Date: 2017-04-19
From: Delaware Water Gap

To: Brink Road Shelter
Miles today: 24.8
Weather: light rain

So today is the first time I've decided to try to start my Trail Journals entry in the middle of the day rather than in the evening. This morning John and I left the Church of the Mountain Hiker in Delaware Water Gap where we had stayed at the hostel and walked a couple of miles of flat ground across the Interstate 80 bridge over the Delaware River into New Jersey. Both of us were very stiff and sore from yesterday's beating on the rocks of the last 20 miles of Pennsylvania. As we entered the wood line, John stopped to remove the down jacket he had been wearing at the beginning of the day and I kept hiking. At about the three mile point I got a phone call from John and he said that the pain in his shin was too severe to continue walking on it and he had decided to go back to Delaware Water Gap. He said that he was planning to try to mail some of his gear back to North Carolina and that he would call his wife to come get him. I felt bad about that and partially responsible. It had been his idea to walk the full 20 miles and finally be done with Pennsylvania yesterday, but I had encouraged him. And there had been several places where we could have stopped yesterday. But against argument he told me to keep hiking and I did.It's only ten o'clock in the morning right now as I write this, but I can see the terrain here in New Jersey is already very different from that which we hiked in Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania it was mainly climb up and then a hike across the top of a long ridgeline, hike down and then repeat. Just on the other side of the Delaware River this terrain is more a broad forest on top of an elevated piece of ground and I've already come across several ponds such as the Sunfish Pond by which I'm sitting on a bench right now. I uploaded a picture of this.From Sunfish Pond I continued to hike on to the Mohican Outdoor Center at about the ten mile mark. There I had lunch, refilled water, charged my phone and joined the Appalachian Mountain Club. I also bought four more Clif bars and another pair of medium cushion Smartwool socks. Leaving the Mohican Outdoor Center, I met two hikers carrying fishing poles: a father and son named Brian and Julian. They were embarking on a few days of outdoor fun. Further on up the trail I came to the Catfish Lookout Tower under which I spotted a familiar silhouette, and although it was painted white I recognized it immediately. Looking closer I saw the data plates on the shelter read AN/TRC-145B (Track 145) which is an Army shelter, a multi-channel radio terminal identical to several that I had in my platoon when I was a Lieutenant in Germany in 1986! (see photos)It started raining on and off about 2:30 in the afternoon. I wore my Gore-Tex raincoat because the rain was cold and there was a lot of wind, but I kept the front zip open so I could regulate body heat. At about mile marker 13 I met a family of four hikers out for some pre-hike training. They intend to start a flip-flop hike from Harpers Ferry (like I did) after the 25th of April, but they've been out here for three days and are headed back in now. Their trail names are Weeble, Painter, Bandana and Cricket. The dad says his name is Weeble because he's hoping to get rid of the Weeble belly and, "Weebles wobble but they don't fall down!" The youngest, a 75 pound boy is named Cricket because he likes to jump all the time. I walked with them for about a half a mile and used my navigation app to help get them to a parking lot where they were able to call a shuttle to come pick them up. After taking a group photo with them, I got back on the trail.At about 6 pm, instead of setting up camp, I decided to keep hiking and I came upon a group of students chaperoned by 2 adults and I chatted with them for a while. They were Nick and Lottie with a group from Philadelphia 8th Grade Outward Bound. They were enthusiastic and inquisitive but tired and sore. I took a photo with them (uploaded) and we wished each other good luck and good day! I will continue hiking and may try out hiking at night some with my headlamp using the red light.I was able to hike until about 9 pm using just ambient light; however, after 8:30 it was dark enough so that I needed to look for the trail markers using my peripheral vision which is more sensitive than what you see looking straight ahead. So, from about 9 pm onward, for the first time, I hiked with my headlamp and I'll tell you that learning how to use its different configurations has been an adventure in itself! It has a white light setting with multiple variations on how much light it produces like high beams and low beams. If you hold the button down for 2 seconds it will shine a red light so as not to ruin your night vision or to be less bothersome to other hikers in camp. To return to white light from red light, you hold the button for 3 seconds. But, if you don't time it right, and hold instead for 4 seconds, it will enter "lock" mode which is for when you want it to remain off and also to prevent inadvertently turning it on (like with butt dialing) so as to ensure you don't accidentally drain the battery with a headlamp on while tucked away in your pack. This only works if it has been in the white light setting and is currently off. Anyway, I hiked by headlamp for another 30 minutes and arrived at Brink Road shelter at about 9:30 pm. There I ran into another Outward Bound group (12 or so) from Philly and chatted with them for a little while and their leader gave me a business card and mentioned that Outward Bound has free programs for vets and I told him I would pass that information on to others.I found my way to the shelter and set up as quietly as I could, as there was one hiker already there.