Ban them all!! DelWaterGap trip report

“On this trip was Geobeet, Wildflower, Artex, Goretex, Fritz, Pennsy Hiker, MSilver, his friend Frank, his great dog Sparky, RichB, Adventurist, Wolfman's Brother, Corporal Nasty, Rich, and me. At the shelter, Geobeet's son and daughter in law brought the party in from the Fox Gap parking lot. they camped as well, and seemed like a very nice couple.

I came back from this trip early due to a sinus infection, but there was a total of 14 people hiking with 11 staying overnight at the Kirkridge Shelter. I met a lot of great people who live in this NY-NJ-PA area. It was an energetic group with lots of kidding, lots of threatened banning and picture taking. I had a great time and would love to hike with any of these people again. The shelter area was a bit of a disappointment to me. I have more privacy in my backyard. There is a Kirkridge religious retreat about 200 yards from the shelter, with the retreat parking lot right next to the water pump. I am glad that Adventurist, RichB and myself only dayhiked because as it is the tents were packed in like sardines.

The highlight of my hike was seeing Fritz's Hennesy Hammock and him letting me try it out. I really like the fact that you don't need a flat tent pad to pitch camp with the hammock. For some great trails in PA, that can be very useful, especially for stealth camping if I went solo. Although after meeting all the hikers in the area, I doubt that any of us would need to solo backpack anymore. But for big group trips where there isn't enough flat pads, the hammocks are very helpful.

Richb lent me his Gregory Shasta to try out since I probably will buy it from him. I really liked it alot. Very comfortable. I'm going to load it up like for a winter bacpack and see how I like it on a long dayhike. My own pack had trouble handling the extra bulk of winter packing.

So, sometime today, the others will probably get home and check in with their pictures. It was great meeting you all and I hope the overnight went well.”

“Nice trip report. Looking forward to the pics.”

“Good report. Sounds like a real live group.”

“Very nice trip report Lyndy. I enjoyed the hike and the opportunity to meet so many TTer's at one time. They were very nice people that I look forward to hiking with again. It looks like they got a little rain this morning, but shouldn't last long. It rained for only a half hour here and was heading toward the Water Gap.”

“sounds great....good to hear from the Yank ECT'ers and that you guys actually hike!!!
One day soon we'll have to bring the North and SOUTH ECT'ers into one big group...maybe even TC2!!”

“Good trip report I can't wait to see pictures!

8)”

“Yep! We got another one. Send in the deprogrammer...”

“I definitely wish I could of stayed but I had sign the contract for the sale of our house. I am thankful that I atleast got to spend the day hiking with a great group of people! I can't wait to meet up with everone again!”

“Maybe they did encounter the undead flesh eating zombie titanium axe murderers?”

“First off, I had a great time and met a ton of GREAT people. Fantastic group of folks, and it was a pleasure and honor to meet each and everyone of you. It was a blast! I only regret not getting to know everyone better since there were so many of us.

The morning was relatively cool thanks to overcast skies, which really didn't carry much threat of rain for anytime that day. We all met up in the parking lot, meeted and greeted, and got under way. Trail soon turned very steep and we were afforded great views at the beginning of the ridge. We broke up in little groups as the day went on, based on everyone's pace, but we regrouped at the shelter and everyone found their spaces and set up camp. While it was a little tight, I was actually surprised how we were all able to space out comfortably in regards to our individual camps, it wasn't nearly as bad I thought it might be. Spent the rest of the afternoon and evening trying to watch the parasailers launch off the ridge near our site (kept missing them), relaxing, eating, drinking, and getting to know one another better.

That morning we woke up to thick fog, and as the day went on, warmer and more humid temperatures. Luckily, the sun never broke through, if it did it would have been pretty miserable hot! It even rained a little as the hike back got underway, which was refreshing and it never got too heavy and was short-lived.

I'm sure I left out some details, but I just woke up from a nap where I dreamt "Brian" was chasing me. Great meeting you all, and look forward to hiking with you guys again in the future! Big thanks to Geobeet and Wildflower for arranging the trip.”

“Oh yeah, my pictures will be developed on Tuesday, I'll scan and post that evening! :-)”

“YAAY!!!!!
Im home.....my shower plumbing is clogged from all the dirt i collected on my body....lol
I"ll be back soon, just have to check in and thank you Lyndy for being such a hospitable hoast on Friday to Wildflower Geobeet and myself....if it wasnt for Geo's lullaby snorring.....id never get some sleep..
But now I must run, I have to pack cause i have a plane to catch to North Carolina in the early morning, gonna climb Mt Mitchell with a sheila and have to rest up before I go....
....Cheers!!!”

“Ahhh, you are taking a sheila rather than a sherpa. Have a good time!”

“That Goretex is quite the lady's man! (though I think he's more of a lady-man... kidding!)”

“Yup, I took a lot of pix there, but at one point I think my crappy digital camera got a little water in it. Most of them are real blurry, I'll have to see if I can find some that are worth posting.

The trip was the best experience I could have hoped for, being my second hike after a 6-7 year absence from the trail. Absolutely everyone there were cool as hell, the nicest and most helpful people I have met in years. Even Brian had the decency not to assault any of us until it was only me left in line at the hot dog place, when he sucker punched me in the back of the head. To top it off, he kicked me in the chin while I was down, leaving me with a wound that will definitely turn into a nice scar, a wonderful reminder of an awesome trip.
I also wish I'd had more time to get to know everyone, everyone there kicked ass, but I'd had a tooth taken out on Friday, which didn't put me in a real social mood. (Special thanks to everyone who helped out with pain killers) I had it removed because I figured it would lighten the load a little, maybe an ounce or two, probably less, but every bit counts, right? By the end of the year, I want to have only four teeth (That's all I need) and all the bones in my legs replaced by those shock corded tent poles. At night, I can fold my legs up, therefore, I could cut my sleeping bag and pad in half, getting rid of even more weight.
Thanks everyone, for a great trip, especially those who set it up and geobeet and family for the good time at the shelter!”

“LOL @ Corp. Nasty! Did you at least get a physical description of him to give to Gizmo?

Note to others: To avoid inside jokes that no one else gets (how rude!), "Brian" is a suspicous character who has been reported around the area we hiked who allegedly has been harrassing female hikers. Gizmo, the Ridge Runner (?) who works along the Appalachian Trail, warned of us him, as did another hiker before to someone in our group.”

“Hey, an inside joke that people on the hike weren't even privy to!

Corporal Nasty was very young looking (must have been due to all those meds he had) and his youth explains his fixation on lightweight backpacking. The rest of us had all our teeth and at least half of our toothbrushes. Seriously, I was expecting Corporal Nasty to be a graying short-haired whistle-blowing kind of guy.

Artex, you missed the hang gliders? I'm surprised that they had enough of a breeze to take off. Oh well. How was the partying? Did everyone behave? Do we need to ban Sparky?”

“We drank, I got stoned, and we left....it was great!!!!
By the way, if you ever do that hike folks....there is a Cannibus field down by the shelter.......shhhhhh!”

“I knew it!!! That WAS a religious retreat right next door. I just didn't realize that it was the NORML religion.”

“Since my friends and I just happened to crash the big meeting at the overlook on Mount Minse Saturday morning, I had to check out these forums to see what was up (being a nosy, inquisitive human being). I hope we didn't sully your pics, and I would like to extend a warm thank you for sharing our meal (or sharing the air around us while we ate).
Seriously, you all seemed very nice, especially the sheep dog who kept everyone together, though our paths crossed for only a short time...and then again, and again, and once more at the top. Purgatory stairs my butt. Infernal Stairs of Eternal Damnation is a more apt name. They say ('they' say alot, the they're almost always wrong) that the internet cuts down on human interaction. Well, to that I say: Bah.”

“Oh gosh, we only met about 100 hikers on Sat. Can you give us non-observant types a bigger clue to your identity? Why zhrike as a name?”

“Hey, come back zhrike!

Just kidding around. Hope you like TrailTalk and join some of our area group hikes. We hike a lot in the fall and some in the winter.”

“Hello all, home safe and tired...just very tired, and a little chafing in personal areas, besides that I'm doing just fine.

Corporal Nasty -- VERY funny trip report, even though you hardly mentioned the trip.

Lyndy, Nasty had a fixation on lightweight backpacking? I think not! He had an eight-pound flashlight, and I can't remember what else! I told him next time, just ask....we can easily loan or donate most of what he needed.

And Lyndy, zhrike must have been at the over look before the summit--remember the folks eating their lunch while Lou (?) took all of our group pics for us?

I have some acceptable pics that I will try to upload tonight. Will letcha know.

Will chime in with more later.”

“Lyndy - I think zhrike was one of the hikers trying to eat lunch on the rocks at the Minsi overlook when we posed on the rocks for a group shot. It wouldn't have been so bad except that EVERYONE had a camera and all the cam swapping was a riot. BAN CAMERAS! Thanks for stopping in zhrite and I'm glad we were not too much of a nuisance.

Great trip everybody and a special thanks to Wild Flower and Geobeet for organizing it. The only dissapointment was that Geobeet promised to ruin the weekend and he lied. Don't ya hate it when someone is super friendly and easy to get along with?

LOL Nasty for your weight cutting! Hey, you could have dropped 20lbs by leaving that monster flashlight at home. ;o)

I'm working on some pics as we speak. Stay tuned!”

“Did any thru hikers happen to hike by and want the shelter after we left?”

“No, Rich, we had it all to ourselves.”

“RichB - Nope, nobody hiked by but the Ridge Runner, Gizmo. As Geobeet was saying, any thru-hikers probably would have had a real treat with all the beer at hand, thanks to his son and his wife!

I thought Corporal Nasty had a great strategy, byt the way. The weight from the heavy flashlight diverted the pain away from his tooth. Totally genius.

LyndyS, yep, missed the paragliders. I talked with one of the guys at length when they were waiting, he said the perfect range for wind is 7-12 mph, less than I would have thought. They did launch after we got sick of waiting and trekked back to the shelter though. I think Wolfman's Brother stuck around saw them launch.”

“Thanks, Artex! Where is Fritz's report on the value of using a hammock? Did you sleep well? Cold? Hot? Going back to a tent? I saw one Hennesy listed at REI that you can hang up or use on the ground with trekking poles, depending on the terrain.”

“It sounds like you guys and gals had a real good time!

8D”

“We were eating at the top while the frantic picture-taking was...well...taking place, not to be too redundantly redundant...Pennsy Hiker hit it on the nose. I am sure that we were not a high-point in the trip, in fact we only interacted with a few, but I wanted to stop in a say hello to some people that seemed very nice, and that did something that I find very cool. Which is to say, use the cyber relationships gained with those of similar interest to create relationships, however brief, in the real world. As a veteran of this type of communication, I have been involved in similar get-togethers, though in different milieus.
Those memories are special, and never fade, in my experience. As for identification (zhrike), it is a long and boring story. As for identification from Saturday:
Buzzed head, goatee, white MS Walk 2001 t-shirt. There were five of us, and we criss-crossed with one of the groups on the way up.”

“Just uploaded some pics. With sooo many cameras on this trip, I'm sure there will be several more coming soon.

Pennsy Hiker's Water Gap Pics”

“OK, my pics are up at:
http://community.webshots.com/user/fritz_barnes

Look for "AT: Del Water Gap to Wind Gap." (Pennsy, Wolfman's Brother, and I headed west from camp this morning while the others back-tracked to where we started.)

I am in the process of adding captions...”

“pennsy, those are great. The butterly photos are nice shots!”

“Great pictures Pennsy! I really enjoyed seeing them, Thanks.”

“Very cool pictures Fritz!

8D”

“Great pictures as always Pennsy and Fritz!”

“Yeah, awesome pics!”

“Nice pictures Fritz! Thanks for posting them.”

“Zhrike - I remember you! Great you posted here, hopefully you'll find our cult inviting and like our Kool-Aid. We worship an entity named "Brian", perhaps you ran into him along the trail.”

“Fritz those pics are great. Pennsy I like the individual pics of the hikers.”

“I just want to say thanks to everyone for a great time, what an outstanding group of people. I look forward to getting together for some more hiking. Pennsy, Fritz great pics.”

“LOL Artex!! Hey, I wonder if Brian is really a TT troll??

You got some great shots Fritz. I'm looking forward to seeing the others.”

“Hey you guys left out the important stuff. How many miles and how much elevation gain?”

“I think that Goretex found a field of weed and had the most elevation gain.

Great pictures, Fritz and Pennsy. You both captured the rocks and greenery that typifies the Gap area (I hope the group does not capture the poison ivy rash, though).

Now we all are ready for the Catskills, High Peaks or White Mountains. Isn't Fritz going to have start a new Pennsy trip planning thread?”

“well how about a trip I can go on? I end up missing them Because I work weekends :{”

“There is a TT troll named brian but I know it wasnt anywhere near the gap. Perhaps an ethereal projection powered by work related anger?”

“Good pics and good stories! Thank you!”

“Nice to see TT's out there having a great time together.”

“We met at the trailhead near Lake Lenape around 10 a.m. The group consisted of Artex, Wildflower,
Fritz, PennsyHiker, Adventurist, Cpl. Nasty, Goretex, MustHike,
Wolfmans Brother, M Silver, RichB, Frank (M Silver's friend), and myself. Wolfmans Brother arrived late but soon joined us on the trail.

Everybody greeted one another like we knew one another, which is not strange since we are TTers and do know one another.

We set out on the climb, some walking on ahead and others of us bringing up the rear. Sparky, M Silver's shepherd dog, did what he could to keep us together, but he just couldn't do it.

We stopped at the two best overlooks for views and photos. I figure if we had left the cameras home we could have reduced pack weight considerably. This was highlighted at the upper overlook when it took quite some time for a friendly hiker to get in the group shots, one camera after another.
We topped out on Mt. Minsi (1400 and change, no big shakes, but a steep climb in spots) and got a brief respite along the old road to the former fire tower. There was another viewpoint looking south with a group of campers setting up for the night. They shared the view with us. I forgot to get a photo of the wild bergamot blooming along the trail there and thought I would grab it on the return trip Sunday.

Near Tott's Gap the trail returned to the rocks, the rocks, the rocks. That Tuscarora Sandstone lends itself to the character of the trail along Blue Mountain, which gives the state its reputation as "Rocksylvania."

There were, as mentioned, hang gliders at work on a clearing about 200 yards from the shelter. I was the last one into camp, which I had expected to be due to not backpacking in nearly 8 years. Always set goals that are achievable and you will reach them!

My son Paul and daughter-in-law Elyce had arrived and we got the beer to the campsite. Tents were wedged into every conceivable hole in the understory, and I found a spot just big enough for my little tent.

Some of us trekked uphill to see the hang gliders. They were packing up and calling it a day, but I tried to get wildflower down the hill to see the yellow flowers blooming on the mullein stalks. She declined, but Artex did go down to check it out.

We set about making dinner. It was fun to see the potpouri of stoves that came out of packs. I had my heavy Coleman Peak 1. Goretex had something with an FAA identification number on the side. He almost achieved liftoff, but couldn't quite make it. Wildflower fired up her Pepsi can stove and got water to a boil in four minutes, which got everybody's attention. Pepsi sales should be going up. Paul had his two-burner Coleman going.

We sat around quaffing beers, and around dusk Gizmo, the trailrunner, stopped by to preach to the choir about camping ethics. Some people benefitted from his advice. He also told us about Brian the stalker, and said a bear has been hanging around the shelter.

We sat around talking and sipping beer. Best story of the evening award goes to Artex and his epic adventure with the boar that he posed with (see Phil's photos).

We turned in around 10, and people were stirring at about 6:30 the next morning. We ate breakfast and began setting out.

Pennsy Hiker, Fritz, and Wolfmans Brother headed west toward Wind Gap. M Silver, Frank, and Sparky stashed their packs in Fox Gap and day hiked on to Wolf Rocks.

The rest of us headed back east toward the gap. A dense fog had settled in, and there was some light rain for about a half-hour. It was quite refreshing. I was already soaked with perspiration by that time so it didn't matter. Artex shared some of his homemade jerky - tasty and just the right texture.

I was the last one off the trail again, arriving about 1:15 p.m. Pennsy Hiker, Fritz, and Wolfmans Brother drove their shuttle in a short time later (Those guys are hiking studs!).

Wildflower, Goretex, Cpl. Nasty, my son, daughter-in-law, and myself headed off to Hot Dog Johnny's for the traditional post-hike hot dogs, fries, and birch beer. Mmmmmmmm, Hot Dog Johnny's.

It was there that Cpl. Nasty administered nasty corporal punishment to himself. The man can flat-out dance on the rocks but put him on level ground ...

Okay, let's get to the heart of the matter. I was unable to reach my stated goal of ruining the trip, but God is my witness that I did everything in my power. I was out of shape, I was taking Benadryl for my allergy, Alleve for back pain, and drank up more than my share of beer and a few snorts of Scotland's finest product. To top it off, I did not treat the water, which supposedly had made some people sick. Well, I didn't get sick. Even Pennsy Hiker tried his best to ruin the trip. He also drank untreated water. What can I say? The water is either okay or both of us have iron guts! And it's just not possible to ruin a trip with these folks!

The trail angels award goes to LyndyS and her family - husband, two beautiful daughters, father-in-law and mother-in-law. They opened their doors and hearts for Wildflower, Goretex and myself, fed us lasagna and plied us with beer. Her father-in-law and I talked Philippines politics into the evening. He is from the Philippines and I had served there for 18 months in the Army. Thank you again Lyndy, and your entire family, for a wonderful evening.

Paul and Elyce get the humanitarian award for getting the beer to the campsite.

Four items came up missing. I lost a pair of socks and a pot gripper. Wolfman's brother lost some underwear, and Wildflower lost a folding knife. If anybody hikes through Fox Gap anytime soon, be on the alert for a bear wearing black socks and underwear, and carrying a folding knife and pot grip. Said bear should be considered armed and dangerous.

Glad to hear from you zhrike. Stop by often and look for more hikes in the fall.

By the way, I forgot to take the lime green jellow, and nobody had a tin foil hat. We will have to work on these things for the next trip.

Last and hardly least, everybody on the trip was wonderful. There was not so much as an uncomfortable second during the weekend. People did pretty much their own thing, but we ended up having a great time together. I really enjoyed meeting each and every one of you and can't wait until we get back together. First, though, there is one bad-@$$ blister, chafing, and a few muscular aches to heal.

I will get my photos developed later this week and post whatever I can. Now I'm going to check the others!”

“Great pix, Fritz and Pennsy.”