Date: 2015-06-21
From: Stealth campsite south of Hahn's Overlook

To: Delaware Water Gap - Pocono Inn
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: scattered clouds

I woke up in the rain to a text message from Chris, "Not getting up yet."While I waited for him to be ready, I checked to see if Pizza Hut would deliver to the Pocono Inn tonight. I wanted to capitalize on that medium pizza deal again. No luck, though. Someone should build a Pizza Hut near Delaware Water Gap.Soaked tent stuffed in Gertrude, we set off to cover the 17ish miles to town.And from the beginning, my feet hurt. It was like walking on magnified sandpaper for most of the morning, my feet constantly getting pinched, crammed, and stubbed. And they were wet, so I slipped and slid and was a disaster as usual. I did NOT fall today, though!A few hours into our hike, Chris got stung by something. We think. Another mystery injury. He was VERY angry. There was a lot of swearing and throwing of trekking poles. We pulled off the trail, and he swung his pack to the ground, ripping through it until he found Wet Wipes to clean his wound. I was a little uncomfortable because of the rage but tried to be helpful, offering him AfterBite from my first aid kit (thanks, dad!).After a few minutes he recovered and calmed down a little. "I can't even remember the last time I was stung by something." He said. I have NEVER been stung by a bee in my entire life. Weird, right? I feel like most of the time, as a child, I just ran away faster and poor Candace ended up as the target.While we were stopped and I had my first aid kit out, I slapped a bandaid with antibiotic ointment on my elbow. It was looking a little green and swollen.I also took the time to start rehydrating my lunch. This is a new tactic I have been working on lately. If I mix water with my dehydrated veggies and instant rice or pasta a few hours before lunch, they are the perfect consistency for eating by lunchtime. Today I had rice with dehydrated mixed vegetables, plus parmesan cheese. Very enjoyable.We passed the bypass trail for Wolf Rocks. I got excited. If there is a bypass trail for something, chances are that it's dangerous. And dangerous is usually AWESOME. And then a group of runners passed us, one of them calling out as they passed, "You've got some rocks ahead of you!"I felt like yelling, "OH?! ROCKS?! YOU DON'T SAY!" I had been walking on rocks all freaking morning. Pennsylvania is famous for rocks. OF COURSE there were rocks ahead of us. Sometimes I think the rocks will never end. They hurt my feet, but only really bother me when they are slick and I am in danger of breaking my face.The rocks did get bigger, though, and we transitioned from sandpaper trail to climbing up boulders. Another good, dangerous climb. We deposited our packs and scrambled up to enjoy the view.A strong breeze was blowing at us over the treetops. We sat there for a long time, and I closed my eyes, soaking it all in. The sun was beginning to peek through the clouds, and I imagined myself at the beach. The breeze reminded me of the beach for some reason. It was like green leaves before us were grains of sand, and the land sin the distance were still ocean waves.The moment actually reminded me of being a child in the woods at summer camp (the same camp I worked at for years and years). I think it was there that I first fell in love with forest and trail, finding some romantic magic in it, daydreaming of wild adventures.Of course, I still hated hiking as a child, being a lazy, couch-potato bookworm. But the seed had still been planted.Eventually we returned to the trail, and picked up my trekking poles... to find a CATERPILLAR on one of the wrist straps. I have no freaking idea what is up with Pennsylvania this year, but these freaking things are EVERYWHERE. These stupid gypsy moth caterpillars are dead on trees everywhere, and crawling all over the trail. Caterpillars don't usually bother me but these are so ubiquitous lately that it freaks me out. It's like a horror movie. I keep waiting to wake up to find them covering my tent, poised to devour me.Anyway, one was on my trekking pole strap, with guts oozing out where the head should have been. Ughhh. Gross. It was DEAD. how the heck did it get there?!I tried to shake it off, but somehow that sucker was attached like Velcro. I ripped a leaf off of a nearby bush, silently apologizing to it, and wiped the dead little guy off. Then I wiped his guts off. Then I cringed a little as I slipped my wrist through the strap, knowing I was getting bug juice all over me. Oh well.As we were climbing back down from Wolf Rocks, picking our way down steep and slippery boulders, we passed a couple of day hikers. "How are you guys today?" I asked them."As good as we can be, considering we're in mortal peril." One of them responded.Mortal peril?! This was a BIT of an exaggeration. Sure, the rocks were scary, especially with the unpredictable weight of a pack (so easy to overbalance!), but MORTAL PERIL? "Come on, wimp, suck it up!", I thought, but just said with a laugh, "You'll be okay!".We stopped at a shelter for lunch and spread out our wet things to dry. By then, the sun was blazing, so my tent dried fairly fast.Coco and Magnus showed up and dried out their stuff, too. Then the Aussie Legs joined us, eating cheese with ranch dressing on tortillas for lunch. We were there for hours, enjoying the company, talking about other hikers, and sharing our real names. The Aussies told me the origins of their trail names, and Firebear gifted all of us with candies.Then it was only 6.4 miles to Delaware Water Gap. I did not want to hike 6.4 more miles. I just wanted to collapse in the middle of the trail and take a nap. A 12 hour nap. But there was pizza to be had, and even though I had just eaten lunch, I just thought about pizza for those 6.4 miles. Pizza, pizza, and more pizza.And that last stretch and descent into town was gorgeous. It reminded me of home so much! The views and the trees and the swiftly flowing streams... it took some of the foot pain off of my mind. We stopped for water just before reaching the parking lot before town, and I strolled along slowly behind Chris, drinking it all in.Then we reached the parking lot, finding a bag full of peanut M&Ms labelled, FOR AT THROUGH HIKERS ONLY PLEASE. Chris laughed uproariously. He knows of my addiction. Perfect trail magic for a Red Panda exhausted after a long day of hiking!I was happy to get to town. I feel like I need at least a nero, even though it seems like I taken them so often. It is amazing how much your body can do, but also amazing how much and how quickly it can recover and heal when you give it a chance.We got ice cream, and then a lady pulled over as we were walking down the sidewalk, handing us $10 through the passenger window as trail magic. Her trail name was Sug (as in Sugar Mama). Amazing. It went towards pizza.We stopped at the outfitter, running into Doc, Forward, Klank (I was spelling his name wrong before, oops!), and even more hikers, who told us that the Pocono Inn, where we were supposed to be staying with Coco and Magnus, was like something out of The Shining.Magnus and Coco had some trouble checking in at the Pocono Inn. Their room was still dirty. The Aussie Legs had the same problem. So while we waited, we went and got a pizza. It wasn't great. While I rated it 5 out of 10, Chris gave it a generous 6 (because it had a lot of vegetables). I still ate half of it, despite my slight disappointment. Still pizza, still delicious.I resisted purchasing sugary snacks from the bakery. It was so tempting. Instead, I bought rubbing alcohol to bathe my wounds in. They seem a little infected. I am sure it doesn't help that I am NEVER DRY.We returned to the inn and an older man, missing teeth and wearing grungy overalls, eyed our own grungy attire and asked us if we were train-jumpers. Apparently this is a thing? Train jumping? I feel like the age of rising the rails should be in the past. It was very strange encounter. The guy was certainly a little off, and might have been more than a little drunk.Then it was chore time: dry things out, do laundry, shower, etc. I found a tick on my arm in the shower. I spent about 30 seconds scrubbing it, thinking, "WHY WON'T THIS DIRT COME OFF?!" before I realized it was a critter sucking away at my life force. Chris kindly removed it for me after Coco and Magnus came over, asking, "Can we look at it?". They hadn't seen a tick before! Seemed weird to me, and brought back the reality of how big America is. There are no ticks in their home state.And now it is bedtime. Tomorrow, I will visit the post office early, and then... north!I am thankful for the beauty of the trail, friends to share hotel rooms with, and the closeness of home. Also I am anticipating some solitude soon, which I really, really need. I will be thankful for that.