Arriving in town later, I got some groceries and headed to the only other open establishment in town: the tavern. It was a blast. We hung out for hours, shooting pool and playing songs on the jukebox.

The hiking has been really pleasant. Switching back and forth through New Jersey and New York, the land stays relatively flat. Also, the “polar vortex” has made for some great hiking temperatures. The nights have actually been fairly chilly, and the days cool enough to enjoy a long stroll.

I am frequently reminded, by the many day hikers and others, what an awesome adventure I am living. It feels great to be alive. I’m looking forward to hiking a long day in the mountains tomorrow, however dirty I may be.

After playing a final game of Monopoly in the morning, we hiked out ini the world.

Almost right away, we crossed out of Pennsylvania and into New Jersey. A new state! A lot of the upcoming states are shorter routes than previous states. It’s going to be a few short states before we are in Maine! I better not get too far ahead of myself. I still have 850 miles or so to go.

The trail has crossed in and out of New York and New Jersey. The small towns near the trail don’t have much, but we hikers don’t need much. Friendly people and a bite to eat is pretty much all. We usually get both.

I’ve been hiking a good amount the past couple of days. It has been a bit easier since I sent some gear home. At the same time, I am making sure to enjoy the sights and experiences around me. Last night, I camped at a tower with a great view. The advantage of staying there was that I was able to watch both the sunset and sunrise! It was wonderful.

For now, I am off to get some groceries and enjoy the beautifully moderate weather.

I got some good questions that I wanted to answer. Often, I take for granted the knowledge of the trail and assume y’all know what I’m talking about.

The town I am in now is called Delaware Water Gap. Generally, when the Appalachian Trail comes down out of the mountains for a bit before going back up into them, it’s called a gap. This gap is a little confusing for two reasons:
1) It’s not in Delaware. This gap is where the Delaware river crosses the Appalachian Trail, naming it Delaware Water.
2) There are two of them. Yes, this becomes extremely confusing when trying to navigate and meet people, but there is the town called Delaware Water Gap, where I am now, and then the actual gap where we cross the Delaware River, in about ten miles. It can be crazy, especially with common names like “Low Gap,” where there must have been ten in one state.

My current location is in Pennsylvania, but I have almost reached New Jersey, another state! I have hiked 1290 miles as of now, with about 900 left on the trail.

I wore through my first pair of shoes and am on my second pair. I am hoping to get this pair to Maine, but I don’t know how realistic that is. They wear down, even when designed for trail use.

When we passed the Appalachian Trail Museum, they had a pair of shoes that one of the original hikers, Grandma Gatewood, had used. Converse!

As noted, the trail was fairly strenuous. It increased to a laughable amount, where the rocks were more apparent than the trail. At this point, everyone was hiking below one mile per hour, especially with everything rainy and wet.

My phone died at one point, which meant no music and no blogging until I reached the next town, Delaware Water Gap.

We hiked a solid day and set up camp in a shelter. Soon after came our long-lost hiker friends Willy Wonka and Boucher! They were hikers from a large group that we used to hike with. They were followed by a summer camp group of children and counselors. They were a lot of fun, and we had a great time hanging out in the shelter.

Despite the rain, we stayed mostly dry when we hiked out, and we avoided any injuries on slippery rocks.

We made it into Delaware Water Gap today, and after the usual town errands and some pie, we found Monopoly at the hostel. We got a pizza, soda, and had a family game night between all of us. It feels great to reunite with relatively “old” friends and share a night of fun.

Today was one of my final days in Pennsylvania, and the hiking was certainly memorable.

We started our day in the Jailhouse Hostel, not an actual jailhouse but a basement reserved for hikers to use. The town was Palmerton, quite a hiker friendly one. We went to. Bert’s diner, and I ordered a banana split for breakfast.

Afterwards, I was still hungry, so I got some eggs too. We walked around town a bit. They had some strange things, like fishing bait vending machines.

When we started hiking, things got exciting.

The whole day was fairly rocky, but that first mile of climbing was the real climbing. It was surprisingly intense – the first time that I felt a risk of death on the trail! It has been an exciting day, and now my body is ready for rest.

After another long day of hiking, I am fairly exhausted and ready for sleep, but here is a brief update before I do. I have arrived in the small town I Palmerton, PA, just off of the trail. It is a fairly friendly town, with a free place for hikers to stay the night.

There is word of a “polar vortex” on the way. I’m not sure when or how long it will last… or anything about it really. But cooler weather is definitely my preference.

Today was probably the rockiest hiking yet. It did not discourage me, but my legs are definitely tired tonight.

This stretch of hiking has been great because of the views! It was actually a fairly popular stretch of the trail today, connected with other trails and spotted with day hikers, and I’m not surprised.

Some hikers were less impressed, calling it Rocksylvania and wishing it over with. The rocks are tiresome, and you do feel it in your feet, but that’s all part of it.

I meditated at one such view for a while, where Teabag caught up to me.

At the view, I also met a day hiker who had been to Hershey Park and gave me a factory- fresh candy bar! I want to take a moment of silence now to honor all of the awesome people who have provided me with trail magic. Whether you are the candy bar guy, the man who gave me a ride the other day, or the woman who gave me a soda. This hike is a difficult trek, and it would not be possible without all of you! Thank you!

Last night, the weather forecast told me there was a 0% chance of rain, so I decided to sleep in my hammock. With no tarp or rain cover – the best way to use a hammock. It was a wonderful recline… until it started to rain. I was trying to think of what to do. My sleepy instinct was to cover myself with hammock fabric and fall back asleep. It worked for a time, but I was getting wet and pretty uncomfortable.

I packed up my hammock and began hiking. The rain let up soon after, but I was not all that bitter about it. It actually was pretty nice. Sure, it was very dark and lonely, but I listened to podcasts and sang songs to keep myself company. I felt bad about leaving Teabag behind, but I think he had dove for the shelter of his tent at some point.

The cool air was awesome to hike in. I had been hiking for hours and was barely sweating. Dry shoelaces and all! I watched the sun come up through the trees and enjoyed the quiet morning air, mist slithering around in valleys below.

After some time, I reached the town of Port Clinton. Because it was still so early, I was barely phased by the morning miles. I got some groceries and some letters and talked to a few locals. A girl named Sarah tried to trade me a Sriracha tshirt for my hat. I said I would only trade it for another hat.

Still haven’t found Teabag yet, but I’m sure I will soon. After a few hours, I headed back into the woods. Since then, I have had three hikers say to me, “Doesn’t it feel good to be back in the woods?” Yes. Yes, it does.

Here is a nice view from an overlook in Pennsylvania:

The ground is rocky here – not always, and very seldom excessively so. From the rumors I heard, I expected PA to be only a path of jagged stone spikes. Often, it is simply a noticeably rockier terrain.

Also, you can see that the view is not simply mountains. Now that we are further North, this is even more common. Often, you will see farmlands and towns very near the Appalachian Trail.

We are heading to bed early tonight in order to wake up early and take advantage of the cool morning hours for hiking. Goodnight!

We stopped in town after hiking for a few miles today, and we were able to take care of a few things. Buying some snack foods for the next few days was at the top of the list. So was laundry.

What made laundry difficult was that we had to wear something while we washed our clothes. You would think we would have this down by now, but it’s a new adventure every time. We wore the clothes that we had worn the least recently – all of the warmest clothing in the 90 degree heat.

Luckily, to keep from melting, we went to the pub, where we watched the craziest soccer game I have ever seen! This area had a tornado warning, which was an excuse for us to get a hotel room for the night.

Temporary luxury. Looking forward to moving up out of Pennsylvania soon, and meeting with other hikers.