#168 Leroy A Smith Shelter to Fox Gap - Day 93: MM1275.9 - MM1289.0
Meeting Allen and Georgetta on the trail was no accident.....but a big part of my mental healing and life-reset
Today is 4-19-2023, tuck that away in your mind. There’s no test but it comes up later in this story.
There’s not much inspiration found on the five-mile stretch of trail between the shelter and Wind Gap. The scenery is dull, overgrown, and full of trash. Where’s the local trail maintenance crew?
The trail comes out of the forest under PA Hwy 33 overpass at Wind Gap, turns down Broadway about a block past a trailer court, before heading up the next mountain.
Being completely out of water, I’m scanning the mobile homes for water spigots. Not seeing any I can access, I move on.
Berry and Yeve are at the trailhead putting on boots and daypacks. I ask if there’s a small creek around where I can draw water from. They don’t know of any but give me warm tap water from an old jug, some stale cookies, and fresh beef jerky from inside their vehicle.
They close the trunk and begin their day-hike in the direction I just came from. The water tastes as bad as it sounds, but it’s wet so I sip on it all the way up the mountain. I won’t find good water until coming across a natural spring seven miles later.
The nine-mile section between Wind Gap and Fox Gap is beautiful. The sky is deep blue, and the cool air is perfect for hiking. The trail is flat but consists of miles of those demon rocks jutting up out of the ground. My ankles are exhausted from fighting them. Each step I take is different from the last, and the next. They’re slowing me way down.
I stop periodically to rest my ankles and change socks. Speaking of socks, today is a bit different than other days.
Remember about twelve days ago when I told you that I’ll soon receive the kind of trail magic most hikers only dream of? - Today’s the day it’s going to happen to me…
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