Date: 2007-09-03
From: Vernon, NJ

To: Duncannon, Pa
Miles today: 210.0
Weather: clear sky

I left Vernon, NJ on the morning of September the 6th, after 5+ days off the trail. I said goodbye to my new friends, Emily, Murphy, and Whiskers, and set off toward the NJ highpoint, 20 miles away. It was a nice day, if a bit hot and humid. I walked over a long wetland boardwalk, at least 2 miles, I think. Afterward, I travelled around a birding sanctuary, but sans glasses or field-glasses, I didn't stop to look for any. That night, I ended up stopping early, which turned out to be an excellent idea. I had come 16 miles to a shelter that resided on private property, unmarked on any map, but I had heard about it from some other hikers, who gave me directions. It was complete with a warm shower, electric lighting, and a cozy loft. I laid down earlier than usual that night, listening to Schumann's "Trout" Quintet on a small radio that had been left there. (9/7)The next morning, the donkeys woke me at dawn with their braying, and I saddled up and had hiked up to the high point monument by the time the sun was touching the ground. I remember that my poison ivy had mostly dried up at this point, but it was such a muggy morning that it began itching me terribly. This was offset by the wonderful odors that the plants and flowers began producing as the early morning sun hit them. I was now on the long ridge line that would take me into Pennsylvania, via Delaware Water Gap. I spent the night at a rattlesnake infested shelter (apparently, though I never saw the snake). (9/8)What followed was a wonderful hike over Sunrise and Hawk mountains. There I met a group of bird watchers who were counting migrating raptors. I also came across a group of amateur HAM radio operators who were set up for an annual weekend competition. After passing Sunfish pond, I descended into Delaware Water Gap, jumped into the Delaware for a refreshing swim, and hiked into town for the night. As it turned out, there was a Jazz festival going on in town. I also happened to have caught up with Rambo and Dreamer and later also met Two-Step and her friend, Chomp, again. Everyone stayed at the Presbyterian "Church of the Mountain" hostel. That night, Rambo and I went to the festival for a few hours and danced until it was over. Good times. It was also my sister's birthday and though I thought about calling her all day, I forgot when I got to town that night, so I ended up waking her, early the next morning. <3 you Meg. (9/9) Got a late start at noon. I hiked out of town with Dreamer and Rambo, and we pushed hard to get out 20 miles. I enjoyed hiking with these girls. I don't know how, but they always seemed to be twice as full of energy and also twice as positive as me. Only a fool would have missed the glow eminating from them. We ended up hiking the last few miles in the dark that night, but arrived at camp in good spirits, although quite tired. That night, I met some more SOBO's that I had been following for a while. Tom Scanlan, Castle, and Treats. I was happy to find that Sugar and Sketch were also there. (9/10) Headed out later than usual and intended on sticking with the group, to hike into Palmerton and sleep at the jail. I ended up going ahead, as usual, stopped into As it turned out, it wasn't an actual jail, and Tom Scanlan made the good point that if we hiked the mile out of town, up to the next shelter, we'd be more likely to get an early start again. So, after a burger and a shake at the local diner, we caught a ride with a decidedly hormonal, yet kind saleswoman, and hiked up the ridge to the next shelter. Later, we were joined by Sugar, Castle and Treats, who had bunches of goodies from a fresh mail drop. Castle shared her cookies, and I am eternally grateful. Thanks Castle! (9/11) I spent the morning, hiking with Sugar, off and on, and eventually descended into Port Clinton in the early afternoon. Sugar kept pushing on, 9 miles past, but my weary legs persuaded me to take a break and eat at the Hotel in town. They served me a portion of fries that looked like a 5lb bag of potatoes, cut up and emptied onto a large platter. I'm a member of the CPC (Clean Plate Club) in good standing, but this day, fries were wasted. I walked down the street to visit a local man who is well known among the thru-hikers. I ended up in a conversation on his front porch that lasted all evening. I was glad to have found such a good excuse to take a rest, but more than that, talking to Fred reminded me of my family, back home. That night, I slept in the town pavilion (9/12) I rose before dawn and crossed the river, railroad tracks, and climbed up onto the next ridge in the early morning fog. I had hiked the 9 miles to the first shelter by 9am, and caught up with Sugar by lunchtime. We pushed the remaining 15 to Hwy 501, and made excellent time over the relatively flat, though rocky ground, clocking 4 miles an hour. I'd hiked 24 miles by 3pm, and instead of pushing further to catch up with the other SOBO's, now only a few hours ahead of us, we waited at the shelter. Sketch (Sugar's companion from Maryland) was right behind us when we entered Port Clinton the day before, but had hitchhiked 20 miles to a nearby town to visit the local Yuengling brewery. Unfortunately, he was stuck in an unfriendly coal town, unable to get a ride back, leaving him 24 behind. On the bright side, his parents came down the next day to visit, so they were able to pick him up. We all were able to rendezvous at the 501 Shelter and from there travelled to a nearby KOA park in Pine Grove, where we spent the night, eating, talking, laughing, and playing with Sketch's young neice and nephew. (9/13) Sketch wanted to another day with his family, and was already behind a day, so Sugar and I started off from 501 alone that morning. We got a late start, considering the distance we wanted to put in that day. We figured that we could push out 35 miles, a record for both of us, given the flat terrain and good weather. This would leave us a mere 11 miles into Duncannon the next day.We started at 9:30am, and by 10:30pm that night, in the pouring rain, we arrived at a dark shelter full of our sleeping friends, dog tired, yet proud of our stubborn persistance. (9/14) The next morning, I awoke to find Skeeter, Puck, Cat, Jack, and T&T, who I had not seen in almost two weeks. They headed out early, making for Duncannon to reach the PO before a noon closing time. I went to draw water from a spring, because Sugar and I were both out, but the spring ended up being all the way down the mountain. In light of the dry season though, I guess that I was lucky there was water there at all, even though it was barely a shallow puddle. An hour later, I trudged back up to the shelter, but with clean water, and Sugar and I commenced our sore hike into Duncannon. In light of the front that had passed over in the night, it was a beautiful day, with the strong wind running through the trees on the ridgetops. I passeds more than twenty people out dayhiking, taking advantage of a gorgeous early-fall day on what turned out to be a really nice section of the trail. As the sun went higher, so did my spirits, because I knew that I was going to meet my Uncle Ken in Duncannon, at which point he would take me back to his house in West Chester for a brief stay. We descended the ridge to the highway, crossed the wide Susquehanna River, of which we had plenty of views from up on high, and walked what seemed a long way through the back neighborhoods of Duncannon, before finally arriving at the Doyle Hotel, the local hiker haven. I arrived later than everyone else because I had stopped a few times to lend a hand to people out working in their yards on the bright Saturday Morning. Two elderly men were cutting apart a large tree in their front yard, and I spent 10 minutes with them, helping them roll it. A few blocks down, a woman was preparing for her son's first birthday party, and was unsuccessfully trying to lift some very overloaded ice chests into her vehicle, which were barely liftable between the two of us O_o. As it turned out, Uncle Ken and I arrived at the Doyle within 5 minutes of each other, and within 15 minutes, we were on our way back to his house in West Chester. I spent the night with his family, who I had not seen in a solid 4 years (too long) and met many of his neighbors at their annual bloc-party. My Aunt Diane took care of me like I was her own long lost child, and I felt at home with them. I also got to see my cousin Erin (the younger of their two daughters), who is growing into a beautiful woman. It was a great time of food and conversation, though I mostly just parked myself in whatever kind of lawn chair I was closest to. I hit the hay early that night, and never slept so well. The next day was mostly uneventful, though Uncle Ken and I went shoe shopping, and he replaced my worn-out Merrells with new ones, for which I am eternally grateful.A big thank-you to the Mills family, you really brightened up my trip ^_^The plan was to meet up with Mom on the highway from Philly, but as her company van was full, we ended up driving to Hershey to meet her. I've been hanging out with her at her hotel since Sunday, where she has daily workshops with her coworkers. Today, I'm going to get a ride with Kip back to Duncannon, and I should be on the trail tonight, or tomorrow at the latest. I may pull of in a week or so for another side trip into DC from Harper's Ferry, but I'll cross that bridge (har har)when I come to it.