The 501 Shelter

I stopped at the 501 shelter yesterday for water. I saw a menu inside and realized this was one of the few "pizza" shelters that are close enough to civilization for pizza delivery. I met a group of about ten girls out camping for the weekend to celebrate a birthday, so decided to be sociable and order pizza... it's not what you're thinking, they were a group of lesbian women. I planned on leaving after pizza to get to the 1000 mile mark last night, but they provided cans of PBR, then shots of whiskey, so I ended up spending the night. The birthday girl brought her guitar, so we stayed up late chatting and singing Ani Difranco and Indigo Girls songs around a campfire. This morning they made breakfast burritos and french toast. All-in-all, it was worth the stay, that 1000 mile mark isn't going anywhere.

Lehigh Valley Astronomical Park

I so badly want someone to appear and say, "Want to borrow one of our big ass telescopes tonight?" But it's just not happening, so I'm doing the next best thing, setting up camp nearby and just laying on the ground under the stars. That sounds good too. I mean, they don't put astronomical parks in areas that are no good for stargazing.

There is a frost advisory tonight, but then I'm suppose to have good weather for a few days, no rain and highs in the 80s! I'm looking forward to all my things being dry for a while, because to a thru-hiker being dry is often as close as we get to feeling clean.

The View From Dan's Pulpit

Pennsylvania has a bad reputation on the trail, and because of that, I wasn't looking forward to it. It seemed every northbounder we met complained about how it was the worst section of the AT. In fact, I don't think anyone ever complained about any other state at all. It's true that there have been several miles of relatively flat boring rocky trail, but every day you are greeted with unexpected views of rich green farmland like this. Nearly all of the complaints were due to the feet and ankle murdering rock covered trails, but to me these peaceful quiet moments looking out over the farmland make up for the terrain. The trail and views in NY and NJ were often polluted with traffic and airplane noise (and just as often with actual garbage). My foot and ankle may disagree, but I'm happy to have crossed into PA. Maybe I'll change my tune after another 100 miles of stumbling over shards of rock, but for now, I love PA.

Pennsylvania Sunset


I had a goal of making it to a shelter before yesterday's sunset, but had to stop with only 2 miles to go to watch it. I may be on a tight schedule now, but I'll always find the time for this, even if it means hiking more at night.

The ankle is feeling better. It stiffens up quickly when I stop, and if I put weight on it at certain angles pain shoots through it along with the thoughts of not making it to Georgia. Pennsylvania is rough, the rocky terrain is also aggrevating the first injury to my left foot. I hitched into Walnutport, PA and picked up an Ace bandage, which has been an enormous help. I think the drunk zombie-like limp made it harder to get a ride, though. Or I suppose you could make the argument that its harder to hitch when you're no longer hiking with girls. Come to think of it, because of the cooler weather, I was wearing long pants. Hmm, maybe I'll show more leg next time.

Anyway, long story short, I ache constantly, but I'm getting to Georgia, dammit! Even if I'm limping down the trail in snowshoes. This simple life and the surprising beauty around every corner make all the pain and discomfort worth while.

My Home Last Night

After injuring myself, I was only able to make it 5 miles to the Leroy A. Smith Shelter, where I settled in for the night. I slept about 11 hours, waking up frequently due to the cold, but I feel better today. I'm optimistic that this won't end my trip, but we'll see. Palmerton, PA has a free hiker hostel in the old jailhouse and a hospital. I will try to make it there today.

Injury #2

Just pulled a muscle above my right ankle. The Pennsylvania section of the AT is covered in small boulders, so it's extremely hard on the feet and ankles. Not sure what will happen now.

It's swollen and limping on it is even more painful than my last injury. I'm going to hang out here on Hahn's Overlook a little while and see if I can make it to the next shelter 4 miles away. Otherwise, I'm setting up camp here and seeing how it feels in the morning.

Day-Hikers on the Appalachian Trail

I couldn't see anyone, but I knew day-hikers were close. I could smell them.

Alright, let me explain myself. A couple weeks into this Appalachian Trail thru-hike, a pair of day-hikers passed Red and I coming the opposite way. They smelled so clean, like soap and fresh laundry. A minute later, another couple approached us. They were twenty feet away, but I already knew they smelled wonderfully like shampoo and dryer sheets.

The sour look on the woman's face as she passed us confirmed that we did not.

I assumed by being in the woods so long, my senses had heightened. I felt like the boy Ray Charles in the movie Ray when he caught the cricket with only his heightened sense of hearing.

"Man, I can smell their soap from like thirty feet away," I exaggerated to Red, expecting him to be impressed by my new superpower.

"Me too! They smell so good. I think that last woman could smell us too, did you see her face?"

Red's comment forced me back to my previous assumption, which I've held for years, I wasn't special. I simply hadn't been around soap for a while. A long while.

Back to today. I knew day-hikers were near. I could smell soap, but where were they? I hiked further, turned a corner, and there they were. Nearly a football field's distance between us! That was far enough away for me to realize my suspicions were right all along. I am a superhero.

Village Farmer and Bakery

From the outside the most intriguing thing about Village Farmer Bakery in Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania, is the large sign depicting a hot dog and slice of apple pie holding hands standing over the words, "True Love!" Holes are cut out at the top of them, so you can stick your face in for a photo op.

When I saw the inside my face lit up like Charlie walking into Willie Wonka's edible Chocolate Room. There are so many delicious things in this building it overwhelms the senses. Well, at least to someone with a thru-hiker appetite.

Thru-hikers talk about food more than anything else. We need 5,000 calories per day, so are always hungry. We describe every food we happen to be craving like we suddenly all work for Bon Appetit Magazine.

Even tiny morsels become important. One day, I saw two M&Ms in the dirt and mumbled something about the damn day-hikers leaving food on the ground.

"How do you know they're from day-hikers?" Red wondered.

"Because a thru-hiker would have picked that back up out of the dirt and eaten it." Hell, I even thought about eating it.

At the beginning of this trip, we all underestimated how much food we would want to eat. In the 100-Mile Wilderness in Maine I was so hungry I licked the insides of the flavor packets from my Ramen Noodles to get every calorie. And I overheard Thumper say to Sixgun, "Are you going to throw away that Cheerios dust?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Do you want it?"

"Uh yeah, that's second breakfast."

So yes, we love food out here. If you're curious, I just bought a Boston Cream Pie (to share with Deuce and Brother), some cookies for my next stretch of trail, and their famous $2.49 combo, a slice of apple pie and a hot dog. Mmm, together at last.

Church of the Mountain

Yesterday afternoon, I crossed over the Delaware River and into Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania. I planned to grab some food and get back on the trail, but had my needed miles for the day and couldn't pass up the hospitality of the Church of the Mountain. They keep a room open 24 hours for weary hikers, a warm dry place with couches, bunks, shower, and restroom. The fee is whatever you can afford, $3 recommended. I stayed up late chatting with two other sobos, Deuce and Brother. They are nice and I hope our paths occasionally cross again, but of course nobody could replace Sixgun and Thumper. I talked about them, and all the experiences we had on the trail, so much that Deuce said, "Man, now I'm missing them," even though he never met them.

Anyway, I really like Delaware Water Gap, PA. The food is great and the people very friendly. It's amazing how that changes by simply crossing a river.

More Wildlife

I climbed on top of this mountain that I didn't know the name of. The view was so amazing I thought, okay, so maybe NJ isn't so bad. Just then I nearly stepped on a Timber Rattler. He coiled up and hissed. Not in the mood for pictures at all. In fact he was a bit of a drama queen if you want to know the truth. I looked up the name of the mountain for this blog post. It's Rattlesnake Mountain. I wonder how they come up with these crazy names for things.

A hiker just passed by and I told him to watch out. He told me he just saw two bears. Hmm, maybe no night hiking tonight.

The Tortoise

This footlong tortoise was the highlight of my day. Not that the pizza wasn't fantastic, but after hiking 19 miles of flooded trail that got as high as knee deep, with moody gray skies, relentless rain, and lightning cracking overhead, I was starting to feel low. It didn't help that I was soaked to the bone and the temperature dropped into the 40s. I had my head down plowing through the miles when I almost had a head-on collision with this guy. He helped to put a smile back on my face.

I made it to the Mashipacong Shelter after dark, happy to have a roof overhead so I could dry off and sleep, but the leaky shelter was full of hikers.

This morning I ran for much of the first 7 miles toward food in Branchville, NJ which seems to hate hikers. Rude business owners, silent unfriendly stares from locals, and I even got flipped off by a passing motorist for no reason.

So far NJ has been a hard state to love. There is one more day to turn that around, I'll be in PA tomorrow.

New Jersey Border

I'm in New Jersey now. I've actually been walking along the state border with NY for a couple days, so I go back and forth. New Jersey is where my chances of seeing black bears increases. They say there is one bear per square mile in some parts. Coincidentally, bears can smell strong odors from two miles away. Don't worry, I don't believe there has ever been a bear attack on the AT. You only need to worry about my food supply.

So far, New Jersey has been wet, muddy, and mosquito infested. Foot bridges and bog logs have been washed out from flooding, so I've spent the days sloshing through water and trying not to slip on roots and rocks. If I try to slow down and avoid the water, by walking over stones, the mosquitoes swarm in numbers unlike any other state so far. It hasn't been an ideal couple of days, but surprisingly I still love it. It sure beats the cubicle life.