Date: 2009-08-04
From: Wind Gap

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: scattered clouds

I¢d done more or less all I needed to in town yesterday, all that remained was to repack my things. I amazed even myself at how a room full of randomly scattered objects can with a little thought and routine be made to fit quite comfortable into one moderately sized backpack. This was followed by a leisurely and civilised breakfast at the diner and a visit to the Post Office to despatch another batch of journals home, while I was at it I found time for a last pint of ice cream and some lemonade.The day was bright and sunny and I wasn¢t really too sure what the plan was. As a minimum I planned on reaching the first shelter out of town. That would be 9.2 Trail miles ¢ not a lot I know but you could easily add another 4 miles of uphill, unshaded road waking just to get to the Trail. You can also never be sure how much of the day will sift through your fingers before you actually get started. At the other end of the spectrum it was not beyond the bounds of possibility that I might cover the 15.6 Tail miles to Delaware Water Gap.In the end I managed to get a decent jump on the day and although the hot weather and my heavy load necessitated lots of breaks I made steady progress. The shelter was still the goal but DWG was definitely becoming more of a possibility.Strolling along I heard a rustle of leaves down to my right but not a squirrel, chipmunk or frog type of rustle. This rustle had ¢slither¢ written all over it. I can¢t describe why, but I immediately thought snake. I looked, staying quiet and still but could see nothing. I kept looking, I knew I could be looking straight at it and still not ¢see¢ it. I moved on and bingo! There it was ¢ a decent sized brown timber rattlesnake stretched out along the crest of a rock about 6 feet from the Trail. It just sat there, so I took a couple of photos while I watched it for a little while. The Trail passed maybe 4 feet from it and directly behind it. That seemed reasonable clearance in the circumstances but as I started walking again it let out a warning rattle. I didn¢t mean to upset it. I guessed it might have been to warn me not to try anything clever when I went out of its field of vision (although I don¢t know what a snake¢s field of vision actually is). Despite my regrets, it was cool to see and hear.The natural passage of time ¢ neither rushing nor spinning things out- brought me to the shelter at 3pm. It was too early to stop so I would continue but first I needed some water, I found Chris and Shawn at he shelter having a little late lunch, They were from Philly and out for a few days. They were great company and it was nice to relax, chat and eat before pushing on.Just as we were all packed and about to head in out respective directions the Trail decided to greet us with the slightly disturbing rumble of distant thunder. Oh well, fingers crossed that I would not regret these extra miles.As it was everything turned out fine. The hiking was easy, much of it along four wheel-drive tracks; it stayed dry; there were a couple of nice views; and I stopped for an enjoyable and leisurely dinner on Mt Minsi. It wasn¢t the most beautiful spot but it was nice to be out in the evening. Recently the weather, or threat of late afternoon storms, had me pushing each day to get ahead of the schedule so finishing early. It¢s a way of keeping on top of things but I do miss dondering on in the evenings: the time of day I associate with cool, quiet, unpressured miles; long lazy dinners; and weary contentment. I miss it. I need to so something about it (but not just walk farther or longer).There were some ok views of the valley as the Trail wound downwards towards DWG but they were not as nice as I remembered. The hostel was though. I met Firefly again as she had taken a short day and along with Matt we were the only three hikers there. I had planned to camp but it was fun just sitting in the lounge area, so by the time Pastor Karen had popped in to say ¢hi¢ it was dark outside. Instead I picked a bunk and turned in for the night.