Date: 2013-07-24
To: View Entry
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: broken clouds

7/2411.7 miles , stealth campsite. The temperature dropped quite a bit overnight and sleeping became difficult. Even though neither of us could get any real consistent sleep we still refused to get up and breakdown camp at a reasonable hour. Once we finally started hiking it was after 10am. Normally I'd be concerned about leaving this late but today I didn't mind. Something about the weather just made me calm and for the first time in a months I stopped to really just glance around at the woods and embrace the peace they have to offer. It didn't take long to get to the first shelter to refill our empty water bottles. Lucky One (who reminds me of Billy Bob Thorton) and Joey (w/ a tiny dog - maybe section hiker) both show up in intervals after us. On our way out of the shelter we see Joey and his dog staring at a rattle snake crossing the trail. A half mile into our hike I take a step over a different smaller rattle snake and then jump backwards nervously. I bump into Smirks when I jump back and she asks me why I didn't just keep going. That would make sense seeing as I was already half way past the snake but my reflex was otherwise. No harm done. We back away from the snake and take a picture before he finally slowly crawls fully off the trail. It was odd because this guy didn't even rattle once at as and this was the closest we'd ever been to stepping on one. The only road we cross today has trail magic waiting. First we see plastic bottles of water which we use to fill up our half empty bottles and then where the trail resumes we are each given a can of Coke by a lady, Pumpkin, who is picking up her thru-hiking husband, Hamster. Pumpkin had previously met Smirks at Cabela's but this is the first time either of us had met her husband. He informs me that he only sleeps in hotels now and hasn't camped outside since Erwin, TN. Parked next to this couple is our good old buddy Jeff who had in the past given us a ride to a resturant and supplied us with burgers at a park on the 4th of July. We also saw Jeff at the pavilion in Port Clinton a few days back. He has decided to follow the trail north for a while and hang out at the gaps to give hikers whatever help he can give them. This usually includes passing out some food or cheap sodas, driving hurt hikers to hospitals, or even once taking a group to a tour of the Yuengling beer factory in PA. As we head out of the road gap Pumpkin gives Smirks and I both another can of Coke and 1 can of Lemonade to split. Mailman is here and hikes out before us. The next 5 miles are all on sharp jagged rocks. Between the late start, the stopping to break at the road, and the painful last handful of miles we stop to setup camp earlier than our previously desired spot. Cooking tonight was cold. Both of use were layered up in multiple articles of clothing. The area we are camped at is very windy and the temperature is more on the chilly side. Once in the tent we add even more layers of clothes on. I've stacked a bunch of large rocks in front of the tent with hopes of blocking some of the wind but it probably isn't enough for a comfortable night's sleep. A blanket or sleeping bad would be more ideal for this situation. It surprises me how quickly and drastically the weather has flipped in the past few days. From deathly humid with a record breaking heat index to now a breezy cold 50 something degree low. My guess is that we are 1 mile away from Wolf Rocks and just under 12 miles away from the Delaware Water Gap, PA - NJ border.