Date: 2008-06-02
From: Leroy Smith shelter

To: Delaware Water Gap
Miles today: 20.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was a good day of hiking... mostly because we are almost out of PA. Just have to cross the river, and we are free! I described the way we left GA and entered NC... but not the change from MD to PA...MD was like being in a hug the entire length of trail... warm and comfortable (except for the rain), and when we left, it threw us a party - pen mar park. PA greeted us like a relative... come in, come in, make yourself comfortable! And we did... but then it was diagnosed as bi-polar, and it quickly changed moods and became surly. Our stay was no longer welcomed. As we left the state, it gave us a kick in the shins, but then gave us the last two miles easy, as if to say "no hard feelings, come back soon". Too little, too late. I'll do the southern sections again... those were nice. But i hope to never have to do these northern sections of PA ever again. And if i do come back, please question my sanity, and make sure i don't need to go see a doctor.The weather was great today... lots of sun, and a nice breeze, and temps in the mid 70's. We were on the trail by 7, and we started with a flat/down section out of the shelter. a rare occurrence, but i'll take it. But... lots of rocks. ankle biter rocks... all over the place. I didn't eat enough for breakfast, so by 9 i was hungry, and my stomach was growling. We made it to Wind Gap about then, so we stopped for water and snacks. Then it was up, up, up, back to the ridge with more rocks, rocks, rocks. ow, ow, ow....We had 7 miles to wolf rocks, and we got there by noon... hung out for a few, then continued on to kirkridge shelter, where we stopped for lunch. A nice shelter. Much improved from the last time i was there. We got going by about 2, and the walk from the shelter to mt. minsi was surprisingly rock-free, and we even spent a lot of time on a dirt road. The climb down was long and tiring, but we got here to the hostel by 5.My feet felt pretty good till the downhill. I think road walking, or downs are the culprit of my foot pains...The hostel is nice. Bunk space for 8 and a lounge room. Walking distance to the post office and some restaurants. Showers here too. We got cleaned up and ate at doughboys and had dessert at the diner (sycamore diner = expensive. if you go, sit at the bar and get bar food... apparently pretty good, and affordable as described by footloose). Got some powerade at the minimart, and came back.Met another trail legend today - warren doyle. I recognize the name, but don't remember much about him, so i need to look him up. He has hiked the trail 14 times. Nice guy and fun to talk to.Not much wildlife to report today - squirrels, chipmunks, snakes, and gazillions of caterpillars. oh, and a lot of millipeds too.Tomorrow we go to NJ... this is very exciting for us...Gobbles came up with a PA song today... sung to the tune of "my fair lady." I can't do it justice on this thing, but all of his friends (you know who you are) need to make sure that he sings it for you.I spent most of the day singing "on the road again" in my head, mostly to keep from going insane staring at the ground to keep from tripping and to avoid potential snakes.... it didn't occur to me to try to add new lyrics...Oh yeah, forgot to mention in last night's journal - andrew picked up the trail name "snake eyes". This was due to the fact that as they hiked, chris would never see the snakes next to the trail, but andrew always would. So since he's always spotting snakes, he got the name. Now we just need a trail name for chris.Tonight at the hostel is knuckles, random, footloose, dirty harry, gobbles and me.Time for bed... long day ahead of us tomorrow. Errands in the a.m. and then 17 miles of hiking.