Date: 2008-05-22
From: Leroy A. Smith Shelter PA

To: Lookout Rock Campsite PA 
Miles today: 18.7

Day 95 ¢ Thursday May 22 ¢ Lookout Rock Campsite PA ¢ Miles Today: 18.7 Total Miles: 1280.1We had a dry night until early this morning when the sprinkles arrived. Thinking that we had a short day planned, we decided to lie in the tent, as it was cold - mid 40s - and wet and we really didn't care to be hiking in those conditions. Around 7:00 the sprinkles appeared to lighten so we packed up and headed out.We had a mixture of sun, cloud and sprinkles all day long. Depending on the degree of sprinkles, we oscillated between no rain gear, to just our rain jackets to our full rain gear.   It was a tad bit chilly with the wind blowing and didn¢t want to get our clothes too terribly wet, so we adjusted our gear throughout the day. About 75-80% of our day was on the infamous Pennsylvania rocks. For the last couple miles we enjoyed hiking along an old logging road. Perhaps we are past the worst of the rocks. The Pennsylvania rocks are no different than the rocks anywhere else; it's just that they're for a much longer duration. I think the feeling amongst the thru-hikers is that they get a harsher rap than they really should, but they are definitely physically tiring, especially to the feet, lower legs and knees, and they're definitely mentally tiring, especially when you have a rainy day on top of the rocks. But I think we're pretty much out of them.We had a late lunch at 3:00 at the Kirkridge Shelter because we had decided that rather than doing a short day of 13.8 miles that we would continue on to get closer to the Delaware Water Gap (DWG), where we resupply tomorrow. This way we¢ll have time for our errands without feeling rushed. We enjoyed filling our water bottles and washing our hair at the spigot at the shelter! Sweet deal! Our book did not identify any camping spots between Kirkridge Shelter and DWG, but the terrain is mighty flat according to the profile, so our game plan was to walk until we found a spot to pitch our tent. We walked about 5 more miles in just 2 hours before we found a great spot to call home for the night. We're camped in a little grassy area amongst some boulders overlooking the valley. As we sit on the boulders we can see below us Pennsylvania, New Jersey, I-80 and the Delaware River separating the two states. We can hear the traffic on I-80 so I'm sure we'll have some humming white noise tonight to lull us to sleep. A couple of younger whippersnapper thru-hikers passed us today. I think at the rate we're being passed, by the time we get to Katahdin our numbers might be 500 rather than 50, but that's OK. They all seem to be in such a hurry. Very little communication is desired on their part and we can see their hurried state when they are eating. The food is shoved into their mouths, and before the last mouthful is swallowed their packs are on and they are on their way again. It looks like a very frantic pace to us. Not so much fun.It's 55 degrees right now inside the tent. It feels cooler outside with the wind blowing. It's just past 7:00 and I think we're pretty much wrapped up for the night. There¢s a bakery at Delaware Water Gap so we hope to be able to check that out tomorrow. We might also visit the Outfitter. We¢ve been thinking of switching out our rain gear for ponchos. And after 550 miles, Brakeman¢s socks have also worn through at the heels, so we might get him new socks, though he thinks he can get more miles out of them without having friction issues on his heels. We shall see.We have now dipped under 900 miles remaining. The official number of miles remaining is 896.1. Woo Hoo. Goodnight from 1.5 miles short of Delaware Water Gap. Tomorrow we¢ll be in New Jersey, which means there will be no more rain, right? Goodnight.