Day 24- Bye bye Rocksylvania

Coin and I had been wrestling with skipping the rest of Pennsylvania, mainly due to how terribly the rocks were already and how much worse they were going to get. My ankle was suffering pretty badly on them, and both our feet were torn up. After hearing horror stories from people that had been going since Georgia and how their feet faired, we decided to pull the trigger today. So we grabbed a shuttle and skipped about 90 miles of the rockiest terrain on the AT. 

I have about a hundred "bonus miles" that I hadnt really accounted for in my fundraising. I limited the number of miles on hikefor.com to 1100 and the trail from Harpers Ferry to Katahdin is about 1194, so that made the decision a bit easier. 

We got into Delaware Water Gap around 1pm from the shuttle, ate some lunch and an ice cream then back to the trail for a jaunty 1400' ascent to our current campsite. I wasn't sure what to expect in New Jersey (no offense NJers, I just don't immediately associate it with the outdoors) but the trail for the five miles we've been on it has been absolutely gorgeous. And our campsite is beautiful.

(Well beautiful except for all the hiker trash laying around).

The weather was nice for a change, low 80s with a great breeze. More of that tomorrow, which has done a lot to lift my spirits. I look forward to finishing out NJ and moving into New York. It's a few steps closer to home, which I miss. 

Thank you all for following along on this adventure. It hasn't been easy and I suspect that's not going to change any, but it keeps me going knowing that people are following along. Special thanks to those that are supporting me on Hikefor.com. Extra Life is a huge part of who I am now and I love you for helping me help the kids. #forthekids

-XL 

PS- my Mom asked for a picture update so she could see the hair situation. Here it is. 

Damn, that dude is hairy!