Day 15

​Day 15

Starting location: Millbrook Rd. (NJ)

Ending location: Church of the Mnt Hiker

Mileage today: 14 miles 

Total Mileage: 163.3 miles

Today’s Photo

The story behind this photo ... 

Today we officially finished PA (PTL!), and entered the great state of New Jersey! We woke up at 7 am and didn’t get on the trail to 9 am! Way too late, especially since it was going to get up to 90 today. Today we slacked packed SOBO, so we didn’t officially end PA until the very end of the day, but we have knocked out 13 miles of NJ already! Woo hoo. 

Well the rocks do still continue into NJ unfortunately, but we made the best of them and survived. Also we got the boys new shoes yesterday at Kohl’s which really helped! 

Got to see our first fire tower today! The boys hiked up it while I watched from below. Apparently, you can see all the way to NYC on a clear day. 

Stopped for a snack at this creek. No snakes found but we did find this random box tied to a tree. lol. 

We came to a glacier lake here on the trail. Apparently, it’s one of the 7 wonders of NJ! Haha. The boys skipped some more stones. No swimming allowed. Bummer. 

Now some people say having a dog is like having a baby, well this guy may have taken that saying a little too far! lol. He was out on a day hike with his dog! Hilarious! 

We made it to the hostel and there were cookies to eat and of course the boys were delighted. The hostel has AC and after being outside all day, Legolas got cold enough to put on a jacket. lol. 

Reading up on what we need to do for when we get to Katadin. This is pretty old but I imagine much is still the same. 

Well ET and a SOBO hiker from NY are here at the hostel tonight. We met ET at the lookout hostel and the SOBO guy is from Brooklyn and is Russian. 

It is supposed to be in the 90’s over the next couple days so will see how the boys do hiking in the heat. Pray we keep hydrated and fueled! 

Good night all. 

Gandalf, Legolas & Bombadil. 

Day 14

​Day 14

Starting location: Kirkridge Shelter

Ending location: Church of Mnt Hiker Hostel

Mileage today: 6.0 miles 

Total Mileage: 149.3 miles

Today’s Photo

The story behind this photo ... 

Woke up at our normal 7 am time. Packed up and started the final 6 miles into the Delaware Water Gap at 8:15. It was a beautiful morning and kind of warm for a change. Since it was Saturday, we saw tons of day hikers hiking up the trail as we descended, which was weird to see. Oh! And the smelled so clean and fresh as they passed by. lol. I could only imagine what they thought about us. lol. We had a few vistas, and the above was one of them. 

This is where we stopped for a quick snack. It’s over looking the Delaware river. So amazing. 

We did see our second waterfall in PA (the first was man made), and then this lovely pond. 

We passed by this amazing house on the way to the hostel. Could you imagine trying to keep this clean!? lol. 

This is the hostel we are staying for tonight and tomorrow. The first night is free and donation fee for the second night. We met up with mustard seed, who was zeroing here today. We showered and relaxed and then went into town for some new shoes for the boys (PA is rough, very rough on shoes). 

We then ended the day celebrating our near completion on PA (still have about 1 mile to go officially) and eating at an all you can eat Chinese buffet! I’ll put the group photo in later. Forgot it was on Amee’s phone, but here are the boys enjoying dessert. Thank you to the William’s family for the gift card that treated us to it! The boys had been waiting for this meal for a couple of days! 

Now hopefully these 2 pictures are correct and NJ will be a fun and exciting few days of hiking! We are going to slack pack 14 miles back into DWG tomorrow. 

Time for bed! Good night!

Gandalf, Legolas & Bombadil 

Day 13

​Day 13

Starting location: Leroy Smith Shelter

Ending location: Kirkridge Shelter

Mileage today: 13.8 miles

Total Mileage: 143.3 miles

Today’s Photo

The story behind this photo ... 

Today we woke up around 7 am. The boys slept like 11.5 hours last night. Our bodies were wrecked yesterday, so we prayed today would be better. Thankfully, we only had 13.8 miles to go today. Although nearly every inch was covered in rocks! Last night 2 other hikers came in late after the boys were asleep. Madame Lossalot and some older gentleman that didnt have a trail name. 

We hiked through these areas of forests with these tall straight thin trees. It was very magical and slightly spooky. 

Stopping on a log for lunch. PB&J sandwiches for the boys. They haven’t gotten sick of them yet. lol. 

Some random trail art in the middle of nowhere on the trail. Crazy what you will run into. 

Of course a day in PA wouldn’t be complete without doing our daily bouldering over gigantic boulders. lol. 

 

Made it to Kirkridge shelter and enjoying our nightly campfire. We have two grad students at the shelter and Upside, a thru hiker going NOBO. 

Only 1 more day or about 6 miles left of PA! We plan to celebrate finishing PA with an all you can eat buffet tomorrow! Oh boy! 

Goodnight. 

Gandalf, Legolas & Bombadil. 

Day 12

​Day 12

Starting location: Lehigh Gap

Ending location: Leroy Smith Shelter

Mileage today: 16.4 miles 

Total Mileage: 128. 5 miles 

Today’s Photo

The story behind this photo ... 

Last night was the last night at Lookout Hostel. We loved it there. If we lived near the AT, you better believe we would run a hiker hostel. lol. We are glad we stayed because during the night a strong thunderstorm came thru. Hoping all the hikers out on the AT survived to tell the tale. Hopefully we will catch up to some of them. 

We woke up early 6 am to pancakes since we knew we had the longest day ahead at 16.4 miles. On the trail by 7:30 am I believe. Hiked up Lehigh gap which was breathtaking and super fun! The boys rocked it and loved every minute of it. Also perfect morning for it too. Sunny and cool. Here are some of the pics and videos of the start. 

This is a painted up on the  north side of the gap and the mountain in the distance is what we hiked up yesterday hiking SOBO to the hostel. 

Once we made it up on the ridge we had great hiking for quite a while with beautiful views. 

This is part of the ridge we hiked today. We followed it all the way to the gap then went up another one. Rinse and repeat here in PA. 

We saw some new flowers today and some little fort that the boys would have loved to play in. lol. 

Stopping for a quick lunch at a tent site. 

More water catches which we are thankful for. 

Finally dinner for the night. Chicken and rice with salmon and a kind bar. Delicious. 

Boys asleep by 7:30 pm means a tough day! Night all.