Date: 2023-06-01
From: Campsite beyond Dan's Spring

To: Campsite beyond Little Gap
Miles today: 27.3

Today was a hot day - 88 for the high, and no breeze until early evening.I started a little before 8. It was an ambitious day for me. Given my mixup, and the fact that I advanced another 4.4 miles on the AT, it was now realistic for me to hike 27 miles to Little Gap and have dinner at the Slopeside Bar and Grill. But, even without all the rocks, it would be a push. First things first, though: I needed water. I had barely enough while waking up and breaking camp, and now I had none left. There was a reliable spring in 3.3 miles.After about 10-20 minutes, Plunger caught up with me. We hiked together to the spring junction. I learned that Skippy started April 6 and is retired. I also learned that Plunger had a Mormon upbringing, something not so surprising when growing up in small town Utah.We got to the junction right about 9. Plunger already had plenty of water, so he went on his way. There were two different springs. The much closer blue-blazed one had a pipe barely dripping out any water; all that was left was stagnant water. I tried the yellow-blazed spring: 0.3 miles downhill. I was upset and worried I would also find stagnant water there. Fortunately, there was a good flow out of the pipe. I collected 2.5 liters, and walked back up to my pack. I took a breakfast and water break there, drinking a liter of water.I left around 10. The day grew warmer. Many medium-sized rocks were often sticking out of the ground. I was very frustrated with how slow I was going. Eventually, I started yelling and cursing at the rocks. When I was going through the Knife Edge around noon, a cool feature requiring scrambling over large rocks, my inReach detached from my pack and fell under one of the large rocks. I was livid and cursed even more. I was able to recover my inReach.I passed by someone on my way down who I think heard my cursing well. I think I was acting like a madman. My rock rage was getting the better of me. I took a lunch break around 12:30 at a campsite and felt a little better, but the hot sun slowly snuck into my shade over the half hour break. I suffered in the heat as I passed through Bake Oven Knob, and descended to Lehigh Gap.I was not feeling so great and was getting low on water. Just before the road crossing at Lehigh Gap around 3, I saw a cooler there with water, maintained daily by trail angels. I was so grateful and took a water and electrolytes break there, plus a trail snack or two. Another hiker, Garfunkel, was there. We would leapfrog for a few miles due to asynchronous breaks until the Lehigh River south bank, where he stepped off into Palmerton.In between, the next stretch was very pleasant. No mine fields of scatteted rocks - rocks on the trail seemed much more organized. There was a climb up to a ridge with plentiful views of the towns and Lehigh River below. I found an excellent spring right on the trail, near George W Outerbridge Shelter.Now tanked up with water around 5:30, I descended to the south bank of the river and enjoyed the scenic walk across the river. Then, around 6, there was a steep 900 ft climb to an amazing overlook of the river, with some fun scrambling. Dealing with this kind of rock felt purposeful and rewarding. After 40 minutes of climbing, I was on another ridge again, with more plentiful views of Danielsville below. I reached a powerline overlook with a great sunset view around 7:45 or 8.I now had the descent down to Little Gap left, and was feeling positive about reaching the pub before it closed at 9. As I descended, I started running into rooted rocks scattered across the footpath. My rock rage quickly returned. I made my way down with yelling and cursing while watching out for the rocks, reaching Little Gap at 8:20.I had to walk a bit under a mile to the pub along a very well paved private road with little traffic, and made it to the Slopeside Pub & Grill a little before 8:40. I asked if they were still serving. The hostess said the kitchen made its last call about a half hour ago, and they weren't seating anyone anymore. I was dismayed. I asked if a takeout order was possible. She asked her supervisor, and yes, it was! I ordered a side salad, BBQ burger, and a large chocolate milk that they put in a big Pepsi cup. While the food was cooking, I used the restroom to wash up, hot rid of trash, refilled my water at a water fountain, and got a cold bottle of tea from a vending machine.They let me eat in the building that housed the pub - this is in a resort, and it also has free Wi-Fi. As staff were leaving, I topped off my water, with more in the empty tea bottle, and got some apple juice for breakfast tomorrow morning. Between Little Gap and Delaware Water Gap, there aren't many reliable water sources you can reach within half a mile or less.I returned to Little Gap around 9:30, and hiked uphill through large walks about 0.3 miles, where I found a flat spot to set up a makeshift campsite. I quickly set up camp and, stuffed from dinner, fell asleep pretty easily.