Date: 2022-08-31
From: Wind Gap

To: George W Outerbridge Shelter
Miles today: 21.5
Weather: clear sky

The climb out of Wind Gap this morning was surprisingly cool and breezy. Broken fog hung in them trees as the rising sun¢s beams began to pierce though to the forest floor. We had another long day on our minds - hopefully past Lehigh Gap, 21 miles ahead. The water is scarce but we continue to get good info on where the reliable springs and creeks are.As we left the gap I decided to tape up the chafing spots on Baxter and Grayson¢s backs. I had waffled on the best course of action but finally decided to protect at the risk of holding heat in. We cut up KT Tape and patched up the red spots. Baxter looked like a well-loved stuffed animal when I was finished. We hiked hard until 11:00. It was an early stop but the trail was rocky and not particularly exciting. We threw down trail side and broke out the bagels, cheese, & jerky - this has become a trail lunch favorite. We met Sandworm as we packed up and walked off. He had first met us in the Whites on the NOBO leg and here we were again. His pace is faster but I suspect we¢ll see more of him. The trail has continued down Blue Mountain, a long ridge, for the last 30 miles. Blue Mountain Ski Resort would be on our west-hand this afternoon. We cut though the woods and found the lift. We followed the ski signs to the ¢Summit House¢ where we heard we could refill bottles and perhaps score some ice cream. We were able to do both! Some of the staff approached me and asked, ¢can we help you.¢ The tone and posture meant ¢you shouldn¢t be here. Can we help you on your way?¢  ¢We¢ve walked from Maine on the AT to get some ice cream from here. Can you help?¢ They we¢re excited to hear our story and opened the gift shop up so we could raid the freezer. Forty dollars later we were all double-fisting ice cream treats. We filled water bottles from the cold water fountain and walked the resort road back out to the trail. Baxter lost a water bottle (while rolling around in the grass) and realized it when we got to the bottom of the driveway. He walked back up and was able to find it. Blue Mountain was e sore if a Zinc mining operation for nearly 100 years. It¢s been defunct for the past 40 and the mountain is struggling to return to forest. The rocks here were loose and unnatural and the forest was very young and sparse. In places there were huge piles of stacked rock all the same size and shape as crushed cars. This unstable rock and unsettled nature went in for 4 miles or more before we got to the infamous Lehigh Gap descent. This three-quarter mile section of trail gets a lot of hype. Many people adamantly suggest skipping it using the ¢winter bypass¢ trail. I¢ve heard of two hikes that ended in injury here and a torn Achilles. No one has had anything good to say about it until we met a ridge runner today. ¢I think it¢s kind of fun,¢ she said, when I asked her about it. ¢You guys have done Katahdin and the Whites. You¢ll be fine.¢And while the descent wasn¢t ¢fun¢ exactly, it wasn¢t too bad either. We made it down into the gap in 30 minutes with no injury. I¢m glad we weren¢t going up. We stopped in the parking lot and cooked mashed potatoes for dinner. Then crossed the road, crossed the bridge over the Lehigh River, and headed to the shelter a half mile uphill. We filled up all our bottles at the spring just before the shelter. We could hear a crowd up there. I went to find out if there was tenting and found out about some empty tent sites 100 yards south. I yelled the rest of the group up and headed on to scout it out. We found our spot, did all the evening chores, and were able to soak Jasper¢s toe. Brothers¢ backs did well with the tape on them. We left it on - it¢ll last for days. The night is warm and not cooling off much. Our tents are in grass and make the CCF pad extra comfy!