July 1, 2007

Jim takes spill, water problems. A brief update

I was within a day of finishing the rocks here in Pennsylvania and I took a spill after climbing the Lehigh Gap rock face. I had planned to make the last 20 miles of PA today through the Delaware Water Gap. Unfortunately, I fell on flat rocky ground - bruised my ribs and split my forehead so I had to get medical attention. Fortunately, I was traveling with a great companion who was a former Army Ranger (Wing Heart - Mike Wingeart from Baltimore, MD) and he patched me up and helped me limp 3 miles out to a road where I was met by a Ridge Runner. Both of us were taken to the Palmerton, PA hospital where I was stitched up, x-rayed, and given my tetanus booster that Phyl had recommended I get several weeks ago. Afterwards, Mike called his wife and she came to pick us up and take us to his home in a nice farming community 20 miles west of Baltimore, MD for recuperation. After special meals by Mike's wife, Martha, and a little bed rest, I am ready to return to the trail on Saturday or Sunday. Neighbors invited us over for lunch and Mike is grilling tonight, so I am feeling much better as we both prepare to return to the trail. I finally washed my smelly pack, cleaned my clothes, bought and packed my food, and repacked my first aid items I will need to take care of my forehead stitches.

In NJ and NY where I am presently, many of the shelters are already marked "nw" (no water) and this can be for an entire day. What makes it even worse is the fact that water may only be available in minimally accessible locations. To get water yesterday, I had to divert to an uninhabited residence off trail for water from the home's outdoor spigot which had not been turned off when the family moved away. Water is becoming more and more of a problem that has to be included in each day's hike plan. Sometimes we have to cut short our day's hike due to water problems and on other days, we have to hike longer distances to ensure water is available before we set up camp for the night. Fortunately, the rains came twice during last week's hike. The first was as we approached High Point State Park in NJ and I sloshed for 3 miles with my boots filled with water. Lightning was crashing above us as we marched through the highest point in NJ, but we couldn't stop since we knew hail was predicted for later that afternoon - so we continued hiking until we reached High Point State Park HQ and stayed at a nearby inn (27 June). The most recent rain occurred as we stayed in the "Secret Shelter" on the trail owned by Jim Murray (28 June). We saw several ground hogs and then a beaver family (two adults and three young ones), two fawns and their mother, and then heard/saw two small mules braying loudly in a pasture on the property. What a setting it was. The mules kept braying until 2 AM - as we lay awake in our sleeping bags. There werre 4 of us staying at the shelter with well water, hot showers, clothes washing sink and electricity - the best shelter on the trail, but a bit difficult to find in the countryside on a side road. I'll have to tell Pete about it if he doesn't know of it already. Four of us shared the open cabin shelter as the rains came that evening - Salam - a young Jewish man, Eula - a single young lady hiking the trail, Wing Heart - the Army Ranger with whom I have hiked for several hundred mile and the gentleman who patched me up and got me to the Palmerton hospital after my spill. We really enjoyed the pastoral setting in the NJ countryside a few miles from Unionville, NJ.

I wanted to relay a story to you about Eula, the young lady hiker I mentioned above. Several days before meeting her at the Secret Shelter, Wing Heart and I had met her for the first time as she came into another camp to stay for the night. As we sat around eating our dinner, she turned to Wing Heart and asked him if he had heard about the hiker who fell of the rock cliffs at Lehigh Gap. She said that she had heard he was in the Palmerton Hospital with 50 stitches from his fall. Wing Heart just chuckled as he updated her on the story and told her that I was the guy who had miraculously recovered and was hiking again thanks to his family's help and Chuck and Kathy Spencer (Alley's grandparents) who fed us, gave us rides and called to make sure we were OK on the trail.

8 July 2007