unplugged, and Chicken Fat getting water at the next spring. We joined them for a well deserved break before pushing on. We had been warned that there was no water at the Bake Oven Knob shelter so everyone filled up to capacity on water to pack it in the next seven miles. Thor said he was going to take a siesta and laid down for a nap. The rest of us hiked on. When I got to the shelter the boys had already pitched their tents. Ranger Stack and Latin From Manhattan arrived via a blue blaze just a few moments later. We were debating whether to sleep in the shelter (which was kind of janky) or to pitch tents as well when it began to rain. That solved that question. Putting up a tent in the rain is no fun. The shelter was small but we crammed in just fine to cook, eat & hang out until bedtime. Thor never did show up. We all assumed he got caught in the rain and just threw up his tent somewhere. I was a bit uneasy about him, but his father didn't seem worried so I let it go. The rain eventually abated so the boys c Oulu at least walk back to their tents without getting soaked.