images

DAY 22
48 MILES

images

START TIME: 5:06 AM   images   END TIME: 9:45 PM

There were a lot of transitions today. Melissa’s husband Ryan picked her up so she could photograph a friend’s wedding in West Virginia. Steve drove home to New York to rest up before coming back out for the weekend. Jen’s friend and publisher Eric Kampmann stopped by on his way from Virginia (where he was finishing a section hike) to his home in Connecticut. And we had two new members join the Pit Crew. Jim Eagleton (aka, “Rambler”), a thru-hiker Jen met in the Bigelows on Day 4, offered his services after he finished the trail. He lives north of Philadelphia, about an hour from where we are right now, so we recruited him and his friend Marnix (aka, “Dutch”), another thru-hiker from the Netherlands, to spend a couple of days with us at least until Steve gets back.

So there was all that transition, but all things considered it was another great day. Jen reached Wind Gap around 8 AM. Steve hiked in from Smith Gap to meet her, and he hiked in again at Little Gap and Lehigh Gap near Palmerton. Melissa hiked in with Steve at Little Gap, and then they both hit the road from Palmerton around 3:30 PM.

Rambler and Dutch met us at Lehigh Gap and after Jen headed out, the three of us met Eric in Slatington. We all drove up to Bake Oven Knob Road where Eric and Jen caught up for a few minutes. After that, Jen and I got to hike a mile-long flat stretch together.

Eric left from Bake Oven Knob Road, and Rambler, Dutch, and I drove around to Blue Mountain Summit, then on to Fort Franklin Road where they hiked an extra three miles with Jen before setting up camp at dark.

The weather was great all day—hot and sunny—and the rocks haven’t seemed to bother Jen too much yet. She brought a couple pairs of stiffer-soled XT Wing shoes for the rocky terrain in Pennsylvania. She wore them for the first 8 miles today, but then switched back to her faithful Synapses.

Since we’ve had so many transitions today and since we’re just about at the halfway point, I want to take a minute to thank everyone who has helped out on the trail so far: Warren, Melissa, Steve, his wife Mary Ellen, Adam and Kadrah, Rambler and Dutch, Horton, and Eric. In some way or another, these people have put Jen’s needs (and mine, too) above their own. They’ve sacrificed their own comfort for ours, and they’ve given their time and energy without asking for anything in return. There is absolutely no way we could have made it this far without you. So thanks.