Date: 2020-08-18
From: Tentsite at Delps Trail

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 26.1

Woke around 7:30. Saw an emergency alert on my phone from last night warning of tornadoes in the area and to seek hard cover. I knew it had poured, had even gotten up in the wee hours to secure the tent flaps, but the wind was never very strong. My sleeping pad survived another night, with the assistance of several reinflations. It lasts an hour or two before it bottoms out again.I met the occupants of the other tent at Delps shortly after hiking out before 9. Sugar Gal (after the cakes she bakes at home) and Swamp Irish are a retired couple from Louisiana. They started in Georgia, got off in March, got back on in Harpers Ferry. Will flip again up to Katahdin before it closes and finish the rest southbound. They had stayed in Palmerton and hiked to Delps yesterday, setting up their tent just before the early evening thunder shower hit. Then afterwards moved it to dig out all the rocks underneath. They are definitely frustrated with the rocks here and can't wait to get out of Pennsylvania. Approaching Smith Gap I crossed paths with Bight (Byte?), a young guy hiking Delaware Water Gap to Virginia. He didn't see the water cache at Smith Gap and took a forty minute round-trip to a spring to get water. Shows what a blessing these water caches are. With the relatively cool weather though I'm drinking very little. I carried an extra liter all day just in case but never needed it.Today was almost solid rocks. Rocks, rocks, rocks. Mostly it was a carpet of bumpy protrusions requiring careful and tedious stepping that gradually ground down my feet and thighs. There were only a few bouldery areas requiring hopping or climbing. Wolf Rocks was the most extensive, and very buggy, but with little view. Immediately after Wolf the trail became beautifully smooth, soft dirt winding through a fern understory. But it lasted less than half a mile before degrading back to rocks and invasive undergrowth.The trail took a very twisty and fatiguing side hill route around Tott's Gap, apparently a recent relocation. It finally deposited me on a dirt road along the ridge which I followed for a wonderful one and a half miles to Mount Minsi, overlooking the Delaware water gap. Here a number of dayhikers appeared and there were numerous views, the first good ones in 23 miles. There were a number of kayaks and rafts drifting downriver late in the day. I could see the excursion company waiting for them on a beach around the riverbend. They are in the photo if you look closely.The mountain opposite the river has exposed cliffs that show the layers of bedrock angled at 45 degrees. What massive force it took to create this. The whole Kittatinny ridge as well as Blue Mountain and all the other Allegheny folds must look similar underneath. And the dramatic thousand foot drop to the river shows what time and water can do to even the most imposing of mountain ridges.Down in Delaware Water Gap, where I arrived near 7 after a long and exhausting day, the tourist-based town was practically closed on a Tuesday. Several restaurants were closed for the day, the pizza joint closed early at 7, the Village Farmer, home of trail-famous sandwiches, closed their grill at 7, the Dunkin Donuts had closed their kitchen by 7, and even the two convenience stores were closed by 8. At least the motel was open! I scrounged a premade turkey pot pie from Village Farmer which turned out to be pretty decent, but it wasn't the lobster roll or calzone I'd been looking forward to.The motel had their pool open, but I had to do laundry and had no clothes to spare for a swim. In fact I had no clothes to spare at all. I walked back and forth to the laundry room in a bath towel, puffy, and flip-flops. Classic hiker trash style. Fortunately there weren't many people around. Took advantage of the AC to dry out the tent and other equipment scattered around the room. The management made a good move putting in faux-wood floors.