July 5-6 in NJ

July 5, 2005 | Day 100 | Miles: 10.5 | Total Miles: 1290.3
End: Mohican Outdoor Center, Blairstown, NJ
Danielle:
Overcast and humid
Another shower! 4 days in a row. Wow. That might be a record for us out here :-) There's no laundry here unfortunately but at least we're a bit cleaner when we put back on our dirty clothes. We're staying in the bunkhouse at this AMC retreat center out in the woods. Nothing fancy, but we did get to eat sandwiches on whole wheat bread for lunch(yum!), shower, will stay dry tonight (looks and feels like rain) and are relaxing this afternoon.
It wasn't a bad hike out of Delaware Water Gap today. We started off the hike by crossing the Delaware River on the sidewalk of I-80. The concrete was actually swaying under our feet when some of the big trucks went by. Is that supposed to happen? A bit scary... But we made it out of PA and into NJ, which is very exciting. 7 states down! And no more PA. Double yeah! We are happy to be out of that state.
The rocks didn't stop at the river, unfortunately, but it just felt like better hiking today. We went by the southern-most glacial pond, Sunfish Pond, today, which was really cool. It looked like home to us--very northern. And the trail wound up and along a grassy ridge for quite a while with views, although super hazy, back down onto the river. Very nice.

Ryan:
mostly cloudy, humid, heavy
hello, new jersey! we love you! ok, maybe not that much, but it is so great to be out of pennsyltucky. today, we hiked past a glacial pond, had nice views, and it wasn't ridiculously rocky. (ok, still rocky, but not to the same extent.) plus, we're inching closer to new england...oh yeah. pennsylvania will be remembered mostly for sucking. it also destroyed our hiking poles. the tips are flattened, crushed and mangled. also, for the pain. as one of the thruhikers ahead of us wrote in the last register. "pennsylvania was painful, but not in a 'that climb was steep and difficult, and now i'm really tired' painful, but in a 'ouch, i think i'm doing permanent physical damage to my body' painful." oh, sweet pa. it's still about 99% humidity right now, but it hasn't rained yet. hopefully, it will pour tonight and push the humidity out. doesn't matter to us...we're in the bunkhouse. no camping for team snowplug! we're sending the tent home...showers and bunks every night!
today's song - tougher than the rest, bruce springsteen (this one goes out to my hiking partner who has been amazing through all 1290.3 miles (except for two brief moments when she lost the tent stakes and couldn't finish the half gallon of cookies and cream. also, please note the springsteen. each day in the garden state will be a springsteen tune...unless i slip a bon jovi one in every now and then.)

July 6, 2005 | Day 101 | Miles: 20.9 | Total Miles: 1311.2
End: Gren Anderson Shelter
Danielle:
Hot, humid and heavy
A long and tiring day. I got a new pair of shoes sent to me at Mohican, and really, my feet hurt all day. I think it's a combination of them being tired from all the rocks and the new shoes, but they were not happy. And the trail wandered up, down and along the ridge today through grass pretty much the whole time, so my legs were super irritated. Ugh. There were some yummy blueberries to pick though, so that was a nice treat.
We're camped out behind the shelter, listening to the banter of the three groups of kids here. Wow. I've never seen as many kids out in the woods as we've seen today and yesterday. Some large groups. I guess this area is only a few hours from NYC so it's a popular destination, but it's crazy to round a bend and come across all these kids in the woods!
We have crossed the 1300-mile mark now, which is pretty neat. But boy, there are moments when we wonder why we're out here. It is tough. However, we did have a discussion today in which we decided that despite the pains, suffering and all that jazz, we would continue on to Maine. Yes, there are discussions like this. Yes, there are moments when it would be sooooo much easier to say, forget it, let's go back to "reality," but we set out to reach Katahdin, we knew it would be hard, and we can't quit now and wonder "what if." We'll keep on rolling, and eventually in 271m we'll hit northern New England and all will be good with the world and Katahdin will be not too far off :-)

Ryan:
cloudy, hazy, humid
the a.t. is hard. is it worse to keep walking everyday or get off the trail and wonder what might have been? we're going to maine.
p.s. saw a bear today
today's song - this hard land, springsteen