Summer 2019 Section Hike - Day 7- Mohican Trail Center to Brink Road Shelter

Date: June 22
Total Miles Today: 14.3
First Week Total: 101.2
Total Miles this Summer: 101.2
Total Trail Miles: 908.2

Trail Magic! Yes, I'll have a Coke and a Banana

The views, cool breezes and dry weather appear to be continuing. It's really a shame David is missing this, but I'm sure he will have a great time at Camp. I failed to mention it earlier, but David got off the trail after 76 miles in Delaware Water Gap to go to a 3 week Christian leadership program at a Camp in West Virginia. But we expect him to rejoin us later in New England.

New Jersey....big sky country?

You will notice fewer rocks in the NJ pictures. Our feet notice this too.

We climbed to the top of a fire tower and enjoyed a snack at the top. The wind was blowing hard, and cooled us off quickly.

They are a bit more intimidating when you look down.

Beaver Pond

Trail Magic! Mostly gone, but I found a cold Orange Fanta.

Hey... that's tomorrow. We should be there around 3pm

Still New Jersey

Air drying my laundry all day during the hike. Worked pretty well, and I managed not to lose anything.

Porcupine! Got to see him about as close as we wanted to be. Shortly before this guy, we also saw a bear.

When we arrived at the shelter , a former thru hiker  hiker had brought pizza and beer to the shelter. 3rd trail magic of the day. 

2nd glorious day in NJ...it was a great day of hiking.

Summer 2019 Section Hike - Day 6- Finish PA!- Delaware Water Gap to Mohican Trail Center

Date: June 21
Total Miles Today: 10.5
Total Miles this Summer: 86.8
Total Trail Miles: 893.9

Goodbye Pa. And goodbye rain.

Replaced my Altra Timp Trails after 76 miles. I killed another pair section hiking Pa. Let's hope this new pair gives me at least 300 miles

This is New Jersey

This is also New Jersey.

You guessed it. New Jersey. Seriously not living up to my stereotypes.

Perfect weather, cool breezes, and blue skies.

Oh, and fresh blueberries.

AT life is good in New Jersey.

We had a delightful, dry hike...just what we needed after the rain and rocks of PA. And while there were a few rocks, it was nothing like PA.

In spite of our afternoon departure from Delaware Water Gap, we arrived at the Mohican Trail Center well before dark. After arrival, we checked into our bunks, washed clothes in the sink and enjoyed showers.

A huge improvement over PA. Our feet are still blistered and bruised...but things are getting better. And tomorrows weather looks to be the same.

Summer 2019 Section Hike- Day 5 - Leroy A. Smith shelter to Delaware Water Gap

Date: June 20
Total Miles Today: 20.2
Total Miles this Summer: 76.3
Total Trail Miles: 883.4
Completed Sections:
Springer to Spivey Gap (Erwin, Tn)
Damascus, Va to Partnership shelter
Buena Vista, Va to ....(currently Delaware Water Gap)

Sage got up and announced " there is something squishy in my shoe." She was releaved to find out Mr. Slug was uninjured, after a brief conversation she released him to go climb in someone else's shoes.

My backpack weighs 15-18 pounds, depending on how much water I'm carrying. This involves some sacrifices, such as only having one pot to eat from. Scoop down...it's oatmeal with dried fruit, drink off the top...it's coffee.

Only 9 miles to our destination planned destination.

We took the Wolf Rock bypass trail due to the wet conditions. We did not want to repeat the Bake Oven Knob risks.

Kirkland Shelter....and hours of sunlight left. Let's do a 20 and stay in town!

The fog cleared enough that the overlooks actually had a view.

Almost there. Around 8:15...after 12 hours of hiking, we arrived in Delaware Water Gap, Pa. 20.2 miles in the rocks and rain  David's first 20.

We stayed at Church of the Mountain, they let hikers stay for free. It was packed, but they let us set up our hammocks in the gazebo.   Bathroom, shower and a gazebo next to a loud street...a great stop.

A windy rainstorm blew in a 5am, waking us up and causing a scramble to set up Sage's tarp. 

Summer 2019 Section Hike- Day 4 - Palmerton to Leroy A. Smith Shelter

Total Miles today: 15.8
Total Miles on Section Hike: 56.1
Total AT miles hiked: over 850 (will calculate soon)

After a delicious breakfast at Bert's, they gave us a free shuttle to the trail. The drop off point was a couple hundred yards from where we got off the trail, so we started the day by backtracking. 

The climb out of Palmerton is quite literally a climb. 

After a particularly difficult rock climb, Sage paused to take a picture. When she got up, one of her trekking poles fell down to the bottom of the climb.

David quickly volunteered to climb down and get it for her.

Over 1k foot climb, much of it on rocks. But it wasn't raining, so it was kinda fun. Smooth, dry, flat trail is also fun. At least I've heard it can be...don't personally remember what it is like 

Not far from this point, I left my smartphone sitting on a rock. 3 downhill miles later, I realized my phone was missing..and realized where I left it. Our 3 mile day just became a 21 mile day. We started climbing the mountain we had just descended.

After 10 minutes, some nobo(northbound) hikers asked: " Did you lose a phone? The guy behind us has it." So we sat down to wait on him and eat lunch.

Reunited with my phone, a back to a 15 mile day, we hiked on through the Misty rainforests of Pennsylvania, periodically getting rained on. Exhausted, we stumbled into the shelter. Full. Looks like we will have to hang the hammocks.

The rain and the rocks continue to make this particularly challenging. Our feet are bruised and blistered, our shoes are torn up, and everything is soaked. At least it isn't cold.

Summer 2019 Section Hike Day 3 - Bake Oven Knob Shelter to Palmerton, PA - NERO!

Miles hiked today: 8.4
Total miles hiked on section: 40.3

   Yesterday was so hard it's spilling over into today. When we arrived, and started setting up our hammocks last night, I found out that I had a problem.

    My hammock is a bridge hammock, and to save weight, I use adaptors on my trekking poles to make them a structural part of the hammock. A bridge hammock is a hammock with perpendicular bars at the ends to spread it out, making it super flat and comfy. Except....the rocks had worn down my pole tips so badly my adaptors wouldn't work anymore. 

   So there it was...after 10pm...I'm whooped...and no where to sleep. With no other good option, I tightened up the hammock and climbed in...no spreader bars. It was not that comfortable, but I was tire enough it didn't matter. I slept like a rock. 

   We broke camp in the rain, and started our wet, muddy descent into town

Turtle. Not David...he is fast. On the ground....a turtle

We made it to the road, and 15 minutes later a $7.50 Uber had delivered us to Bert's Steakhouse and Hostel. We dropped our gear, started some laundry, and headed for lunch.

Ahh..the best part of hiking...it feels so good when you stop.

After lunch, we showered,  took a nap and lounged around for a bit.

While in town, we hit the grocery to resupply. I grabbed sliced meat, cheese, spinach, onions, green peppers and tortillas and to make 10 wraps for the trail. ...uh...8 wraps...they looked so good we are a couple.

Well fed, clean, rested and resupplied....a great Nero.

A zero is when a hiker does 0 miles. A Nero is when you do a short day and spend the rest in town. Neros are great because you get the benefits of a zero.. while still getting some miles.

Summer 2019 Section Hike - Day 2 - Eckville Shelter to Bake Oven Knob Shelter

Miles Hiked Today: 17.4
Total Miles on this Section Hike: 31.9

Eckville shelter had bunks for 6 people, and when we arrived at sunset...there were 3 bunks left. Yay! And what a shelter. A flush toilet, cold shower, charging station and fresh water tap.

We took our time leaving the Shelter, ate some oatmeal and topped off our batteries on the charger.

Another wet day. There was a fog in the air and the ground was wet, which allowed us to walk right up on a few deer.

Sage found a miniature deer to ride on top of her backpack. 

Rockslvania. 

Lots of great overlooks. Time for a snack and a foot break.

I found my pulpit, and I don't have a message prepared. Guess ill just tell a story.

David was in the lead and the AT forked to the left. In PA, you spend so much time looking down at the rocks,  it is easy to miss a turn. In this case, the path, going straight, would take you off the trail. No big deal, but it was a good learning moment and a reminder to watch for the blazes.

Allentown Hiking Shelter, a great place for a meal and a nap. 

Someone maked the 2000km point on the trail. How far is that? I have no idea...I'm an American.

The next 6 miles after Allentown shelter is super easy. We averaged 3mph on that stretch.

And then we approached the Knife's Edge. It is a bit slower.

Thankfully, the rain had stopped a couple hours before and the rocks were mostly dry. I would not want to do this section in the rain.

Knife's Edge...a fun section of trail. 

We plodded along as darkness approached. As we hit the top of Bake Oven Knob, it started to rain. Then, as darkness approached, after 15 miles of trail, in the rain...we came to the descent from Bake Oven Knob. It was effectively a rock climb. And not an easy one on slick, jagged boulders with backpacks on. If you have been praying for our safety, your prayers were answered, other than a bruised lump on the side of my ankle, we made it down...alive. It would have been hard with fresh legs on a sunny day...after 10 hours of hiking, in pouring rain...wow. 

Exhausted, after dark...ready to collapse...we stumbled into the shelter. It was full. And there was no where to hang out hammocks. The only choice as to hike further, looking for a campsite. Which, thankfully, was found 300 ft up the trail. 

A very hard day. 2nd day in a row of rain.

Summer 2019 Section Hike -Day 1- Port Clinton, PA to Eckville Shelter

June 16
Total miles today: 14.5

  We finished our final preparations for our planned longest hike ever.  At 1245, we hit the trail,  after visiting a small church in Hamburg Pa.  Our plan is to do about 55 days on the trail. We should have enough time to get to Maine, but not all of it. That's good, as I would prefer to make the final stretch of Maine our final section hike.  Our previous longest section hike was 22 days, from Springer to Hot Springs.

     How do you prepare for a 55 day hike? Well, it's not much different than a 3-5 day hike. You can't carry everything you might need, the goal is to run out of everything by the next town. Some folks will put together resupply boxes and mail them ahead. I don't bother, the one time we did a mail drop it was at Fontana dam, and I just ordered straight from Amazon.

    Since we expect to go through the White Mountains in NH, we will need warmer gear, so we will swap out a few things in Vermont.

What I've done:

   1) Fussed at my fellow hikers to get packed
   2) Bought some food for resupply along the way when David gets on and off the trail to go to camp
   3) packed 3 days of food for 3 people ( and put it all in David's pack)
   4) Sprayed everything with Perimethrin ( my wife did that for us...lyme is no fun)
  5) Replaced my Osprey Exos48 with a Zpacks Nero...saving almost 2 pounds
  6) picked up a Thermarest ultralight Large ( comfy and only 12oz)
   7) prepped gear...removed as much as I can from my pack.
   8) glanced at Guthook
    9) did my best to get all non-trail things in order.

   Laurie and Benjamin dropped us on the trail in Port Clinton PA after we joined a small church for worship in Hamburg, PA. They also joined us for the first part of the hike.

Big thanks to Laurie for making this possible, she is stuck at home with a quiet, peaceful house while we get rained on. Seriously though, I am blessed to have a wife that supports our little adventures.

Rain threatened all day, but we mostly avoided it....except when we decided to take a dinner break on pulpit rock

    I'm writing this post during a snack break at The Pinnacle, 9.5 miles from where we started in Port Clinton. The view is awesome.

    5.4 mostly downhill miles to Eckville shelter and we are done for the day. It's 6:30pm. If we don't get moving we will be hiking in the dark.