Date: 2003-06-26
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: Camp Road/Mohican Outdoor Center
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: clear sky

I didn't sleep well last night, but I'm not sure why. I was comfortable, but was awake a lot. I think I'm thinking about Pa, Dan and Bryan coming tomorrow, and I'm excited about that.Hotdog had to get packages from the Post Office, and repackage and mail stuff, so we weren't leaving until that was done. We went to DWG Diner for breakfast before the PO opened. I had French Toast and white toast, and for the first time, that I've seen, they gave me powdered sugar in addition to syrup! I coated my French Toast with powdered sugar and that made them even better!I relaxed at the hostel while Hotdog did his PO stuff, and we finally left around 11am. It wasn't smart to wait until then to leave, but I was thinking, since we were only going about 10 miles, it wouldn't be too bad. Well, it was hot. My thermometer read 90* at one point today. For a while, I was okay, not too hot, but then the trail reached the ridge and became unprotected from the sun. It was around 2:30pm. Not good timing. By this time, we were about 4 miles from our destination, and those miles didn't go by very quickly. Somehow we managed to make it to Mohican Outdoor Center.I bought a cold soda, then a sandwich and another soda, then an ice cream sandwich. Even though there is not air conditioning, it felt much cooler inside than out, and we stayed in the lodge, relaxing and cooling for almost 2 hours. We met Bono, the self-proclaimed "Slo-mo NOBO". He started his thruhike in December, and is going to work here for the summer until the "heat and bugs go away". It was cool to meet him after reading his journal on Trailjournals.com, and reading his register entries.I'd considered tenting, as it's free for thruhikers, but decided to stay in a bunkhouse instead. Recycled and Footslogger were already here, and Drew and Truckin arrived after Hotdog and I. Also in this bunkhouse is a guy who's working for Fisheries Department and staying here about 4 nights per week. This place is pretty cool, having 3 large bunkhouses, a dining hall, a lake, and tentsites. It would be fun to come here with a large group...when it's cooler. :-)I'm going to try to get going early tomorrow and get some decent miles in before it gets too hot. It was HOT today, especially in the afternoon, and I'll be doing almost 18 miles tomorrow, so the more I do before the afternoon, the better I'll do.I'm excited that I'll be seeing more family tomorrow! They won't be arriving until late tomorrow night, but once I get to the hotel, I'll feel good knowing I can have some time off, or at least some family to hike with for a couple of days. I enjoyed hiking with Michelle, and hope to share that with the guys too. I'm not sure how much hiking they want to do, but I guess we'll decide that tomorrow or Saturday. I don't care what we do really. It will just be good to see them.Now that I'm out of Pennsylvania, I keep forgetting. I was so anxious to get out, and now I have to keep reminding myself that I'm in New Jersey. Half the states are behind me... half in front. That is a good feeling, especially knowing many of the states have a small amount of trail miles within them. I don't want the time to go by too quickly, and yet I'd like to be closer to Katahdin. In a few days, I'll have been on the AT for four months. That is a long time, but the miles have gone by fairly quickly. I am still amazed at how far I've hiked so far. This has been a wonderful adventure so far, and it should continue to be so. It's the best thing I've ever done. And the good news is that there is much more to come.