Date: 2015-07-09
From: Hamburg

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 80.0
Weather: overcast clouds

So, I'm killing myself trying to hitch out of Hamburg after a mad rush resupply. There are no available hotels, because it's the 4th of July and everybody knows, you go to Hamburg for the 4th. ??? A great couple gives us a ride back to the trail. I busting up the mountain by the time the fireworks start to the tune of Eddie Money's "Shakin" - and I wonder what does Shakin have to do with fireworks??? Then I see the glow of the fireworks and the earth shakes.The next morning I'm crossing The Knife's Edge. This is a long pile of rocks that form a narrow pointed ridge. The trail is along that narrow point - the knife's edge. I jump onto a rock that starts teetering. Looking down, it'll be a long brutal drop if I don't get this under control. Then I hear that ominous rattle from a rattler under my wobbling rock. At that moment, Eddie Money pops into my head...The rock - shakinThe rattlesnake - shakinMy heart - shakinPA doesn't have a world of great mountains, but they make up for it by slamming you with rocks. My feet haven't landed naturally in what seems like forever.   This is a hard place to make up miles as everybody tries to pick up the pace. My new boots are already starting to split apart.Ran out of water a few days back. Took a chance that I could skip a 1 mile side trail and make it another 6 miles to water. Who wants to add 2 miles to their day? Seemed reasonable at the time. Turns out that a big climb and lots of sun took it out of me. Reached a spring around 9 that night and just laid there, so dehydrated that I didn't have the energy to make a camp. And the crazy thing. I wasn't alone. Other backpackers laid around in the same dehydrated state, all afraid to leave that wonderful cool spring that seeped from the ground.Had a climb that was my most difficult yet. Lots of exposure. Grab a good hand hold and pull yourself to the next rock, no walking upright here. Maybe not as steep or long as a climb I did on Mt. Whitney a few years ago, but I found it more arduous. You'd think that we'd be getting stronger at this point, but it's starting to feel like the opposite. Energy is so hard to come by as our diets are so bad. Tightened up my 35 lb pack and tried to beat the rain, which thankfully I did. At the top is the wonderful sounding "Super Fund" area. Unfortunately, I found out that this is a label for a section when it's so over polluted that they must stop all activity and allow the land to "rest". Trees and plants are shaped funny here, maybe the place glows, and there is no way you would want to touch the water. Another dry day...   900 miles left and I'm getting a little worried. I haven't found that one true answer that I've been looking for. Maybe my destiny??? No big bang changing moments although I suspect a lot of incremental changes that may add up. There is really less time to think than one would think. My thoughts are rampant and brief. - how far until water? - where can my foot land? - peanut butter or trail mix for lunch? - do I have enough water? - peanut butter or trail mix for breakfast? - how many more miles can I get in before dark? - peanut butter or trail mix for a snack? - what else can I throw out to get my backpack's weight down? - what should I do with my life? - repeatI'm in Delaware Water Gap today and although this section has been a little rough, I still feel amazingly fortunate to have the opportunity to do this hike. I continue to meet wonderful people, on and off of the trail. When I need a ride to town or back to the trail, someone always comes through. When I think I can't go another step, something always happens that re-motivates me. Even tonight, I happen into a town for resupply just ahead of flash flood warnings and the skies opening up.So, now dry and well fed - things seem less like Eddie Money "Shakin" and more like Lewis Armstrong "What A Wonderful World".