Date: 2005-07-10
From: Blue Mountain tentsites

To: Gren Anderson shelter
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: clear sky

We had a slow morning getting up, but our tentsite had such a nice view and we were enjoying the sunrise. Bug and I actually got up at a decent hour, but were just slow moving out of camp. The day was promising to be beautiful. We lingered over a breakfast of oatmeal and finally got our things together, just as Bear Fodder was passing by. We shouted out a hardy hello as he was in his zone hiking away. Soon, Bug and I joined him in hiking down the old woods road to an intersection where we were able to pump some water for the day's hike.Today has been gorgeous, but quite warm. Bear Fodder hikes pretty fast and got ahead of us when he left before us at the road. However, we soon caught up to him at Rattlesnake Mountain. There was a gorgeous vista here of the mountains of NJ. We met an interesting and very informative couple at the top who seemed rather enamored by us hikers. Mad Chapper soon came up the path and just as quickly continued on.After awhile, we headed on as well. This time we hiked out with Bear Fodder and enjoyed a deep theological conversation as we walked. We all decided to bypass the shelter since it was 1/4 mile off trail and were so immersed in our conversation that we continued down the woods road instead of up the side of the mountain where the trail went.Finally, we realized our error and got back on track. Before arriving to Culver's Gap, we ran into many groups that were out for the week/day. We talked with them briefly about where they were hiking to, and answered some of their questions. Upon arriving in the Gap, we decided to bypass the grill after hearing about an incident involving Team Hustle. Apparently, the owners were really rude to a few hikers there, but in turn one of the hikers was fairly inebriated. I am sure that there are true aspects to both sides of the story, but we decided to not take our chance and made our way down to Gyp's Tavern instead. There we enjoyed the coolness of the A/C, the views of Kittatiny Lake, and the yummy food. They were very nice (northern nice, people aren't sugary sweet like they are down south), but in case I haven't said this...things are EXPENSIVE up here. Since crossing that line in PA, there are no free refills, and anything other than the burger is extra (that means lettce, tomato, cheese, french fries).It was a nice rest, but we still needed to hike. There were some nice views along the way, but somewhere Bug and I got separated. We have this thing where we will "WOOO" really loud to know where the other is. I started to do this, but since it was a touristy area, I thought there might be people around and I didn't want to scare them. It is a good thing, because there were two girls just ahead in the woods, meditating. I surely would have interrupted their Chi had I "wooed".I finally caught up to him, as he was waiting for me near Culver Fire Tower. We made our way towards Gren Anderson Shelter where we caught up to Tenbears and were soon joined by Bear Fodder and Lighting Rod. Mad Chapper is supposed to be here, but hasn't arrived yet. We were also treated to Lemon Cookies by Desperado, the maintainer of the shelter. Tonight we are tenting it since the bugs are out. To be honest, I have to sign off, because it is hurting my elbows sitting up typing. There is no other way since the steady hum of mosquitoes has me holed up in the tent. I hear something....it's Mad Chapper, he finally got here. Nite!