Rocksvania

Thursday May 11, 2017

George W. Outerbridge Shelter 16.8 miles

Total mileage 233.5

When I got into camp last night it was late and I  was so tired I didn’t get water and went to bed with only about 10 oz. Just enough to take my medication in the morning but that was it. Which ment that I had to get water this morning. I hate getting water in the mornings because it is so cold and the water here is really frigid. I think the current temperature is low to mid 40’s. My hands were so cold it is really painful to the filter water. 

I am racing the rain that should be moving into the area on Saturday. I will not make it to town on Friday night, but should only have about 5 miles to hike on Saturday in the rain. Then once I reach the town of Wind Gap, PA I will call a taxi to take me to the hotel. This will be my first real hotel stay since starting this trip. We won’t count my stay at “The Doyel” as a hotel stay since it didn’t have a private bath. I am so looking forward to taking a shower and doing laundry. I haven’t had a shower since Sunday at Rock N Sole hostel. I have an unbelievable amount of dirt under my fingernails and I feel like I have crusty snot all around my nose. My bandana is just a cheep Walmart one and trying to blow your nose with it is really rough. So for those of you who want to use a bandana to blow your nose get a good one. 

The hiking has been really hard the last two days with the increased mileage and all the rocks. I really have to slow down around the rocks and be careful. I have some ankle soreness that hasn’t deminished, but the bottoms of my feet are OK. 

On today’s schedule was something called the “Knife Edge”. It was essentially a Ridge of boulders with a substantial drop off on each side. I managed to get across it in a full body sweat while hyperventilating and trying not to shit my pants all the while wondering how long this effing thing was going to last.