5-28-11 Lehigh Gap to Wind Gap, PA

5-28-11

I finally finished packing at 1:30am. Weighed my pack in at 20 lbs. I need to work on making that lighter for shorter trips. Getting up at 5am to start Lehigh Gap to Delaware Water Gap. Leroy and I will be doing our final hike together before he departs for his new life in Colorado. Jack Masterson and Athena will be joining us again. Time for a 3 hour power now.

10 miles of PA hiking with only 3 hours of sleep. Started at Lehigh Gap, crossed the bridge, then started the ascent. The climb was almost 1,200 feet of loose rock. Some sweet views up on top of Lehigh Gap. It is literally a rock scramble. Really awesome though, I loved it. After we climbed up, we reached the ridge again. It was a beautiful grassy knoll. Only downside to that was the abundance of ticks! We found them by the tens, all climbing in our wool socks and up our legs. After that, we stopped for lunch just after Little Gap Road. It was hot, humid, and sunny. Another rocky climb, not too big though.

Lehigh Gap - At the top!

Taken on 3-14-12

We were running low on water and our only source for 5 miles was a .6 mile hike down steep switchbacks. After filling up, we went back up the hill and set up our camp. Had our tent up, bags hung, and I was out for a nice 2 hour nap.

Made dinner - Jamaican Style Chicken! Leroy and Jack made a fire, I went to the tent to catch up on sleep. Sometime in the middle of the night, Athena started barking at something in the woods. Jack thought he saw a coon in the tree. Athena kept our bags safe. Thank you Athena!

5-29-11

Started a 4.5 mile hike to Leroy A. Smith Shelter. It has 3 springs. The last for 16 miles, so we were sure to fill up. Stopped here for water and lunch. Shepherd's Potato Stew with Beef, so delicious.

Leaving Leroy A. Smith Shelter was difficult. Last water for about 16 miles. It was so nice there, I didn't want to leave. It got hotter. Sun came out, humidity sky rocketed... it truly sucked. Worst part was the flies. They would continually fly around us, irritating Leroy and I to our limits.

After a few more miles of hell, I thought about calling it quits. I evaluated the water situation, and was demoralized. We finally got to Wind Gap. This is where I said my final farewells to Leroy, Jack, and Athena. I called it quits. I could not continue. We decided it would be better if the had 2 people anyway. They could have more water this way, plus I could take some weight from them to help them out.

This was my final hike with Leroy, Jack and Athena for 2011. I enjoyed every moment. They made it safely to Delaware Water Gap, but they told me they barely made it with enough water. I couldn't imagine if I had gone with them. There are times when being a coward is the right decision, this is one of those situations. It wasn't worth risking my health.

4-15-11 Port Clinton to Lehigh Gap, PA

4-15-11

It all started at Port Clinton on Friday at 5pm. Leroy Bernard (LB), Jack Masterson (John), Athena (John's Dog), and I, Cowboy Dan were racing against the sun so that we could have a shelter to sleep in. We started with a 1600 foot climb and about 500 feet up we saw a man taking care of business behind a tree. Athena ran up to him and disturbed his peace. We finally made it to the shelter at 8pm after 5 miles. We had to share the shelter with atleast 9 boy scouts. I always wanted to become a boy scout, until I met that group. Made Louisiana red beans and rice. All the food we had was dehydrated, so we only needed to add boiling water. Long night with the noisy boy scouts.

4-16-11

It was about 7am as we prepared for the long day. We made oatmeal with milk and blueberries. Weather forecasts predicted heavy rain and 35 mph winds. We had to do 11 miles to the next shelter. All was well until we made it to Dan's Pulpit, about 6 miles in. It was now 12 pm. Beautiful view... until the rain came of course. We got our rain gear on and prepared for a miserable 5 miles. We were on a ridge, which basically means there is no protection from the elements and there are many rocks. This was easily the worst time of my life... I was disoriented, visibility was about 20 feet, and I was far behind from Leroy and Jack. My hands were numb and my vision was blurry. All this while walking on large, slippery rocks. We saw a sign that read "Welcome to Rocksylvania!". I was ready to shoot someone at this point. We ate lunch behind a tree, the food was frozen. Tastycake, pb and j, apple, and trail mix. All delicious.

We finally made it to the Allentown Shelter after 3 hours in the rain and wind. I was so glad to see it. We hung our clothes to dry and got in our sleeping bags, trying to get warm. Made dinner, Sweet and Sour Chicken. Asian food baby! We met an African American father and his son, Sim Senior and Sim Junior. Nice people and all, but the father snored like no other. It kept me up through most of the night.

4-17-11

Got up late. Everyone was exhausted. We made a fire and had breakfast. Maple sugar oatmeal. Nice to have a hot meal after a cold night. Packed up and moved out at 10:30 am. We had a 16 mile day ahead of us. None of us had ever done 16 miles in one day. Ate lunch just after Route 309. Chicken noodle soup, ginger O's, and a cliff bar. Refilled water and continued.
Made it to Bake Oven Knob at 4 pm, which is just a massive pile of boulders. It was the halfway point. We had to do 8 more miles in less than 4 hours. We realized how screwed we were. We began doing a faster pace. It was hard to keep up. Leroy Bernard kept slowing us down. He couldn't keep the pace. So we left him a few times then waited further down the trail. Saw 6 wild turkey while in the state game lands. Very beautiful overlooks. However, the sight of the sun going down made it impossible to stop and enjoy the sights. The last 3 miles were the longest. We were all tired, and we could see the end. Our knees hurt from the long descent. It was rock after rock. We stopped for water at a stream. Used the filter of course. Later I found out that the water was tainted with pathogens.
We finally finished at 7:30 pm, loaded the car, and went on our way to get Leroy's car at the start. On the way, I threw up the water from earlier. Sucked a lot.
Went to a steak house for dinner. I got a 6 oz. steak with ribs. My god it was delicious... Good way to end a 32.2 mile trip to the Appalachian Trail.