Date: 2004-06-10
From: Leroy Smith Shelter, PA

To: Day 75: PA 611 in Deleware Water Gap, PA 
Miles today: 20.2

As you might imagine, after spending 15 hours on the trail the day before and going to bed at 10:30 p.m., I knew I was going to be tired on AT Day 75. Unfortunately, with a full 20.2-miles to cover before reaching Delaware Water Gap where my wife, Hot Chocolate would be waiting, I had no choice but to get up no later than 4:00 a.m. so I could be on the trail by 5:30 a.m. Once again, it was clear that my shelter mates weren¢t too happy with the commotion so I pulled all my stuff out and put it on the ground near-by to pack and make my breakfast. Luckily my right knee made a ¢miraculous¢ recovery over night (5-hours of sleep) and I was able to make relatively good time despite the never-ending rockiness of the trail.After about five hours I stopped for my morning Power Bar snack and then started my traverse over Wolf Rocks, the latter is distinctive as it is claimed to represent the approximate southern limit of the glaciation along the AT during the last ice-age ¢ all I know for sure is that I was once again being forced to do boulder hopping and rock climbing with a 50-pound pack¢¦Continuing on, I reached the 13.8-mile point and the Kirkridge Shelter in time for lunch. In the shelter I found two SOBO section hikers, still in there sleeping bags. Since the guy was shirtless and the gal was nearly hidden, I made sure I announced my entrance as loudly as possible¢¦ As it turns out these two young people (30¢s) were engaged and were planning on leaving that evening for a night hike. I questioned the wisdom of this plan since the moon was less than a quarter full and it was predicted to rain in the afternoon. The guy explained that he had hiked the AT from Maine to the Delaware Water Gap last year and as such he was experienced and furthermore he thought hiking at night would be cooler and thus make it easier for his fianc© who had just the day before competed her first 7-mile backpack from DWG to this shelter. The young women was also quite concerned about snakes and I told them that I had seen at least one rattlesnake and some very large black snakes every day for the past several days. I asked and they seemed to know that the trail south of this shelter was quite rocky, but I really doubt that they knew how incredibly difficult it would be to find and follow the trail, let alone get across the rocks without slipping in the dark, especially if the rain forecast came true ¢ it did. After replenishing my water supply at the spigot (established and maintained by a church group at the Kirkridge Retreat) a hundred yards uphill from the shelter, I left to let this young couple plan their upcoming adventure in private¢¦Shortly thereafter, I crossed an area aptly known as the Lunch Rocks, and then descended a couple of hundred feet to Totts Gap where the AT junctioned with an old woods road ¢ it was sure nice to be on a relatively smooth path, even if it only ran for a mile or so. Making this brief transition even more enjoyable was the fact that the oppressive humidity and heat were broken by the start of a light rain shower just as I left Totts Gap. A mile or so later, after rounding what is known as Mount Minsi, the AT provided fleeting views of the Delaware Water Gap well over 1000-feet below. Descending down to the DWG was not as difficult as I feared, since the rain-slick rocky terrain soon gives way to a well-graded trail and eventually a road. The only problem with hiking on the road, especially over the last half-mile or so where it paved, was that it was like rocking on one large rock and with my stone bruises¢¦ Let¢s put it this way, I was VERY glad to see our truck and recreational trailer parked at the bottom of the hill.The plan now was for my lovely wife and I to go to a restaurant for dinner ASAP and then drive to NY to park our RT for a couple of weeks. Despite my stone bruises and other nagging injuries, I will of course return to the AT in no more than two days at which time I will cross the PA-NJ border. Seven states (GA, NC, TN, VA, WVA, MD, PA) down and seven (NJ, NY, CN, MA, VE, NH, ME) to go! Better yet, nearly 1,300 miles down and less than 900 to go!!!