Day 93, miles today - 19.7, total - 1,272.1

June 18, 2013

George W. Outerbridge Shelter to campsite at 1,272.1 miles.

I only planned to do 16.7 miles today, so I stayed in the sleeping bag later than normal. I started hiking at 9:00 am.

Within a couple miles the trail  dropped down to a bridge and road that leads to Palmerston, PA. After the road crossing the trail climbed 1,500 feet in 1-1/2 miles. That's a big up! Part of the big up was climbing over large boulders that covered the mountain. It was difficult, and in my opinion dangerous. One slip could have resulted in a serious injury. Whoever created this section of trail wasn't very safety minded, and they certainly never attended a slips, trips, and falls class. The good news is I made it to the top safely.

I took a picture of the bridge that I came across before I started the big climb. The trail today was mostly rocky. Other than the first big up, the trail was fairly flat. I saw one deer and one small garter snake today. It was warm, but not as hot as the last couple days.

I stopped at the Leroy A. Smith Shelter at 4:00 pm. There was one guy there that goes by Gas. He's a retired fourth grade school teacher from Virginia. He's doing a there week section hike. I was feeling  hungry, so I fixed dinner as soon as I filled my water bottles at a nearby spring. For dinner I had a Knorr Rice Sides, a cinnamon roll, one Honey Bun, and a package of peanut butter and crackers. As I was eating I thought about doing a few more miles. I'm going into Delaware Water Gap tomorrow. I plan to stay at a church hostel there. I need to resupply, shower, and do laundry. It's amazing how bad socks smell after one week. 

Gas

From the shelter it's twenty miles to town, if I do a few more miles it will give me more time in town, and the church serves a free dinner on Thursdays and I don't want to be late. After eating I decided to lay down until 6:00. If I felt good I would continue hiking. Two other hikers arrived at the shelter. One is Sundance the other Garfunkel. They were two of the guys that I went to Walmart with, in Port Clinton. When I told them of my plan, they decided they would do a few more miles too.

 So at 6:00 we were off. We hiked about there miles, at which point there was an area that had been used as a campsite. This will be the first time I've used my tent in a long time. After we each had our tents put up we sat on logs by a fire ring. They each fixed dinner. I ate a few snacks. Sundance is a younger guy who lives in Salt Lake City. Garfunkel is from Austria. He has already hiked the PCT.

Garfunkel and Sundance

Sundance's tent

My tent