Date: 2005-06-09
From: Leroy A. Smith Shelter

To: Church of the Mountain Hostel
Miles today: 20.6

Miles hiked today : 20.620.2 AT miles + 0.3 mile of side trail + 0.1 backtrack mileI woke up this morning at 5:10 a.m. when one of the other hikers began packing. I packed, ate breakfast, and was hiking at 6:10 a.m. I covered 4.6 miles to Wind Gap, arriving at 8:10 a.m. and began the 0.2 mile walk to the Gateway Hotel to fill my water bottles, when I ran into Snail on his way back. Snail informed me that the hotel office was closed, so I turned back, planning to ration my water until the next shelter.From word of mouth over the last few days, I'd been expecting the section of trail from Wind Gap (PA33) to Fox Gap (PA191) to be absolutely horrible. In all actuality, the trail wasn't any worse than some sections I'd recently passed. I reached Kirkridge Shelter at 12:10 p.m. and stayed for an 1 hour, 45 minute snack and rest break. I was happy that the shelter had a spigot with piped water, though it had a very metallic taste and was quite foul. I treated 2 liters with Aqua Mira and added some drink mixes, though the metallic taste was still present. Yuck!During my break, I wanted to take a nap, though I didn't want to take the time to inflate my air mattress, so I layed on the floor of the shelter while leaning against my pack. This proved to be rather uncomfortable. While resting, I noticed clouds forming and expected that there was going to be a storm later in the evening.I set out at 1:55 p.m. and wasn't surprised to feel a brief sprinkle of rain shortly after leaving the shelter. I arrived at Mt. Minsi at 3:30 p.m. after listening to some violent thunder for the previous hour. As I crossed the summit of Mt. Minsi, the rain began to fall with a vengeance and flashes of lightning were lighting up the sky. By counting the length of time between the lightning flashes and thunder claps, it seemed like the storm was a good distance away, so I continued on with 2.5 miles to Delaware Water Gap, though I carried my trekking poles just in case.I reached Delaware Water Gap at 4:30 p.m. and arrived at the hiker hostel at the Church of the Mountain at 4:45 p.m. after a 0.1 mile backtrack from the Interstate 80 bridge, which leads into New Jersey.I sat in the hostel and visited with the other hikers, when Navigator, a New Jersey ridge runner, showed up. He asked us about our hometowns and starting dates, and told us to let him know whether there was anything he could do for us. I asked about the quality of the outfitters in the area, as I am in need of new footwear. He asked how badly I was in need and so I showed him the worn down soles, as well as the recently developed holes in the right side of both of my boots. He said that it was his day off tomorrow and offered to take me to Campmor, which is an hour away by car. I gladly accepted his offer and will be on my way to get new footwear tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m.After Navigator left, I hopped in the shower to clean up before dinner at 6:00 p.m. Luckily, there was a free dinner offered by the church tonight. During hiking season, the church prepares a free dinner every Thursday and tonight was the first free dinner of the season. I met Pastor Karen at dinner and she was very friendly. When we sat down, she announced that hikers get to eat first, so we were first in line in front of the regular church patrons. She also shooed away some people who tried to get dessert before we'd been through the dessert line, which was embarrassing. All of the food was great and I had the best fresh blueberry cobbler of my life for dessert.After dinner, I walked to the gas station and bought a quart of chocolate milk and a 2 liter bottle of soda before returning to the hostel to journal and converse with the other hikers. I found out that the water at the Gateway Hotel had been available via a faucet on the back of the building and Snail had missed it. Fortunately my water had lasted to the Kirkridge Shelter. After composing the bulk of this entry, I played a few rounds of Boggle with Michael before heading to bed.While I don't necessarily feel like I need a zero day tomorrow, I'm going to take one. I've got a few packages to pick up in Unionville on Monday and if I don't zero tomorrow, then I'd have to zero in Unionville, which isn't as appealing as Delaware Water Gap. The downside of zeroing is that most of my recent hiking friends are moving on tomorrow morning, though I'll probably catch up with them before long.Bedtime at 11:00 p.m.