Date: 2009-05-17
From: Leroy Smith Shelter

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 20.2
Weather: overcast clouds

If all goes well, as the General says, "Tonight we will be watering the horses in Jefferson." (And we did) Great day on the hike. Up and out at 6:00 AM. It poured all night and there was thunder and lightening. I slept fairly well. It was sprinkling in the morning and cold and very,very windy. A front had come through in the night. I did not cook so I could get to the DWC and the bus by 4:15. My breakfast consisted of Hershey bars, gorp, and Gatorade. I left the shelter with my jacket on and kept it on all day. The sun came out in the PM but it was still cool and very windy most of the day. I hiked quickly over the rocks. There were lots of rocks, as usual. From the shelter to Wolf Rocks ,there was probably only 100 feet of space in sparse places that were without rocks or boulders. I did lots of boulder bouncing and rock hopping especiallly at Wolf Rocks. Actually, I found it fun to do some rock hopping there. Perhaps, it was because it was my last day. The horse to the barn syndrome. I met quite a few people today out hiking. At Wind Gap (And now I know how it got its name), I left a note on PopPop and Granny's car. I ran into Medicine Man, a guy from Tenn who does a lot of section hiking. He wanted to chat and took my photo as I hiked over the rocks. There were lots of people close to the Delaware Water Gap out hiking to go to Mount Minsi and Lookout Rocks. The view of the river from there is spectacular. (Photo) I stopped at Kirkridge Shelter for water from a spigot and took abreak. I skipped breakfast so I was surviving on gorp and Hersheybars with almonds. It seemed to work. The hike went well and I traveled over the 20.2 miles in 8 hours and 30 mins. I got to DWG at 2:30 and went tothe church hostel and took a shower. Jake came in. I was surprised to see him because he said he was stopping at Kirkgard Shelter. There was an outdoors group of about 10 there stopping in after a weekend hike. We chatted. Real nice people. I went down to the bakery and had my traditional hot dog and apple pie for $1.49. I had eaten the same fare when I began this whole thing back in '07. I said good bye to Jake at the Cafe and hiked up thehill to get the bus to NYC then to Worcester. I got in at 10:35 and Joellen came down to pick me up. We stopped at the Brew City for a late night snack and a beer. All in all, not a bad day on the hike. My boots were gone (I actually lost my other heel today), but the superfeet helped over the rocks. All in all, I have traveled 11 states 1589.3 miles with 589 to go. This year section one was 23 days 282.1 and section two 18 days 270.5 for a total of 41 days 552.6 miles.Until next time Keep Hikin' Happy Trails, Peace, SquireObservations: In adddition to the rocks, PA in the north has poor trails that are not well maintained. Also, they are poorly marked . Perhaps it is because there are lots of places to get on so the trail is well used. There is also lots of litter on the trail, especialy at the overlooks and campsites. You donot see this in most states.Also I met the first person that bothered me in a shelter my last night. He had a radio on (late) and talked on the cell phone in the shelter (late) and in the AM while in his bag with everyone still in the shelter he smoked a cigarette. Bad vibes.