May 19 Outerbridge Shelter, PA to L.A. Smith Shelter, PA

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Much nicer last night compared to the night before. CC and I normally sleep head to foot as the tent is real narrow. We slept head to head and when I got cold I would slide over onto her side and use her bag to add warmth to me. About 9PM after we were in the tent for the night a hiker came in to the shelter. This morning afer we were all up I had a chance to check him out, what a find. He is in his early 20s, from GA and is walking from the NJ/PA line back to GA. He is doing a self-assesment while walking. His gear is what drew my attention. His pack is an Army issue large pack and frame. The person who designed this particular frame was a masocistic fiend! I never found anyone who wore one in my 20 years in the Army who it didn't tear up. The lower part of the frame that holds the waist belt drives into the back of your hip bones. On a few longer marches mine rubbed me raw to the point of bleeding. The bag sticks way too far out from your back. With any kind of big load it forces you to walk hunched forward. I asked him if he had been in the Arm or carried one of those packs before. He said this was a first for him all the way around. He intended to carry that pack back to GA. He then strapped a very large tent to the top of the pack, reattached his USMC issue K-Bar fighting knife and a hatchet to the sides. Lastly he hung his sleeping bag off the rear most back pocket. Oh, and he was eating an MRE for breakfast. I told him if he could make it back to GA wit that setup and his hightop wrok boots to stop in the Mountain Ranger Camp near Hawk Mountain. Go there and ask to see the Camp Sergeantmajor, tell him that he had just walked the AT from the NJ/PA line and wanted a job there. They would do everything they could to get a guy like that into the Rangers!

He was heading south with Moses (he was exstatic to have an understudy) and we loaded up and headed north about 7:45. Heading down from the shelter wasn't too bad and our first look at Lehigh Gap didn't look bad either. Once we had crossed the bridge and climbed the first bit it didn't look quite so easy. We have been hearing about this climb for over a week from the southbounders and weekenders. It is listed as a difficult climb and has a bad weather trail you use when the rocks are real wet.

CC wanted to take the lead, so off she went. While in Alaska she took a short climbing course so this isn't unbroken ground for her. We have been doing video clips and this was the perfect place to show a highlight of the trail. Both of us took turns shooting the other. It was a good climb, but too short for me. I will say like most climbs, we did it the easy way up. To climb down this pitch would be a real challange.

Soon enough we had our treking poles back on doing the little rock shuffel. This state has had the most continious rocky stretches to date. The hardest ones are smaller than your head but bigger than your fist, lots of them stick verticaly out of the ground and have a point. You can't just put your foot down it must fit between the rocks. Your feet are seldom both pointing the same direction making walking hard. CC landed slightly off balance and cranked one of her knees about three hours into the day. It was a nagging problem the rest of the day. Long before we are done walking our feet are very tender. Todal being almost 17 miles didn't help matters. This year we have walked more days over 13 miles than under!

The best part of today was the sun and heat. We had lunch on top of some boulders and after eating we did the rock lizzard. Lay in the sun and just soak up the UV! Nine hours after starting we turned off the trail toward the shelter. We found a great tent site away from the snoring. The sign for the water said it was 1/2mile down the mountain, but it was only a few hundrad yards thank God. All the evening tasks are complete and time to close the book on another great day walking the AT. 19 days on the trail, 250miles walked at an average of 13.2 miles per day. Our best start yet.

Patrick, Deborah Mooney aka OD & CC
All Who Wander Are Not Lost

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