Date: 2004-06-08
From: Kirkridge Shelter

To: Porch of Outfitters in Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 6.4
Weather: few clouds

Woke up early today around 5:45 just to make sure we would make it to town before the shuttle to the grocery left.   On our way Condor, Einstein, and myself ran into some day hikers that were perched up on a rock outcropping watching the sun rise. They were actually watching Venus cross in front of the sun. A piece of special film allowed them to look at sun without damaging their vision. We tried it out also and could not see Venus. At least we tried.Got to town with enough time to grab a milkshake from the local fruit market. Nothing beats a milkshake at 9:30 in the morning!After we got back from shopping I had the urge to go tubing some other hikers were planning on going to a movie. I convinced Condor, Einstein, and Smokey tubing was the cool thing to do. So that¢s just what we did. So they dropped us off at the river and said it would take about four hours. We get in the water and can¢t even tell what direction the water is flowing. The wind was blowing us in the wrong direction. So for the first hour we had to actually paddle like turtles to move down stream. After that the current picked up and we even encountered some rapids. It was nice to have a pirate ship again. Even attacked a few other "ships". Then we all just got lazy and took naps only maneuvering occasionally. All in all tubing was so much more fun than a movie! Except we did miss out on the super buttered movie popcorn.Skyline turned 25 today so we all met at the bakery and enjoyed some delicious pecan pie. Just split a 16 inch pizza with Condor so I had to let that settle. In ten minutes I was ready for the pie!Received my new light in the mail. This is no ordinary light. Its shape and light output resembles a chemical light stick. The kind you snap and then shake to produce a really super cool green glowing light. The light I picked up is called the Krill lamp. It runs off of two "AA" batteries and will produce a 180 degree beam of light for 50 hours. One key advantage is this light allows you to keep night vision since it¢s a green light. It uses the same technology as the glowing indigo watches that light up with a push of a button. It¢s interesting because when you turn the light on it seems very dim, but once your eyes adjust to the dark light from the krill can be see for at least 15 feet. So what¢s the advantage over a headlamp that 95 percent of thru-hikers use? This light allows you to use the moon, stars, and natural night vision to see the trail far off into the distance. This includes any major turns. Then the light is used to see any rocks or roots close to your feet. If you use a white headlamp to night hike all you can see is where the light shines. Using this light it¢s easy to miss a turn from a road if you are not looking in that direction. When you are using your night vision it¢s almost like hiking in the daytime. Will let you know how it works when I do go night hiking with it. Sent my headlamp home because I¢m so confident it will work fine. If you are interested sign my guestbook and I can get you a number to the company that sells them.So we were chillin¢ at the outfitters for the night and I noticed they had a skull and crossbones pirate flag hanging up on the shed. Talked to the owner about where I might find a flag like that. I explained about my trail name and how a flag like that would look great on my backpack. It would also be great to have on Katahdin at the end of the trail for a great photo. He said the flag was mine! How cool is that! Thanks John!Time to sleep now ¢¦swats a mosquito¢¦ these things are killers! Am going for the bug spray in an attempt to make myself a disgusting treat to those blood hungry tiny beasts!