Date: 2010-06-25
From: Wind Gap

To: Mohican Center
Miles today: 26.1

Went to bed really early. Slept amazingly although the one rock kept finding it¢s way into my ribs. The alarm woke me at 4:45am. There was a slug cleaning the ¢O¢ ring on my water jug. It¢s very clean now, but he left an orange stain on my fingers when I pried his slimy body off the lid. Two blueberry bagels, instant pudding (very, very sugary and clumpy, BLAH!) and coffee for breakfast.Scared several deer today. Saw a total of 10 today. Their level of fearfulness varies greatly. Usually the babies run first and Mom follows, only to stop and watch at a safe distance.Skipped water at Kirkridge. Overcast skies and cool temps again. This means I can run for it! Passed by a really nice grassy campsite under some powerlines. I could see a double smoke stack that looked nuclear off in the distance. It looked like the nuclear plant was still in PA and not across the NJ border. Someone was camped out there in that grassy area in a Marlboro tent and they were alone. Met a Father and Son up on Mt. Minsi and talked about the southern terrain on the AT. He¢s hiked all over New England but never below in the southern states. We swapped stories as I downed my last sweets before re-supply in town.Met a small black bear! Woot, woot! He saw me and ran away straight downhill. It must suck to run like that straight into the bushes. I shouted, RUN BOY RUN! Bear number 6, Ah, thank you!Saw two black snakes today. I was surprised at my lack of startled feelings at their sight. I¢ve definitely given up my dreams of handling them. Black snakes are to aggressive by comparison to gardener snakes.I spent a few moments relishing the thought of seeing NJ. I¢ve found it¢s better to enjoy towns from a safe distance safely atop a cliff! Where the sounds and heat can¢t affect you the same. Where the pavement doesn¢t reach me.Ran into the outfitters and got my food drop! So happy to get food so quickly here and without the drama of catching a ride to the store. Wonderful letter with a great quote from Lish. Lots of goodies for the next 2 days.Stopped at the church hostel on the way out of town to see if anyone I knew was there. Ratman and Tumbler were relaxing in the shade on the couch! They¢re the last of my friends that I assumed I¢d pass in this push of mine. They¢ve been slack-packing with the aid of Alkaline. Funny that I¢ve carried mine the whole way, but now I¢ve caught them!Ate leftover pizza, doughnuts and listened to Elvis on the church stereo! Haha, what a world it¢s become! Yes, Elvis was my choice of all their CD¢s. Can¢t go wrong.Freight Train had seen Spring Kat at Wind Gap! Spring Kat¢s behind me darn it! Oh well, now he knows that I¢m still hiking and that¢s good enough for me. I left him a message about Fun Dip. Listened to my favorite Elvis song and hit the road singing great tunes!The highway was ripping in the hot sun! The bridge felt so dangerous despite the concrete divider between me and the monstrously fast moving trucks and cars. Everyone in such a hurry. Not sure if I¢ll be able to think that fast again. When a heavy freight truck came by the whole bridge rocked back and forward! So worried that a chain or rope would hit me if it fell of one of those fast trucks. Relieved to get off and walk through the calm DWG information center.Lots of families out for a Friday. The trail was wide for a change climbing up to Sunfish pond. Plenty of room for me to stagger when I fall all over the huge rocks. Yep, they¢re still here in NJ! People here are not friendly at all. PA was definitely more friendly. No eye contact. Then BAM some dip-shit is hiking naked directly towards me. I gladly averted my eyes. He¢s obviously out for attention because he tried getting me to look up by talking to me. He¢s got hike naked day all wrong. Families everywhere with this moron walking around with his pecker hanging out. Whatever.Thought: Hey, it¢s a POND! It¢ll be easy to hike around it!Wrong: It¢s a glacier pond filled with sharp pointy flaky rocks everywhere! Don¢t fall or you¢ll be impaled.Feet feeling amazing! Why?! B.C. powder! Wow, that¢s got to have cocaine in there somewhere. Ratman gave me a whole box full when I said I keep expecting blood to pour out of my shoes when I take them off at the end of the day.Sunfish Pond is one of the 7 Wonders of New Jersey in case you¢re wondering. FYI. It¢s also one of the first environmental movements victories in conservation. It¢s acidic water provides an environment for the Sunfish and Yellow Perch to thrive. No swimming dammit! I was looking forward to that!It was a pretty long 4 miles from there to the Mohican Center. High grassy knobs overlooking a lake the whole way. Thought someone at the lake was trying to get my attention up on top of the mountain. Weird, hearing things I guess. I didn¢t expect NJ to look like this. I can see why they call it the Garden State. I¢d of camped up on top of one of the vistas but I didn¢t get water at the last spring.Limped into the Mohican Center after wondering if the trail had been redirected to avoid the dirt path that leads to the AMC Mohican Center. It¢s a nice place here for city folks. They pretend to be camping here, but this place has A/C equipped cabins. They have guided hikes around their 1 mile diameter pond here. Some nice ladies gave me blueberries, blackberries, peaches, apples, strawberries, a berry scone and invited me for breakfast.I¢m sitting here in their dining room writing on the Mohican Center¢s tables to avoid the mosquito horde outside. Dinner was great! Buffalo, pasta, parmesan, string cheese and some smaller single serving sized Idahoan potatoes.I¢m laughing about the preppy teenage girls that reacted with fright at my odor while inside the P.O today. I stink! I¢ve really been enjoying my solitude and reflection time lately. Lots of planning on how to reshape my life. Lots of plans going through my mind. I love this trail and I can feel the fear in my chest of how it will feel to return home prematurely. I can already tell that my determination to return is solidifying. I¢m so hell bent on seeing those White Mountains! I¢m going to give New England some NC salty blood stained sweat like the rest of the states I¢ve traveled through.