NJpacker - alive or dead?

“Yo NJpacker,

Are you out there???

Waiting on the trip report, sorry I didn't get the chance to hook up with you. I hope you had a great time!”

“Same here, NJ. I was thinking that he should be back any day now, right?”

“Well, if I was dead I wouldn't tell you.”

“I was actually just thinking about him the other day when I got back from Japan... I was going to join up with him before I found out my trip to Japan was the same time.”

“"Well, if I was dead I wouldn't tell you."

That's what I like about ya -- always quick with the obvious...

Anyways, NJ -- sorry it didn't work out last weekend. Did ya make it to NJ? How far? Let's hear it...”

“Hey people...thanks for your concern. I'm sorry it took so long to post something here. I got in to DWG @ 3:30 PM, Tuesday, June 15 after a 23 mile day. I had a thru-hiker with me and brought him to my house for a few days rest from the hard PA rocks. I've finally been able to sit down to check things on the puter!

Capn' Bobo and PhantomSoul...sorry we didn't get to hook up. We'll have to get out later for a few days. I had hiked from the 501 shelter to the Eckville shelter (15.5 miles) only to find the place filled with weekenders, so my hiking partner and I decided to trek on for 7.5 miles to the Allentown Hiking Club shelter. We got in just before dark and I was really tired, so party mode was not in the workings anyway!

Treebeard...sorry ya missed some great terrain...rocks...rocks...rocks!! No wonder the thru-hikers hate PA!!

Richb...I have some issues to work out with Nestor's and the Lowa Shoe Company. My new Lowa Tanarks (which only had 12 miles on them prior to my hike), only lasted until Port Clinton. The toe rand and right side of one of my boots started to delaminate already...less than 150 miles on them, so I want to take the issue up with Nestors and the shoe manufacturer. My wife came out to Port Clinton for the day. We went down to Cabela's and I bought a pair of Merrell Pulse shoes. They worked OK, but from Port Clinton north to DWG the trail is very rocky and I still have 2 purple toes, sore feet and swollen ankles to prove it!!

Scorchie...I hope you had a wonderful experience in Japan with Batman Luke. We'll get to hookup later, I'm sure.

I spent a total of 18 days out, hiking only 15 of those, starting at the Mason-Dixon line, traveling north to DWG, covering a distance of 230 miles. I wanted to get the feel of the total trail experience, so I took some zero days to stay in trail towns with some of the thru-hikers I had gotten to know. After having finished this adventure, I have a definite admiration for all those who do a thru-hike. Everyone I met was a truly fabulous person. Each day brought a new experience to my life and I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to do this hike. At this point, I still don't know if there will ever be a thru-hike in my future but I do know there will at least be many more multiple day section hikes.

In a few days, I'll post a link for my webshots pics taken along the trail. I took 90 pics, am in the process of finishing a 75 page journal and I'm still in awe of such a fabulous hike. It was definitely a new learning experience that I'll not forget soon. Stay tuned....I'll be posting pics soon.
NJpacker”

“I'm so happy for you that everything turned out okay! Really wish I could have popped in on the trail with you for a few days, but I'm sure there will next times.

Sorry to hear about your feet.. OUCH!

The Japan trip report is out there somewhere floating around amongst the fuego.”

“Welcome Back, NJP!

Did you take any pictures of those toes ??!!

Be proud of those purple toes, they just hiked the entire PA AT!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!”

“NJpacker, It's great to hear you had a nice time on your hike and arrived home safely. Sorry to hear about the Lowa boots coming apart. I have heard of some cases of delamination of Lowa boots, but then I've heard of cases on other brands so I don't know what to make of it. Maybe a good old welted boot is the most durable of all, but they don't make many these days. I'm lucky to find a boot that even fits me to begin with.”

“NJ: Sounds like you had fun. I'll be checking for when your pics are up.

In the meantime, we got the lowdown on the Lowa boots (he-heh). But did you take/use your Henry Shires tent? If so, I'm curious about how it performed on the trip.”

“Great to hear you had a slammin' time on the trail in PA. Most people just try to fly through and get out of there, only to find out that most of NJ and NY are pretty much the same.

I actually met up with EarthNSky at Hawk Mountain this afternoon in an informal ad hoc trip and we hiked over to the Pinnacle and back -- a total distance of 10.5 miles -- in about 3 and a half hours, including spending about half an hour just soaking up the view from the Pinnacle. Boy, am I tired...”

“Capn' Bobo...thanks. We'll have to get out.

Richb..I'll work something out. I'd still buy Lowa. I love my Klondike GTX. I didn't wear them because they're goretex and I feared that they'd be too hot.

M Silver....I should find time this week to get my pics on webshots. As far as the HS Squall..I love it. It performed better than expected. I actually set it up mid-day one time in a downpour so I could wait out a storm and change into dry clothes. It stayed totally dry!! It has definitely found a home with all my other gear.

PhantomSoul... glad to see you got out. That area is rock city!! The day I passed through there, we did 16 miles and that's about the time my feet really started to notice the abuse !! (They didn't take it too well!) LOL!! Hope to see you soon for another trip.”

“Looking forward to the pictures.

What was your favorite section?
How about you most remarkable moment?

Did you fight any bears???”

“Capn Bobo..favorite was either the St. Anthony Wilderness or Swatara Gap area.

Most remarkable moment: meeting an old friend on the trail. We hadn't seen one another for over 12 years.

Didn't even see a bear. I walked into the Allentown Hiking Club Shelter moments after a bear terrorized 2 thru hikers. Also hiked in the Rt. 183 area a few days after an unprovoked bear drug a female thru-hiker (Lucky Star) in her bivy for 30 yards. She survived unharmed.

My closest scary encounter came on the blue blaze spring trail at William Penn Shelter. As I was headed down the blue blaze toward the spring, I nearly stepped on a rattler which showed his disapproval immediately. After stopping my knees from knockin', I was able to get a pic! Really an eerie feeling when your solo!”

“Wow,.. a few close scares! That's enough to make my knees a knockin too.”

“congrats!! excellent job.”

“sounds like Lucky Star can thank her lucky stars”

“an unprovoked bear drug a female thru-hiker (Lucky Star) in her bivy for 30 yards. She survived unharmed.
NJpacker
08:22:32 PM
06/20/04

You're kidding right?

So there's a bear in PA who likes to take a long drag on his Luckies?

Weeeeee!!!!”

“NJ, sounds like a great trip. Waiting for the pics and report!”

“With all the hunting areas along the AT, aggressive bears does not sound right. I guess they've come to associate shelters with food.”

“I hate rattlers too!

They like to lay out in the middle of the trail in the bright sun and they look just like a stick. I've almost stepped on a couple myself and after you've seen one on the trail, all day long every stick looks like a snake!”

“Hey, I just found this thread. I'm glad you enjoyed your trek NJ. Now you won't have to hike on the AT in PA ever again. Lucky dog. LOL!

Is there another thread with the pics around?”

“now the question is, "where is JMitch and his NC trip report?"”

“Pennsy...If you really need to see them, check them out below. After seeing your Alaska pics, I didn't even want you to see them! Really pale by comparison....


http://community.webshots.com/album/156641307OCQFCh”

“Hey Mike - sorry I couldn't stop to talk when I just passed you but I was late getting back to the office. I see by the sling that you were wearing that you probably had the surgery. How did it go?”

“Did something happen to NJpacker?”

“I saw him at the Worthington Campsite last Sunday morning. He said he was having his shoulder surgery (rotator cuff, i think?) done this past Monday. Haven't heard anything about how it went though...

Get well soon, NJ -- hope to see ya out there something”

“...or sometime, rather.”

“Oh nice guy!

NJP gets released from the emergency room in a sling and Pennsy smiles, waves, and drives on by!
- Oh the humanity!!!

How's the rotator cuff, dude?”

“I think he did have his surgery on Monday. I hope everything went well and with some good physical therapy sessions his arm is good as new soon.”

“hope the surgery went okay!! get back on that trail soon, missy E.”

“njpacker, are you out there?”

“I have not heard from him in a loooooong time.”

“he hasn't been around in a while.”

“I was in the gym tonight and a woman I know mentioned this "hiking guy" that knows me. She was talking about good ole NJ so he must be alive and well.

I think he passes me every morning on the NJ-PA bridge. He works in Pa and I work in NJ, but I never notice him cuz I'm usually in a coma that early. He probably thinks I'm one helluva snob.”

“flag him down and tell him to hike with us this weekend.”