Halfway there baby!

Woo! We are at mile 1,059, aka halfway done with the trail! We have come a long way, but we do still have a long way to go. I know it has been awhile since I have updated so I will try to get you all filled in.

After leaving New York City, we continued on our trek to New Jersey. Now the one thing that I heard about New Jersey since I was in Maine was that there are lots of bears in Jersey. All of the NOBOs we saw said that the number of bears they saw on the trail doubled in Jersey. Well I didn't see a single bear, so I was pretty bummed. That's 2 states now that I haven't seen the animals that I was told I would definitely see. Never saw a moose in Main or a bear in Jersey. Oh well. Actually it's 3 states, because I have not yet seen a rattlesnake here in PA as I was told, but I'm not too upset about that one.

Anyways, we had 2 really good experiences in NJ. First, we did a 20 mile day with lots of lolligagging, meaning we walked slow and took breaks the whole day. Around 6 o'clock we still had 6 miles to go, and resigned ourselves to night hiking to finish the day at the shelter we set out for. Well as we were going up Sunrise Mountain, the sun was going down, and when we reached the top, we got to see one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. We were perched over a valley on each side, and as the sun dipped below a distant ridge, we sat in peace and just enjoyed the beauty that God laid out for us.

It was the next day that our next big adventure took place, as we aqua blazed on the Delaware River. Our day started normal, planning another 20 miles of hiking. After 3 miles, however, we came to a little sandwhich shop at a road, and stopped for a bite to eat. Stoker and Wolfman, the perennial schemers, sat down with their map as they usually do to see what kind of trick they could pull off that day. Addison called it when he said,"The only thing that can come out of this is something so ridiculous none of us will see it coming." It wasn't long before they said we should canoe the Delaware River. Addison and I are both purists when it comes to the trail, we want to hike the whole thing, however, the idea of a canoe trip down the Delaware sounded like an adventure we couldn't pass up. The Delaware runs parallel to the AT, so it was perfect. We found a ride to the canoe outfitter (see the video on addsionshockontheat.blogspot.com)and spent the rest of that day and the next canoeing down to Delaware Water Gap, the beginning of PA. We saw bald eagles, ran rapids, and just enjoyed a nice change of pace. It was truly beautiful.

From there we began PA. As we were preparing to leave the hostel in DWG, we were told that in fact, there was no water in all of PA. This would pose a problem, and also give us an excuse. Because we couldn't find water, we had to and visit Stoker's friend at Lehigh University. We were just going to go for Friday night, however, it became a college football 0.

Since then things have been wonderful as well. Except for the 0 we took in a shelter due to a tropical depression dropping 6 inches of rain on us.

Once we got to Duncannon, we met up with my cousin Todd and his wife Patty, who let us stay a night at their house. We had the best ribs I have ever tasted, and my grandma and uncle came to visit. It was great. Then we woke up this morning to 45 degrees and rain. As we looked at our books scrambling for a better plan than what we had, Patty said we could hike and then come back again tonight, and so that's what we did. Then at dinner tonight, they said we should do it again tomorrow! We have been extremely blessed by their generosity, and we are incredibly grateful for the slack packing and all of the food we have been given, not to mention warm showers and a bed. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Anyways, in a week we will be in Virginia with Addison's parents, which is exciting. And that's pretty much all I have for now.

Much Love,

Tail End