Date: 2013-07-14
From: Wind Gap

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 15.6

Day 122: Moms leg was hurting real bad this morning and Bella's feet are pretty much raw. On the back of my achillies is what looks like an infection or poison ivy. I had two bites there that made it swell up so i put a bandaid on my achillies and the picture shows what happened next. I'm wearing pants from here on out until that gets better and there are no more bugs. At the bar, There was a trail angel there by the name of Jodi. She was headed to the next town. We decided for her to take Mom, Bella and all our packs to the next town. The climb out of town was difficult and the weather was extremely hot. By the time we got to the top of the mountain, it had looked like we jumped in a pool. After that, the trail was fairly easy. We again had bushes of Blueberries and Blackberries that slowed us down. There are still rocks, small ones that poke at your feet. We got into town and I went to an ice cream shop. I met a very nice couple. We talked about the trail and the bugs. I showed them my leg and the lady suggested for me to put a plant called Plantain on it. They bought my milkshake for me and showed me the plant outside. When I met back up with the group I had a paste of this plant on my wounds hoping it would help.TwixThought I would add my day...Last night we camped at the Beer Stein Tavern in Wind Gap, PA. There were many of us here that have been hiking within a day or two of each other like Two Sticks, Hog Rear, etc. There are a few that we have not seen in a while and it was great to meet up with them again like Aquaman and Homebrew. This morning the owner comes in at 9am and opens up his kitchen and allows us to cook our own breakfast with all his fixins. Then he does all the dishes. Today I woke up and couldn't put much weight on the left leg. I hadn't read what Twix wrote but back in Duncannon, PA I got the worse hamstring charlie horse in the middle of the night. I have had some previous charlie horses and this was the second one in the hamstring. It must have pulled all the muscles/ligaments in the calf, knee and hamstring. Then just before Port Clinton, something just gave out and I couldn't hardly put any wieght on it so I hobbled into the 501 Shelter. Anyway, it has really reaked havoc and fortunately, we were able to spend some downtime in Philadelphia. So shortly after the 501 shelter, Ocean Rock took me to get some potassium tablets. Since then, we all have been taking potassium tablets. I have not had any charlie horses except three days after I started taking them, I forgot to take one and I had three charlie horses in my calves that night. We had a lot more rocks to cover today before we get into Delaware Water Gap. Also Bella has been having some hind leg issues and chafing in between the toes plus she has been really tired going over all those rocks. After about an hour, I decided that I better hitch a ride to DWG and let it rest and Bella was going with me. Fortunately, we were able to catch a ride to DWG. I took Twix, Bluegrass, Bella and Coach's backpacks so they could slackpack the 15 miles. I was dropped off at the Church of the Mountain Hostel and was able to get four bunk beds. There are many churches along the way that open their doors to thru-hikers and this is the first one that we stayed at. It has a common room full of books, couches, tables, games, etc. Then it has a bunk room that could hold eight hikers with an adjoining shower room. That night there were probably around 15 hikers there that slept all over the place. After getting all the beds set up Bella and I went to the Deers Head Inn to have breakfast. The Inn was built in mid-1800's and has a really nice wrap around porch. I also liked this because it is right next to the AT. So mostly today, I stayed on a recliner at the hostel resting with Bella on my lap for most of the day. I watched some of the hikers that spent the night before and other hikers come in. It is evident that the rocks in PA were taking a toll. Feet are bruised, swollen, red, blistered, skin peeling, and everything else you can imagine. Hikers are walking very gingerly and are just plain tired. Legs, face and arms are really bitten up from the flies, mosquitoes and no seeums flies. I think our group if faring pretty good. Twix has been having very sore feet for a very long time and seems to be more of an issue with the rocks. Bluegrass is still trying to control his poison ivy. His knee issues have subsided so that is good. Coach has had intermittent hip issues and top of the foot issues and I just have this hamstring/knee issue. But overall, I think we are doing pretty good with spirits being very good and enjoying all the challenges that are thrown our way. Later in the day, I walked down to the outfitter to pick up a package for Homebrew and then Bella and I went to the ice cream shop. At 6pm, there was a free jazz concert right next to the hostel. We was there for about 30 minutes and decided to walk down to the Deers Head Inn (which is right next to the other side of the hostel) to wait for the group to come in. It was nice to see Two Sticks and Hog Rear on the porch enjoying some beer so Bella and I joined them. It wasn't 30 minutes later when Twix, Bluegrass and Coach came in from AT and got to the corner of the street. I could hear them say, "how are we going to find Salsa" so Bluegrass holler "Salsa" and I just yelled back "What?". It was kind of funny to see their faces and it was good to see them too. I asked how their day went and all they could say that it was another day of rocks but not any worse than previous day. Also they spent a lot of time picking blackberries, blueberries and wine berries. Salsa