Day 107-If Not For Mun, There Would Be None

July 3-13.8 miles-Leroy Smith Shelter to Kirkridge Shelter-AT mile 1289.6

Last night I told Sure Foot that I was setting my alarm for 5:45. We only had 13.8 miles (okay, it was a good solid 13 miles of rocks, but still shorter). We were still on trail by 6:50. After my breakfast, I had about 1/2 liter of water left. That would have to last me 4.6 miles. Since I was already thirsty (from not drinking enough last night), it was going to be a long 4.6 miles. 

Early on...another view made possible by power lines. 

We made it down to Wind Gap. Trail Angel, Mun, had cached water just before the road. 

I drank an entire liter!

Thanks Mun!

Of course, I promptly sweated it all out climbing out of Wind Gap. 

Let’s start with some stairs!

So many rocks make for slow going. There was also a little thing called Wolf Rocks. When there is a bypass trail, you know it’s going to be...maybe not so fun. 

Here’s what the majority of the trail looked like today. 

The beginning of Wolf Rocks. It actually ended up not being as bad as some others (like Knife Edge). 

Amazingly, the trail after Wolf Rocks was much nicer. As we came down to Fox Gap, there were more water jugs. We filled up because Sure Foot didn’t trust that there were water jugs at the shelter (Mun had said on Guthook that he had put 100 gallons). Kirkridge Shelter is supposed to have a spigot where you can get water. Unfortunately, the water is not turned on. We only had to carry the extra water for .6 of a mile. As we arrived at the shelter, sure enough, there were 100 gallon water jugs. Most were full. 

We’ve been surviving on water supplied by Mun since before Palmerton! If not for him, these last days in Pennsylvania would have been very difficult. 

Sure Foot and I were the first ones to the shelter. Consequently, we got the only two flat tent spaces near the shelter. Since we arrived, many more have arrived. Oddly, there was a bunch of people (with a couple of little kids) who were carrying duffle bags. There is a retreat center (where the water spigot is located) up behind the shelter. There are also a number of communication towers. We even saw someone get a pizza delivered! It’s clearly one of those shelters where it may seem we are far from civilization, but in actuality, we are very very close. It is the beginning of the holiday weekend, so that probably explains a lot. 

See the shelter?

Tomorrow, July 4th, we will arrive in Delaware Water Gap. Turns out, this is slightly poor planning on our part. DWG is, apparently, a hopping place on the 4th. I called to see if the church that allows hikers to stay (donation based), is open. It is not. I called the Rodeway Inn. Got the “last” room for the princely sum of $159! At least we will be able to do our laundry. The outfitter is open, so I will also try to get my trekking pole repaired (the tip got pushed up into the pole from, you guessed it, the rocks). If not, I might have to buy new poles. It could be an expensive 4th of July...