Kevin's AT Thru Hike

Day 97, Tuesday, 6/21 – I woke up, broke down camp, and went into Detzi’s for some hot coffee. Half Time came in a bit after me, and told me he had a lousy night of sleep. He was telling me about all the noise the deer were making next to his tent throughout the night. I camped right next to Half Time, and I didn’t hear anything. I was so tired yesterday that I slept like a rock.

Before we got a ride back to trail, I tried to tip Joe for the camping, hot coffee, and shuttle ride. Joe wouldn’t accept anything for all the accommodations. The nice folks at Detzi’s are another example of the incredible generosity that I’ve experienced as a thru hiker along the Appalachian Trail.

The hiking itself was mediocre today. The majority of the trail was comprised of small rocks that slowed me down and caused my feet to ache, so it was very similar to yesterday.

I crossed a road just as Camo and Coins were setting up trail magic. They were the same folks with trail magic on day 90 (On day 90, Half Time and I missed their trail magic because Dog Fish told us we were too late. We went to Wendys, only to find out later that she had been pranking us). I sat and chatted with Camo for a long time about his thru hike last year. We also talked about the AT experience in general. Their setup had fresh veggies, fresh fruit, cheese, meat, and crackers.

I hiked 16 miles into Delaware Water Gap (mile 1297). I hiked up to the Church of the Mountain Hiker Center, where I’m staying for the night. I ran back into Half Time and Birthday who had arrived 3 hours earlier. The Church has a bunkhouse, couches, tenting, and an outdoor shelter. I opted to sleep in the outdoor shelter with Guru G.

After setting up for the night, I resupplied food and got pizza with Half Time and Birthday.