Yesterday marked three weeks on the trail, and 270 miles. Over 10% done!
[At this point I was still planning on thru hiking the entire trail. I ended up only walking the northern half.]
Today I am in Delaware Water Gap at the northern border of Pennsylvania. I stayed at a free ($3 suggested donation) hostel for thru hikers provided by a Presbyterian church here. There are electrical outlets but no Internet, so I’ll have to find somewhere else to send this from once it is written. They have a bakery here that has a deal of a hot dog and a slice of apple pie for $2.49
[They called it the “True Love” special. I got it twice while I was in the Water Gap. Great place. Someone on Flickr has a photo of the sign out front:http://www.flickr.com/photos/gbizzy/5883279256/]
. I think I am going to do that for breakfast in a few minutes.
Sunday I was in a city called Wind Gap where I had McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, bought supplies at a grocery store called Giant Grocery, and got a Whopper burger from Burger King that I packed to eat up at camp. I don’t think there are as many towns on the trail north of here, which is good because otherwise I would spend all my money on town food.
I met my first black bear hiking out of Wind Gap! When we saw each other she moved a few feet away from the trail and then just sat and looked at me. She wasn’t very big — not a cub, but youthful looking. So I stood on a rock and clicked my trekking poles over my head. She was not impressed. She actually looked very friendly, like she wanted to come up to me. I’d like to think it was because she saw something of St. Francis in me, but I suspect it was actually because of the Whopper burger in the outside pocket of my backpack. She finally turned and came back down to the trail, took her time crossing it, and slowly walked down through the bushes on the other side. After that I was paranoid bears were following me until I stopped and ate my hamburger a few miles later.
Yesterday I woke up with pain above my left knee. I don’t know if I hurt it walking or sleeping, but it is swollen and hurts when I walk. It feels better this morning after some Ibuprofen, but I’ll probably only go to a campsite that is 10 miles north of here today.
Later this morning I will cross into New Jersey, which has the most dense population of black bears along the trail. My guide book says it is estimated that in the counties of New Jersey with bears, there is one every square mile. So I might meet more. As long as they don’t try to steal my food I think we’ll be friends.
Diode