At 6a I wanted to destroy my phone. Literally. The alarm went off and I wasn’t ready for the day to start. At 6:15a, I knew I had no choice or I would risk making Snow Monkey’s brother late for work. We did our final steps of packing up the bags, grabbed a bagel leftover from the other morning, and were leaving the house by 7:08a. It was a 45 minute drive back to the trail. I spent most of it half asleep. I just want a morning to sleep in. At 8:15a, we were starting our day on the trail.
The day overall was easy. However, our packs were heavy from the resupply, so we felt slow. About eight miles in we hit the Delaware Water Gap, complete with a small town. Iron bistro tables and chairs at an ice cream shop drew us in and we ate our bagged lunches there. By the time we were taking our last bite, the ice cream shop was opening. We would be remiss to pass up the opportunity of such convenient ice cream.
The diner/shop was incredibly cute. It had a classic feel and offered treats like egg cream with a pretzel rod and rickies. I chose a rickie, which is lime, lemon, and seltzer water. Warthog got a coffee malt. The place was filled with thru-hikers and a local photographer. He saw me taking photos and struck up a conversation. We talked for at least thirty minutes.
It was noon when we decided we really needed to press on. Just after the town you go over the Delaware River. You walk on a long bridge shared with traffic. There is a short cement wall separating the two. As semi trucks passed us, the whole thing would bounce up and down. The railing would rattle too. It was a pretty unsettling feeling to be moving while suspended one hundred fifty feet in the air. Especially when it’s something so large that’s moving you. It was also kind of fun.
While we were stepping onto the bridge, I read a small fixed sign that offered a help hotline for those jumping and not intending to get out of the river. It also reminded the would-be jumper that the fall could be fatal. When I pointed it out to Wonder Woman, she said something like, “Ha! Seems appropriate they would put that sign there for all of the AT hikers.” It was a joke of course. We enjoy what we are doing out here. But still, sometimes this trail makes you go just a little bit crazy. Enough so that you might entertain the idea of jumping off of a bridge.
Then there are times where the trail makes you feel amazing. We had one of those moments today when we hit the state line. We spent about ten minutes celebrating and taking photos. We are out of Pennsylvania, the state that claims more thru-hikers than any other state either with depression or an ankle injury. It was a triumphant moment for us all.
The end of Pennsylvania also meant we got to load a new map on our phone – always a milestone! We use an app called Guthook’s Hiking Guides. You pay for sections of trail and it gives you all kinds of information. Our favorite part about it is that it allows you to access comments from other users which can be helpful when trying to determine if a semi reliable water source is flowing or not. Additionally, it access your GPS and will tell you where exactly you are. There’s no more guessing if you’ve walked two miles or three, you an open up the program and know exactly what your progress is. A new map, a new section, a new chapter of the AT. It feels awesome to be moving forward.
After the Delaware River we took a slower ascent up to a ridge line. Then we arrived to a place called Sunfish Pond. It’s a crystal clear pond. A lot of hikers swim in it, even though they are explicitly told not to. At the north side of that pond we hit the 1,300 mile mark! Less than 900 to go! We are counting down miles now… an odd feeling.
As we circled around the pond, storms were rolling in. We had hoped to avoid them, but it wasn’t going to happen. It was gorgeous listening to the rolling thunder. A part of me welled up with excitement. I truly enjoy storms. They make you feel alive. Although it was a feeling that was short lived. About ten minutes later I was fighting back tears from panic. The storm was right above us. A couple of times it seemed like the lightning was next to us. I had a hard time distinguishing the crack of the lightning from the slam of thunder. That’s not all that fun, but in the end I guess it did the same as when it was coming in… it made me feel alive. Of course, I was alive and running down the trail as fast as I could.
We ran into our friend Scribbles in the storm. He was walking southbound for the day. He warned us that some slightly exposed ridges were coming up. That’s the last place we ought to be. If we were to hit those in the storm, I would probably have waited it out. Lucky for us, the storm lifted just as we got to them. It was over as quickly as it started, having lasted maybe forty minutes at most.
We continued to hike ridges for the rest of the day. A couple of times we had fantastic views from the summits. For the most part, the camera was put away to keep it safe. When we hit a view with the steam rising up from the valley, I asked Warthog to bring it back out. I couldn’t pass it up. We took a quick break at that overlook. That’s where I saw a wild turkey track. It was a single footprint. He couldn’t have been there much earlier than we were considering thirty minutes before that, it would have been a puddle. I love looking at the ground to see what’s been walking right were we are now. It a connection between the past and present… and the future, considering someone will be coming from behind you shortly. It’s a good reminder that you are not the only thing that exists in this world, there are a lot of other people and things occupying the same spaces as you and you should treat those spaces (and things) with respect for the next person to enjoy. When I see carvings on trees or graffiti on rocks, I think people are so incredibly selfish sometimes. But then I see a hiker packing out someone’s discarded t-shirt or other trash and have restored hope.
A few miles after that overlook we hit our campsite for the night. It’s near the road but set back enough that it took a car driving by for me to notice. There’s also water. Above all else, we try to camp near a good water source. Unfortunately, it was swamped with mosquitos. For the first time this trip we pulled out the deet. It didn’t seem to touch them. I prepared our snacks for the next day and was going mad from all of the bites. Warthog told me he’d make dinner and I could hide in the tent. I was so thankful for his sacrifice and dove to safety. He made dinner outside, but then brought the pot of food into the tent to eat it. It’s not a good habit to get into incase an animal is tempted by the smell, but we were careful not to spill.
We hiked 17.7 miles, a full day. We need to average 16.6 miles a day (this accounts for the zero days we already have planned plus a few more) in order to make it to Katahdin around September 16th. That’s our goal date right now. It’s early enough that should something occur we still have a couple of weeks to “spare”. We are getting nervous about our mileage, but we also want to make sure these last 900 or so miles stay the adventure we had for the first 900 or so miles. If we didn’t live for the adventure and the opportunity to seize the day, this journey would be a waste of time.
-ansel