Date: 2004-07-22
From: Wind Gap

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: scattered clouds

The Fugitive The fugitive running as fast as he canEscape guised as journey, veiled by his planThe prison he runs from; some call it lifeAway from the stocks of stresses and strifeBreaking the chain of vain expectationAway from bars of bored occupationHe runs toward freedom, covering groundBut it's in his running freedom is foundThe woods cloak his hurt and hide all his tearsHe runs alone, but he runs without fearsThe prison he sees, he built with his handsThe prison he flees; his own mind's demandsThe fugitive running, as fast as he canThe fugitive running, I am that man. -Beatbox ttt-Today was a walk of solitude and introspection (with a touch of boredom thrown in, too). I awoke at 6:00 am, ate cereal, packed and said final goodbyes to Todd, Michele and Amanda. I took a picture of them shortly before leaving. I'm going to miss them so much. No amount of thanks is sufficient for all the support and kindness they've given me. As we drove, Todd tried to convince me to write a book, but I'm not confident I write well enough for such an endeavor. Still, I felt special as he dropped me off and we said goodbye for the last time. As Todd drove off, I was overtaken with exhaustion.It was 7:00 am, but I couldn't leave the parking lot for another twenty minutes. I was essentially sleepwalking as I climbed from the gap to the ridge. Apparently, climbing is easier when you're asleep. My last day on the rocks, why was I so tired? Twice, during the first 3-miles I took breaks from the rocky 'mope' to nap on the side of the trail. Even so, I could not wake up. As I hiked on, the realization of how free I am, even on my worst days, hit me. I began to compose a poem in my head. A couple miles later, I paused again to capture the verse. The 'above' poem is the end product of my 'pause.' Then, to wake up, it was chocolate covered espresso beans!As I started again, the heat was increasing and the trees amplified the mugginess. I tried to pray, but was failing even worse than yesterday. That's when I decided on the next best thing; singing to the Lord! For the next two miles I sang dozens of songs to God. It was so real. As I sang, "How Great Thou Art," my surroundings seemed to awaken. As I broke into, "Amazing Love," my heart stirred. I was so content and so awake as I reached the final rocky challenge of Pennsylvania, Wolf Rocks. It's awesome, how meditating on God really picked me up. I will admit, however, that the espresso beans probably played a part as well.Sometimes I imagine Pennsylvania as a boxer aiming for that knockout blow after a succession of jabs. The big punch was thrown at me towards the end of Wolf Rocks. I slipped on a huge rock and dropped down nearly two feet, but thankfully landed on my toes. Having avoided the final onslaught, I knew victory was mine. At the end of the rocks, three buzzards seemed to be talking to each other. It reminded me of a scene from Disney's "The Jungle Book. "What you wanna do?...."I don't know, what you wanna do?" I snickered as they flew away. I sauntered on to the shelter. Twenty-five trail miles without seeing a single hiker! I felt lonely and wrote about it in the shelter log, copied my poem, and indulged myself with a long nap.I awoke groggily with no sense of time. 6.6-miles into town and still no one around; I could do it! A short while later, I passes a woman who was not talkative but she told me it was after 2:00 pm. Uh-oh, time for another post office scramble. All of my energy kicked in and I returned to yesterday's form. I flew over the last few rocks and the trail again melded into a gravel road. My big revelation of the day: My ideal job-President of the United States of America. I know this isn't realistic, but it I think it is my idea of a perfect job. A job full of excitement, requiring extreme intelligence coupled with superb people skills, a job where godly leadership is a must. The odds are greatly stacked against me, but who knows? I daydreamed and sang, "The Star Spangled Banner" as I flew down the trail past trees...."BEATBOX FOR PRESIDENT IN 2016"....ahhh! Fantasy is lovely, but I could have a strikingly similar noble, but under-appreciated and difficult job as a teacher, too! But "Mr. President" sounds better, though. Maybe I'll be both!!! As I finished planning my election stances, I said goodbye to the last few Pennsylvania rocks and arrived at Delaware Water Gap as the 4:00 o'clock bells rang. 9-miles in 7-hours, followed by 6.5-miles in 2-hours...I love consistency!Delaware Water Gap is another lovely trail town with quaint homes and friendly people. I made it to the post office with fifteen minutes to spare, picked up my package (this one was not lost) and headed to the Presbyterian Church of the Mountain Hiker Center Hostel. I entered and saw the sign, "Dinner at Six"....What? I also saw Arms' girlfriend, Colleen, (aka The Dude) who had skipped ahead due to an arm injury. I caught up and we decided to grab a Coke at the pizza shop (I'm still an addict!). After being lonely all day yesterday, I had a friend...yippee!The Dude and I chilled, talked and I enjoyed my Coke "fix." My spirits were awakening with the good refreshments and conversation. We walked halfway across town, back to the church hostel (just kidding...500 feet!) and met Don Magic Wand, a chill, southbound section hiker from York, PA. We were chatting when Pastor Karen came in and announced, "All you can eat food on the porch!" Score!!! We walked up to the table to find pierogies, scalloped potatoes, hot dogs, pizza, deviled eggs, vegetables and more...SWEET! Everyone was amazingly kind as we grubbed out. We talked with a few couples, a college professor, a ridgerunner named, Ryan and tons of other friendly folks. After that, I spoke with an older gentleman, John, and in the course of conversation, asked if he knew where I could find Internet access? His answer: "My house! I'll pick you up tomorrow morning at 8:00 am." What a perfect dinner!Just as I was leaving, Skirt and Dingle showed up. I pointed them toward the food and Don Magic Wand, then The Dude and I went for a walk. We chilled and talked about the trail, Baltimore, girls and more. DMW (Don Magic Wand) invited me to have a beer with him at The Deer Head Inn, the local jazz club. (I keep calling it, The Deer Tick Inn!). We talked about sports, college and serving. The bartender was sweet and we joked about music. We were only going to have "one each" when a very inebriated man threw a five dollar bill at us..."next round on me." We called it quits after two and returned to the church to chill with The Dude, Dingle and Skirt. Yay!As the five of us chilled, Pastor Karen (very sweet) joined us, asking our names. Upon hearing Dingle's name, Pastor Karen said, "I won't ask!" Ha! Truth be told, Dingle is short for Dingle Haus, no other "dingles!" Turns out, during my 2-days of solitude, Skirt and Dingle were just behind me. At least we were together now. We talked into the night telling stories of certain obnoxious hikers (not us, of course!) and I beatboxed and read journals, and my favorite activity, we read USA Today. After months of isolation, news is always a combination of shocking and funny. Imagine, democrats and republicans are still not getting along (big shock), Lance Armstrong is about to win another Tour de France (bigger shock) and the Orioles are still big losers (biggest shock of all!). Dingle read that prisons are banning cigarettes...apparently, some prisoners are "feeling testy." We all laughed. Thanks, USA Today...My dad was a prison guard for twenty years. I wonder how he would feel about the "testy prisoners?" After more laughing, DMW and The Dude passed out. I grabbed The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis; the fifth book in The Chronicles of Narnia, and am now curled up to drift away to the land of fantasy. Despite a lonely day, friends and blessings now surrounded me . I look forward to new adventures in the future and the blessings to come.Now to read....GoodnightBeatbox ttt