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Hiking
the Appalachian Trail
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Seventh
Report |
Boy, have I had a pretty exciting week, or week and some days. I guess I’m going to start with coming out of Palmerton. I think I told you I stayed in a jailhouse, I felt like Otis on Andy Griffith, he was the town drunk that could let himself into the jail for the night. And when the cop was showing us around and he said "you know when you go out in the evening you have to go to the back door to get in, don’t come to the front door" so it was pretty fun.
So we left there I think it was June 21st. We were climbing out of Palmerton and up these rocks going to Blue Mountain and it was quite a challenge. You really had to climb up these rocks and this guy and me were just rock climbing on the backside for a couple hours, we were just messing around but it was really fun.
I have discovered some rather unusual traditions that go along with the trail. There was a tradition about carrying a pebble from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Maine, which I didn’t find out until I was out of Georgia, so I guess I missed that one. And then there was another one at the halfway mark where you eat a half-gallon of ice cream, you know to join the half-gallon club or whatever. But I didn’t do that because I’m not big on sweets but I drank a quart of milk. I guess that will qualify.
I got into Delaware Water Gap on June 22 or so and met up with some old hikers that I hadn’t seen since southern Virginia. And it was funny, cause they had just gotten done taking a week off. One guy was from Pennsylvania and him and three guys from Texas that I hadn’t seen like I said since southern Virginia. Well we got back together and we hiked together for a while. It is neat to run into people that you haven’t seen for a while.
Well we started hiking and they told me about when they were in Virginia they were trying to go to a concert and they were hitchhiking. This girl who goes to school in Lynchburg picked them up. And she gave them her home address and said that she lived in New Jersey just north of Delaware Water Gap. Probably 20 something miles…I’m not sure right off hand. I apologize for that . But it’s been kinda crazy, because she had told them "just stop by - my parents live there and I’ll be there, she said she would have to work but just drop by if you want!
She gave them her home address and phone number. So we got into NJ and called to see if we can reach this family and maybe stay for a day. They live on Culver Lake. When they asked if I would like to tag along, I said sure I’ll tag along. It was only about a day hike to their house so I went along with them. As we’re going to New Jersey we saw this - I gotta tell you about this - - we saw this- we’re kinda debating on how big it was. But I’m not kidding and I don’t want to overexaggerate but I don’t want to not give this bear justice. We saw a bear, a black bear that probably weighed like 350-400 pounds. It made the bear I saw in VA look like a cub. I mean, I was in a group of five of us and I was glad cause this bear was 25 yards away and he just kinda looked a us and we looked at him and I was pretty scared. I could really feel the adrenaline rush.
But we kept on hiking. We did keep our eyes open just in case there were more Bears
But anyway, we come to this house right on the lake, I mean this nice big house. We knock on the door and her parents were expecting us because when we called we sent pictures that they had taken when they met so her parents knew who to look out for. And these people, the Mounstrums, they’re just unbelievable. I feel like I’m in a dream. It’s Dick and Linda Mounstrum and we’ve been water tubing, and skiing. And I just can’t believe I’m sitting here in their house. So we’ve been here for a day and a half and we’re kinda debating on staying here another day cause the weather forecast is for real bad thunderstorms. It is just unbelievable how nice people that you don’t even know can be. Another example of the ‘trail magic’.
I had told them that I was gonna try to get from Bear Mountain to New York City, so Lindsey, the oldest daughter went on the internet for directions and told me how to get from Bear Mountain to NYC. Very nice people, I cannot express how great it’s been here. It’s been a dream, it’s like a vacation home. And they took in five hikers. We’ve been playing around the lake and they’ve been feeding us great. It’s pretty funny because - well I’m supposed to "roughing it"- and here I am in this big beautiful house. But I’m taking it all in and like I said I just can’t say enough. They’ve been really nice.
And let’s see what else is going on. I called my friend in New York City. He said he hopes I come and see him. He’s gonna try to get me tickets to David Letterman or to a baseball game. The Orioles play NY during the time I will be there.
So what else is up? Hope everything’s are going well with you. Told you about the big bear. Like I said, I’m hooked up for NY. I’m still gonna be there around the 2nd. I’m just not gonna get as far as I was hoping to get because of taking a couple of days off. Really not hiking big miles but enjoying it to the fullest. Meeting up with people that I haven’t seen in like a month and a half is just unbelievable. You know, I read in the shelter’s log where these guys are. I was a couple days behind them. I was like a week behind and just the fact that they took a couple of days off we all got back together. It is kinda cool.
I guess I’m rambling so, I’ll call you back at another time. I hope everything is going well, told you about the bear, make sure I got everything…Big Bear….big, big, big, big black bear-can’t stress that enough either. I think we’re going to try to do three miles out of here today. And it’s really hard to leave, really hard to leave.
I’ll call you probably when I get to NY, like I said my friend is trying to hook me up with tickets. I don’t know, though. Anyway, I hope you have a good week. I’m rambling and I’m having the time of my life and I’ll talk to you later. Bye.
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