It was a long day hiking the last section of New Jersey. The trail was wet and rocky and made for slower than usual hiking. Fortunately I had started early.
Griffin and I passed each other several times during the day. We were both heading to the Church of the Mountain hiker center. The church has been housing AT hikers for more than 40 years and just accepts donations for a stay. After crossing the Delaware River I left New Jersey and arrived to the town of Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania. I arrived to town around 4:30 pm and to the church shortly after.
Griffin and I shared a shuttle to Walmart for resupply and picked up enough food to get to the next town of Port Clinton, about 75 miles away. There were several other SOBO hikers already staying at the center, including Scraps, Sonic, and Babe. I hadn’t met any of this group yet although Griffin already knew all of them. We all planned to hike about 20 miles to a shelter the following day so I may get to know some of them better over the next few days if we happen to stay on a similar schedule.