Date: 2005-06-10
From: Church of the Mountain Hostel

To: Church of the Mountain Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

Miles hiked today : 0.0I woke up this morning at 7:30 a.m. and walked to the Delaware Water Gap Diner for an excellent omelette. After breakfast, I returned to the hostel and Navigator showed up shortly before 9:00 a.m. He, Snail and I hopped into his car and headed to Paramus, NJ.Navigator was fun to talk with and the hour long drive flew by. I found out that being a seasonal ridge runner actually pays decently at $320 per week plus a $25 weekly gas stipend. The average ridge runner hikes 8-12 miles per day while stopping to talk with people to educate them about "leave no trace" principles. Navigator also told us that New Jersey has a bear population of 1,500 and that we'd be "unlucky" to not see a bear during the hours of 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. while passing through.At Campmor, I purchased a new pair of boots by Asolo and also picked up a bug net to sleep under, which will allow me to cowboy camp without fear of being eaten alive by insects. Campmor was out of trekking pole tips, though I was able to purchase them next door at EMS. Both tips had been severely worn down and one had no metal left at all. Happily, Navigator had a card that allowed for a 10% discount on my purchases at both Campmor and EMS, which saved me nearly $20.After visiting the outfitters, I told Navigator that Snail and I wanted to take him to lunch, so we headed to a nearby Pizza Hut for the lunch buffet. When the check came, I grabbed it and set it on the far side of the table, though after making another trip to the buffet, I found that Navigator had the check in his possession. He said that he couldn't let us pay for lunch, and after a brief protest, both Snail and I thanked him. He told us that we'd probably need the money somewhere along the line.After lunch, Navigator took us back to the hostel and I gave him my hiker card. It's possible that I'll run into him within the next few days while hiking through New Jersey. Back at the hostel, I packaged up my old REI boots, which had served me well for over 1,300 miles on this trip and more than 1,500 miles since I've had them. The soles had almost no tread left on them and I'd worn holes in the right side of each boot. I took the package to the post office and mailed it home. Hopefully my new boots won't take too long to break in.I returned to the hostel after the P.O., but soon left again with Opa to walk to the convenience store for ice cream and a can of fruit punch. After this trip, I took a 2 hour nap on the couch until 5:30 p.m. It was hot and humid all day, so napping and lounging around was really the only thing to do.Around 7:00 p.m., Opa rousted me to walk to the diner for dinner. I had another excellent meal there, which made 3 restaurant meals in 1 day. Dad's Grin would be so proud. After dinner, I was reading a magazine when a local, Gina, showed up asking about Tea Break. Tea Break is a British thru-hiker that had all of his hiking gear stolen in Costa Rica while he was re-validating his passport. I told her about his situation and after she looked through the register, we were invited to her place to hang out. After journaling, a few of us headed over to her place to listen to music and socialize.I'm headed into New Jersey tomorrow morning with new boots. Hopefully they'll treat my feet well over a 17.8 mile stretch to a 1 mile side trail leading to a screened in shelter at a YMCA campground.Bedtime at 12:35 a.m.