Date: 2017-06-03
From: Ridge over the Delaware River, NJ

To: Stealth site 0.8 below Culver Fire Tower, NJ
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: clear sky

After a late touchdown yesterday and a shower of rain as I was getting going this morning, I treated myself to a later start than usual - 8:42. Although the terrain featured some rockless stretches, the overall theme today continued ¡ la Pennsylvanien, with enough rocks torturing us for all but the most dedicated ATC sadist. Alleviating the angst were some lovely views to both the west and east. To the west were 10, 20, maybe 30 miles of forested low hills and valleys. To the east was farmland and lakes. The sun shone but I didn't bother with a hat or sunscreen as for most of the day I was in the 'green tunnel' and the sun did not penetrate. Around midday I was overtaken by the Danish AT team of Beetle and Friendly Ghost, whom I last saw in The Captain's Place way back in southern Virginia. Friendly Ghost is a violinist and was quick to point out that the dislocated finger injury I sustained on The Priest would have put an end to his career. Beetle has lost even more weight. After we chatted for a while, they took off but I caught up to them again when they stopped for some trail magic. A trail angel called Marilyn had some drinks, popcorn and snack bars available for thru-hikers and we chatted to her for a while. I plodded on, meeting many day and section hikers, and being overtaken by one or two thru-hikers. A big ol' turkey walked in front of me quite unperturbed. I had heard about a restaurant close to the trail near my 20-mile mark, and when I reached that point I walked to it. It is called Gyp's Tavern, and a friendlier place would be hard to find. I ordered a burger and a bratwurst, charged my electrical gear, and when I was leaving, filled my Hydrapak with their lemonade at no extra cost. I chatted to two of the customers beside me at the bar, Ray and Patty. Ray knew Marsh & McLennan, my former employers. He said that Roger, one of his colleagues at Johansson, a maker of electrical components, had lost his wife in 9/11, and that she had been an employee of Marsh. It turned out that she was Angela Kyte, whom I had known and who had even been to our house for dinner on one occasion. We continued to chat about, inter alia, languages (who knew that I would be hearing about the Finnish language?), Acadia, and Irish folk music, which Ray was very familiar with. I spent some time talking to two bikers outside the bar who were fascinated by the AT. Bill, the young owner of the bar, and a former Air Force pilot, turned out to be a huge U2 fan. He has attended 115 of their concerts, starting when he was 12, and will be attending five of the upcoming Joshua Tree Tour concerts. Never mind that he has met 'the boys' - yerra, he's even met Dave Fanning! I learned this while he was driving me to the local grocery store in his beautifully-restored vintage car (and yes, I can't remember what make, model, year it was, and I have no photo...), where he did most of the shopping for me, as he seemed to be able to locate tortillas, packets of tuna, and the like quicker than me. All in all it's no wonder that I got back to the trail in darkness, lost my way and had to navigate back to the trail using Guthook's GPS guidance. As soon as I could find a semi-level spot I pitched my tent. At least I didn't have to cook food.Tipperary