[at-l] Ready's Journa; July 13 TD 31

[kahley7@ptd.net (kahley)]

'Back on the trail again, and it feels good.
A brief overview of the past couple of days: I'd gotten off the
trail at Route 309, while Spur hiked on to Lehigh Gap. He
and Molly started out from there without me so my hamstrings
could get some recovery time. They'd be out for 3 days without
me. I'll make up the section I missed sometime later on. For
now, I'm at 392 miles.
I filled the time with chores - shopping and packaging some
meals, sewing up some mosquito jackets, fixing my
critter-altered skirt, and packing up gear so it'll be ready to
send back home.
I joined them at Little Gap Road on their first night out. It was
fun to "camp" with them. Molly taught me some great card
games and we weathered another big storm on the AT. They
hiked onward Wednesday morning, while I headed off for more
leg resting and chores.
I dropped some water off at Smith Gap Road so Molly (whose
trailname is Green Garden) and Spur could avoid the long walk
to the spring Wednesday night. I was pleased to hear from other
hikers who'd benefited from the water jugs left there, too. Trail
magic definitely rules!
I met up with Spur and Green Garden at the Gateway Motel in
Wind Gap on Thursday afternoon. My dad had chauffeured me
there and stayed with us awhile as we went through our gear
sorting tasks. We all ate a late lunch at a great pizza/deli just
2 miles down the road from the motel, then my dad was off.
Supper was the left-over deli sandwiches and pizza. Dessert
was ice cream in town, courtesy of motel owner, Pete, who
cheerfully drove us there and back. We were all asleep early.
I learned from Spur that I had just missed the Barefoot Sisters.
They'd all stayed at the Leroy Smith shelter the night before
I had returned to the trail. Spur's daughter, Molly, was especially
impressed with them. They're hiking in sandals now, so they
may be more aptly named the"Open-Toe Sisters."
We also learned that we'd missed Nimblewill Nomad at Port Clinton,
who'd come by in between our Port Clinton dates. Stop hiking for a
few days and you miss out on a lot, it seems.
(We did manage, however, to catch Rambunny [along with Fossa
and Seattle & his dog, Seven] along the trail today. Rambunny is
hiking strong and looking fabulous! It was nice to be in the midst
of folks we'd seen earlier. 'Makes me feel we hadn't missed too much.)
We were up and out on the trail today at around 9:30. It was steady
and easy walking; my leg felt pretty good. We played memory
games and 20 Questions as we hiked. The time passed swiftly
on this beautiful, cool day.
Wolf Rocks proved a bit challenging for me and my leg, as the
stepdowns from the rocks were long and difficult ones.
Thankfully it was a short section.
We reached the Kirkridge Shelter just past 4:00 PM. Supper
was a luxuriously slow-paced 3 course meal of "derbs" - a trail
specialty I'd learned from ADK trailwork trips, grits/cheese/chicken,
and peanutbutter and M&M raisin bagels - a Molly invention! All
washed down with raspberry cocoa! Yum!
One hiker, Corn, stopped in for water and shared with us his many
opinions about hiking. He's a very intense fellow who is determined
to complete his pure hike this year.
It was still light outside when we started and finished our journal
entries. What a great day! I hate cooking and journaling in the dark.
My leg had fared well today. I was feeling some tightness, but no
pain. We want to keep it on a "healing path" so Spur will take on
some of the meal weight now that the food bags have thinned down
a bit.
We'll be up early tomorrow. We want to be in Delaware Water Gap
in time for pick up of our mail drop by 11:30 AM, and I won't dare
speed down that 3-mile descent.
An excellent day, all in all! 400+ miles and counting!


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