Date: 2018-08-21
From: PA 191

To: Camp Road NJ 
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: broken clouds

I was super happy to see fairly decent terrain this morning! Hugs took the lead. I followed close behind listening to her talk to a bird. She ALWAYS greets the animals....it¢s one of my favorite things about her!  I followed her through an opening with a view, and then another one shortly after that. It was nice having great views on our last day in Pennsylvania. I walked ahead after the second view. My pace is usually just a little faster than Hugs pace...not always though. While I was ahead I decided to take the Vista Blue Blaze. I¢m glad I did. There I could see a river, maybe Lehigh, but possibly the Delaware. Either way it made for a great photo and a nice goodbye.  Hugs caught up to me while I was chatting with a mom and son having lunch on the trail. She was listening to her AWOL audio book so I fell in place behind her listening too. It was about Maine and since we¢re going there soon I wanted to hear everything. That¢s how we ended up off trail. A good distance off trail!  Glad we have Guthook¢s! Once we were back on trail we ran into a trail volunteer. At least that¢s what he said he was. Then he went on to tell us that he¢s an author. He showed us a picture of his first book and said the second book was written based on hiker interviews. I think he said it¢s called Quality of Life.  Anyway his name is Joseph Ciaccio if you want to check it out.  When we came down out of the park we were on a road to a little town. There was Zoe¢s Ice cream shop. They also happen to serve lunch. I had a tuna melt with an old fashioned cherry cola they make themselves. It reminded me of Swans, a place I went to as a child. I drank many cherry cokes there! I looked at my guestbook during lunch. There are no words. I am just so grateful for everyone¢s encouragement, support, and advice. There are many times when I¢ve hiked on because of you. Most of you are complete strangers. My faith in humanity is greater now then ever before.  After lunch we walked through town and across the Delaware River. Halfway across I did the happy dance...because I¢m in NEW JERSEY! Yes yes yes!  Very quickly I ran into two hikers with a dog. Their dog of course grabbed my attention. As conversation flowed it turns out they¢re nurses too and one is an RNP like Hugs. They thru-hiked last year and were a wealth of information!  Thank you so much to Torque and Glampress for all of the great advice!  As if crossing into a new state and getting priceless information about Maine wasn¢t enough, I also reached 1300 miles today! It might be at sloth pace, but I¢m getting there!  The trail took us almost completely around a small lake today. I saw a water snake there. It¢s the first water snake I¢ve seen on the hike so far.  We passed a group of kids having a birthday party at the lake. They offered us some birthday cake. We were still full from lunch, but I thought that was really nice of them.  Leaving the lake area the trail became narrow with tall bushes on both sides. It had been sprinkling off and on so the leaves were wet. Every time my shoulders touched a bush it felt like I was being rained on. I came out of there pretty wet! The next thing I know, I¢m ridge hiking! I love love love ridge hiking. New Jersey does not disappoint. Today¢s views were amazing! I had lots of them for long periods of time.  Coming down off the ridge was a little rocky. Nothing like PA, but notable. I reached the road, and there was Papa Big Swig. Another awesome day in the books!  Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018) Where¢s your faith?