Category: Long Distance Trails

Start: George W Outbridge Shelter (AT mi 1259.2). Stop: Leroy A Smith Shelter (AT mi 1276.1) Today’s miles: 16.9 miles. Total AT mileage: 251.4 miles

During the night my sleeping pad went flat on me.. I must have a slow leaking hole. I tried to ignore it, but around 1am I rolled over and my head smacked against the Shelter floor. Well hell. So, I got up as quietly as I could, which isn’t quiet at all in a shelter, and I blew my pad back up.
At 5:45 I heard Derby getting up and getting moving. I thought long and hard about ignoring him, but my stomach growled in protest right as my hip started to ache, letting me know it was touching the floor already. I said to hell with it and got up.

I was packed, had already peed, and was practically chasing Derby down the trail by 5:55. I was proud. My hair was a mess, my teeth weren’t brushed yet, and there was sleep in my eyes still, but I’ll be damned if I woke up early and don’t get breakfast! Hahaha food is 100% motivation these days (although honestly, that’s not that new for me lol).

It was a half mile downhill to the parking lot the guy was going to pick us up at. Derby made it a couple minutes before I did, and it was 6:10 when I got to him. We hung out and I brushed my hair out.. the guy appeared just as he said he would at 6:20. Impressive.

Our trail angel’s name is Craig. He’s 43, single, and making plans to do the trail “soon” and loves helping thruhikers when he can. Not only did he drive us to McDonald’s in town, he took us through the drive through, then to a convenient store AND back to the parking lot he picked us up from! He had us back at 6:40! And refused to let me buy his breakfast or take any money to thank him for his kindness. A real nice guy.

We ate our food in the parking lot (two egg and cheese biscuits for me), I brushed my teeth and repacked my pack.. and we waiting for Cholula and Curmy to come down the hill. When they saw us they thought we were never picked up! Hahaha we surprised them with breakfast 🙂

Once everyone was ready, we headed to the trail and to the start of one hellacious looking climb. We put our poles away because Guthook (our AT app) told us it would be a 2 hands necessary vertical rock scramble for almost 2 miles. Cool. Towely caught up to us then, just before starting up the climb.. he had hitched in before the others that went into town last night.

They all were ahead of me, and honestly the uphill was so slow going for me before the scramble that I would literally walk for 30 seconds, stand still and catch my breath while uploading a picture to this blog. It’s quite a process to add pictures y’all. Hahaha

After I got yesterday’s entry posted, I started the rock scramble. It was difficult but so rewarding. The views were perfection! I took some video and will post it to FB.. definitely check it out. Once at the top, the trail was mostly flat for almost two miles.. Cholula and I hiked together awhile, then leapfrogged a bit. That section was so relaxing. The clouds were threatening a storm, but the rain held off throughout the time I was hiking! Thank my lucky stars.

The flat wonderful trail quickly turned back into the rocky hell-huge up’s and downs with no views, and when you think you’re back on soft ground, a razor sharp rock reminds you that you’re not. It went on and on and on and on.
I ate some candy sushi that curmudgeon and Cholula gifted me, a whole 900 calories for the 3 ounces of candy! Haha I enjoyed every bite and continued on.

When I got to the shelter just before 4pm, Derby was already there and so were 7 other hikers. They gave me the last spot in the shelter, 7 are laying side by side like sardines and TownLegs and I are feet to feet closing the shelter in: aka everything but my head is exposed to wind and my head is at Derby and some other guys feet. But I’m thankful as hell that I have a dry spot to lay on.. even if I didn’t take the time to figure out where the hell the hole in my pad is so I can fix it…

Because less than 5 minutes after I walked up to the shelter and realized I had a spot, the whole damn sky fell and will continue to do so throughout tomorrow! It’s pouring, the temps are dropping, we can see our breath when we speak. It’s going to be a low of 46 tonight.. thank god for my warm sleeping bag! I ate before 5pm to get all unpacked and repacked in here to try to warm up. This is a fun group.. but my friends are all camping already. Cholula and Curmudgeon set their tent up just before the rain. Towely and Lizard got their tent and hammock up during the rain, and I’m thinking FarOut and HotSauce are out there too. My new tent didn’t have a ground cloth and I was afraid it would flood out if I set up in the rain. My ground cloth will be delivered on Tuesday 🙂

It’s 7pm and I literally might be the only person still awake. I have a feeling I won’t sleep too great tonight, but oh well. I’ll make due, and then I’ll slowly trudge over 13+ miles of wet rocks tomorrow I guess, too. Hahaha why did I want to do this again? Lol

Start: Leroy A Smith Shelter ( AT mi 1276.1). Stop: Delaware Water Gap (AT mi 1296.1). Today’s miles: 20 miles. Total AT mileage: 271.4 miles

It was a cold and windy night, with over half of my body being in the opening of the shelter. My warm sleeping bag was the only reason I wasn’t shivering. My pad deflated early, but I still slept well despite that. The rain poured and the wind howled all night long.

Everyone around me started getting up and packing. The sun was up so it was light out, but it was still raining. Finally I sit up and scooted back some, so less people have the opportunity to walk into my sore legs. I look at my watch. 05:56. Are you shitting me?

While everyone ate their breakfast, talked, and packed, I stared into space wishing I didn’t give up my sleeping space because I can’t get it back now. It was supposed to continue to downpour until 11am, and it was in the 40s. I was less than thrilled. But once some of the people rolled out, I too started my morning routine. I ate a cliff bar and packed. I can’t understand how people are so chatty in the morning. Derby seemed to agree with me, because while he was up and packing too, it also looked against his will, and he wasn’t talking either.

He left out right before me, then I hit the trail with one person still at camp (he quickly passed me, too). There were tons of tents set up everywhere, and no one seemed to be stirring. I thought I spotted Lizard’s hammock, but couldn’t be sure. She ran over in the rain last night to give me some toilet paper before running back to her dry hammock tarp. I continued hiking past potentially her hammock, since I couldn’t be certain it was hers, and because whoever was in it was probably warm and happily asleep still. I was jealous! I was already soaked within seconds, even through my rain gear.

I decided when it stopped raining and I found a little campsite, I’d make my oatmeal and coffee to warm up some. It was so cold! 11am came and went and no cease in the rain. Not even a little bit. I decided to risk it all and pulled out my headphones to listen to some music. It wasn’t terrible terrain.. I mean there were still rocks, rocks and more rocks. But I wasn’t slipping or falling. I took a blue blazed trail as an alternative route around a dangerous rock scramble, as directed to do in bad weather. I think this counts as bad weather.

I made it to the shelter around 2pm, 13 miles done. Derby and a day hiker were the only ones there! He was all dry and sitting up in his sleeping bag keeping warm. He told me everyone else made it to Wind Gap (one of the awful downhills to the road, then straight back up again, a little less than 5 miles into today’s hike) and caught a ride to hotels or motels nearby because of how crappy the weather is. I was the first to show up after him! I was so cold that I had decided earlier in the day that if I felt “ok enough” I’d eat some food here at the shelter and then huff it into town the extra 7 miles. My first 20 mile day.

Earlier, I talked to Curmudgeon. Today is his birthday, he and Cholula stayed dry in their tent, but most of their stuff is soaking wet, including his pack-which is just absorbing water like crazy and becoming heavier and heavier by the second. They were planning to go to Wind Gap and catch a ride to Delaware Water Gap. He had said on the phone “it’s less than 20 miles, I’m not worried about it.” Which hit me hard-he’s right, what’s 20 miles? That was the moment I decided I’d push through and walk the 20 miles in the rain. If I made it to Delaware Water Gap tonight, I can double zero there because I’ve already rented a hotel for Monday night and have to go to the post office on Tuesday either way.

I ate my warm oatmeal and coffee, talking to Derby and the other guy, and waiting for Lizard to catch up to me. She had hit the trail some time after me, And I called her to tell her my plan when I was close to the shelter. She had already decided she was going to do the same thing! YES!! I had someone suffering through the same day as me! So, while I was eating at the shelter, the intent was to wait for her to get there, too. But I started shivering so hard after I ate, that I used the privy and repacked, and started walking. Derby was going to make sure to tell her when I left so she’d have a good idea how far behind me she was.

My left shin started sending out a shooting pain. It felt random, like it didn’t come after a stubbed foot or slip on a rock. And the pain was intense and shooting. I started limping, but like, there’s no turning back now, I’m freezing and have my eyes on a double zero and hot shower. However I have to get there, I’m getting there tonight, dammit.

I was aiming for the church hostel, which the bunks are first come first serve. Curmudgeon and Cholula are staying there tonight too. It was just after 6 when I made it. The hikers that were there informed me that there was one bunk and one couch left. I claimed the couch and got the bunk for Lizard.. then promptly jumped in the shower. It. Was. INCREDIBLE.

Lizard made it soon after I got out of the shower, and then she did the same. We got ready and met Curmy and Cholula at a restaurant/bar named Sycamore, down the street. We caught up, did our happy birthdays to Curmudgeon, and had a beer with them. After telling each other about our day, we moved down to the sushi/ramen restaurant. The company was way better than the food, for the record. The drinks were pretty great, too. We tried different sakis, but I drank red wine. Glorious.

We stumbled back to the church hostel and all went right to bed. They got in their bunks in the bunk room, and I swiftly climbed on my couch with my sleeping bag. Tomorrow is a zero day, followed by another, and I really think my shin needs the rest. (I’m writing this the next morning, the first time I haven’t written about my day before bed!)

Welp. Sleeping on the couch in the common area meant being woken up before 7am. These hikers man. And not a single one of them hiked out today. That makes it slightly more annoying than it probably should. Whatever, I’m a grump in the morning, I’m semi working on it.

Once it hit 8am, the lights were on and talking was loud. I laid in my sleeping bag and wrote out yesterday’s blog entry. Once everyone was up and ready, Cholula, Curmudgeon, Lizard and I were getting ready to head to the bakery for breakfast. Just then, Derby walked in soaked to the bone. He hiked 7 miles down from the shelter super dang fast. He said he was so cold in the shelter last night that he regretted not coming to the hostel. Instead of showering and getting warm, he and FeatherFoot came to the bakery too.

The bakery was amazing! I had an egg and cheese sandwich and coffee.. and an apple cinnamon donut, or two (I may have wished I had a third, they were damn good). We had to eat it outside under a canopy to protect us from the rain.. worth every second of the cold to be able to enjoy the sandwich while it was hot.
Derby and FeatherFoot left us while we walked down to the other hotel in town to do laundry. There’s something sort of peaceful about sitting in a room waiting on your clothes to wash. At home, you pop it in and carry on.. on the trail-you have to wait it out. The four of us talked and stretched and downloaded things to our phones to entertain us when we’re on trail.

We all just hung out at the hostel for the rest of the day, talking with other hikers, cleaning up cooking pots and bowls, taking out trash. Lizard and Cholula and Curmudgeon got rooms at the hotel next door for tonight and tomorrow night, I was late to the game and could only get a room for tomorrow night, but all of us, including Lizard’s girlfriend, Hannah-who gets here this afternoon, are eating dinner and listening to live jazz there this evening. Lizard has seemed extra happy all day today, I know she’s got to be excited to see Hannah for a couple days.

Sometime after 3, the three of them head over to the hotel and I stayed and hung out with the folks at the hostel. The second it hit 4:45 I happily walked over to the hotel’s restaurant and got a seat at the bar. The jazz singer started up around 5:15, and Murph (another hiker) was seated to my left and the 2 seats to my right were saved for Lizard and Hannah. Curmy and Cholula got a table reserved right up front from the singer, to celebrate his birthday. It was a pretty sweet set up.

I had a bottle of red wine, which was amazing, some baked Brie with berries on top served with pita bread, and then salmon with risotto and veggies for my meal. Each thing was better than the one before. Tonight’s meal definitely trumped all other meals on trail.. hands down. We all stayed there talking at the bar well after the jazz music was done. it was a great night.

I walked back to the hostel and tiptoed inside. It was well past hiker midnight and everyone was either in bed or actively getting into bed, so I did the same. Now, let’s all pray that I actually get to sleep in, just a little, in the morning. These early risers wear me out! Lol

Ps: sorry for the lack of pictures today, I was enjoying the company and forgot to take hardly any at all!