.April 15, 2006
It's April 15th, a day some dread because it is the last day to complete your taxes. I on the other hand have been looking forward to it since last October when I had left the A.T. at Port Clinton, Pennsylvania. Lynn, Snoopy, and I are on our way back to Pennsylvania and then to New Jersey. I have 9 days of hiking planned. I am always pushing to try to get more hiking in so we left Maine at 5:00 am. I was hoping if we got there early enough I would be able to get 9 1/2 days of hiking in. Sure enough, Lynn dropped Snoopy and me off at Lehigh Furnace Gap. We would hike a short 5.1 miles to Lehigh Gap.
Snoopy was ready to go. He loves the trail. We weren't sure whether we would be able to take him or not. Just eleven days before, he had two cancerous lumps that had to be removed. He has bounced back wonderfully and we got the vet's ok to take him. He has two large areas where the fur is just starting to grow back. I know this will raise some questions when I meet hikers on the trail. Lynn took a picture of Snoopy and me near the first white blaze of the trip.
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The first 3 miles of this trip were very easy with no climbs and great views to the north.
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~ ~ When I began my decent down to Lehigh Gap, I was paying extra attention to my footing. I looked up just in time to see a five foot snake just in front of me. If there is a world record for jumping backward I think I broke it. By jumping back, I startled it and it disappeared into the bushes. I don't know if he was poisonous or not. All I can tell you is that it was long, black, and looked like a snake. Snoopy was ahead of me and had walked right past it. How he didn't startle it I will never know.
I continued the descent down and came across 2 hikers with their dogs. I warned them off the possible danger of the snake. I made my way down to the George W. Outerbridge Shelter. I took a quick picture and continued on. As I made my way down I didn't notice any white blazes. "Well," I thought, "I've gone this far without seeing them before." A few minutes later, the trail turned and started going in the opposite direction. This isn't right, time to walk back to the shelter and make sure I'm on the trail. I timed my way back to the shelter and it was only 7 minutes. I figure the round trip was about 1/2 of a bonus mile. No big deal. This time I noticed that the trail cut in front of the shelter and continued on the other side. I made my way down to the bottom of the mountain and followed Route 873 across the bridge.
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~ ~ I went up the light and across the street to where Lynn was waiting for me. Snoopy did great and showed no signs of fatigue.
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