Date: 2008-07-06
From: Tenting near Leroy A Smith Shelter, PA

To: Wind Gap, PA
Miles today: 4.6
Weather: light rain

I slept great last night. I woke up once when a deer walked close by the tent. I smacked the ground with my hand and it left.I woke up just before 6am and ate a couple Poptarts and a honey bun.I got packed and went over to where Mother Nature and Smokestack were. They were getting close to being ready to walk, so I sat there talking to them while they finished packing.It was a very foggy and damp morning and the area we were tented in was all wet.They said they had new plans for today. We would only walk about 5 miles to Wind Gap, then take our time shuttling cars today, then walk the 17 miles to Delaware Water Gap the next 2 days. Sounds great to me! (Should be some restaurants seeing us today) ;-)Mother Nature said Catfish, Moses and Black Snake all came in and went to the shelter last night after I went to bed.We started walking north on the Appalachian Trail at 7:25am.I saw a box turtle almost as soon as we started walking and I got a picture of him. Box Turtle on the Trail. It was a stretch of trail that has quite a few rocks, so we just walked slowly through the fog and over the rocks and enjoyed the morning.We had been walking a couple miles when Catfish caught up to Smokestack and me.Smokestack stood to the side to let him pass, but he said he'd just walk along with us. We found out Mother Nature had invited him to go to Wind Gap Diner with us and he wasn't about to let us out of his sight! :-)Catfish and I have walked around each other off and on since TN.We got to Hahn's Lookout, then Lookout Rock and didn't bother stopping at either one because we were fogged in.There was a 500 foot descent to Wind Gap and we got to Smokestack's truck and our walking day was over already. Smokestack, Mother Nature and Catfish all want scrapple for breakfast. We all ended up at the diner and had to wait for 5 minutes for a seat. I guess everyone got hungry at the same time today. :-) I had an email from someone recently telling me I was in prime scrapple country. I remembered that email when I saw scrapple was on the menu.I ordered 2 eggs over easy, 2 hotcakes, homefries, bacon, rye toast and coffee, then asked what scrapple was. The waitress said it was ear parts and feet parts and other parts and it was good if it was cooked crisp.I ordered a side order of "crisp" scrapple. :-)The waitress was right...I could handle the crisp scrapple, but don't think I'd like it if it was smooshy. 8-)We dropped Catfish off at the trailhead at Wind Gap, then we headed back to Little Gap for Mother Nature's car.We then drove to Delaware Water Gap and dropped off her car. We'll walk back into Delaware Water Gap in a couple days, then I'll walk on by myself. Mother Nature and Smokestack eat out too much and I'm putting on a few pounds. Ha! ;-)We ended up in Stroudsburg for the night after shuttling the cars. I already had enough food to carry for the next part of the walk, so I just got cleaned up and washed my clothes.I got to wondering about how Carlene was going to get to VT before my ol' buddy Chief. (Check the Chief story in yesterday's journal entry)I called Carlene to ask her what she would tell my ol' buddy so she could get away earlier and she said; "Now Stumpy, you know I don't have to hurry up to VT because when Chief starts a backpacking trip, he always starts it with three zeros".I knew that....but it just slipped my mind. Gotta say that the first time I heard about my ol' buddy Chief taking three zeros at the start of his backpacking trip, he and I were starting from Springer Mtn in GA at the same time. I showed up and started walking and crossed over into NC late on the third day after walking 75 miles.I called my ol' buddy Chief to see if he was close behind me and he said; "Look Stumpy, I just started this hike three days ago...I'm doin' just fine, don't you worry yourself none".I had to ask again where he was and he finally told me that he had been preparing mentally for the trip, but hadn't actually left the hostel yet.He said he was leaving tomorrow though because Josh and Leigh wouldn't let him stay at the hostel for another night.I talked to my ol' buddy Chief three days later and he said he saw Josh driving down the gravel road near Gooch Gap and he tried flagging him down, but Josh sped up and wouldn't look at him. (and Gooch Gap Rd is only 15 miles into his walk) :-)I did a quick mathematical calculation and figured out that my ol' buddy Chief had been averaging 2.5 miles per day for his first six days on the Trail.I heard it said that the only way my ol' buddy Chief could ever catch up to anyone was if he was actually in front of them on the Trail. :-)At least that's the way I remember the story. ;-)I may have only walked 4.6 miles today, but that's almost double what my ol'buddy Chief averages....so I'm feelin' pretty good about it!Another great day on the Appalachian Trail. :-)