Date: 2005-06-30
From: Lehigh Gap

To: Home (Zero Week)
Miles today: 0.0

Up and gone before 7:30 AM. I figured I would get out and on the road in time to catch the "going to work" crowd. My first ride, a female Harley Rider, dropped me off at the intersection of I-33 near Wind Gap (I would stay the night in this area when I got back on the trail). A nice spot lining me up for the next hitch. I did not walk any further because there was a diner nearby and some shade overhead (I figured no ride then its off to lunch plus the shade felt good in the climbing heat). My next ride did not go far but indeed went far enough. Each ride set me up for the next hitch and then the next then so on and so on. It took a total of five rides to make it home (I arrived there at 6:30 PM, an eleven hour ordeal).   In Pennsylvania I was stopped by a State Trooper who said I could not hitch hike in the state (he gave me a warning). So I did the next best thing, I made a cardboard sign and hung it off my back that said "AT thru-hiker, going North". I put a big symbol of the AT on the sign and was picked up fast. In the Delaware Water Gap, NRA (National Recreation Area) a Park Ranger (Susan) stopped me and also told me I could not hitch hike. She told me I was border line soliciting a ride with the sign and could be fined for doing so. I did not argue the point, I just flat out asked her if she would give me a courtesy ride to the other end of the park (she did, all the way to Port Jervis). I think she just wanted to get me out of her park.      I walked over the Delaware River on a bridge that was the border of PA and NY. I was about to hitch north on highway 209 when the last of my rides pulled over and asked if I wanted a lift. He was on his way to Vermont, and I said that, " in a way, so am I". He dropped me off almost at my front door. I met some great people who were so nice to give me rides well out of there way. As I mentioned, they all dropped me off where I could get the next ride fast (the most I walked was in the Delaware Water Gap NRA). From a local store I called my wife and she came down to pick me up. I stayed at home until the 6th of July, then I caught a bus and was dropped off in Port Clinton, PA.    I had my 4th of July party which actually started on the 3rd. There were many friends and family there with questions about the trail. I had photos and plenty of stories. I also had no doubts that I would return, I just did not know exactly when. This was the first time I went home on the trail since I left in March (about three and a half months).         I weighed my self at home and was down to 173 lbs. I was at 205 when I started the trail. Physically I was a mess and needed the recovery time. My feet were swollen and I could barley walk barefooted for the next few days. My wife made me promise I would eat more on the trail to try to gain the weight back. During the week home I put on about 10 pounds and stayed at about that weight for the rest of the trail.    The Summer was upon us, and it sure was getting hot and humid. I grew up in this part of the country and could tolerate it more then most. It was just that I suffered heat injuries in my past and I knew that there was a need to take the situation seriously. Hydration and rest was the plan now. I was close enough to home as well to set up some weekends off with my wife and family (I jokingly called them "my conjugal visits with my wife"). It was also nice to spend some time with my son and my father as well.   Personal note: The only family member that did not make the party was my sister Margaret, she was missed and I wish she could have shared the moment.