Excuse me for a moment while I finish some correspondence:

Dear Denny Godsey,

Per your comments on our pictures from yesterday, I can only suggest that you go outside and get some good pictures of your lovely home, because when I return to Indiana in September, I will promptly be burning it to the ground! Please pass on my comments and apologies to your wife, as she will simply be an innocent victim. You simply couldn’t resist reminding me of my fat days, huh? Well, now it will cost you your home! Ha! In reality though, thanks for your encouraging words, and yes, my Dad does continue to be a pretty cool guy to hang out with. Be careful with him in bear country though, however much faster you may be able to run, he’s a crafty fella!

Sincerely,
Mr. Bones (aka Vert)

Dear Maryland,

I think I owe you an apology for some of the hurtful things I said a couple weeks back. While they all remain true statements, I should have deferred my rage and aggression for you until a later date when I could couple it with my much larger dose of rage and aggression toward your big brother Pennsylvania. I hate him and his stupid rocks. I’m fairly confident that the devil has a summer home there, somewhere between Lehigh and Delaware Water Gaps, where he sits with your brother, sipping martinis and laughing as potential thruhikers rip their feet and legs to shreds trying to walk over the rocks. He certainly is a stupid state, and you are an angel by comparison.

Sincerely,
Mr. Bones

Dear Pennsylvania,

You suck.

That is all.
Mr. Bones

Happy Independence Day to everyone. As we lie here on the floor of the Kirkridge Shelter, we can see an occasional flash of color through the trees, and can easily make out the sounds of lady fingers and other fireworks down in the valley. It sounds like a strange cross between a battle field and someone popping popcorn. There is also the faint sound of La Bamba playing over someone’s car stereo somewhere off in the distance! Today was our longest through this particular section where the rocks have been the worst. 18 miles was about all we could take, but it wasn’t because our feet were hurting too badly. On the contrary, we probably could have done another 5-10 miles from how our feet felt. The real problem was in our heads. After 10 hours of doing nothing but staring at the ground directly in front of our feet, constantly making decisions on where to put our feet down that would hurt the least/throw us off balance the least/put us in position for our next step the best, our brains were fried! We had to stop every couple miles not to rest our bodies but to rest our minds.

We woke up this morning to the sound of rain on our tent and decided to sleep a little longer and wait it out. This did not work, as it was still coming down when we got up a little after 8. We packed our soggy belongings and did the 4.1 miles to the next shelter in a light drizzle. We rested there for a few minutes before we headed back out. Once we were walking again, the rain started falling much harder and we found ourselves in the middle of quite the storm for the next few miles. We finally reached Wind Gap and walked .1 off the trail to the Gateway Motel. We filled our water bottles there and the manager was gracious enough to let us sit under the front porch in their lovely white plastic lawn furniture to wait out the rest of the storm. We decided to have some lunch and got back to hiking once the rain subsided. We had a steep 600 ft climb out of the gap and met two other thruhikers @ the top. We hadn’t met them before, but had read their entries in the registry. They are a married couple named Buffet and Mooch and seem to be a very nice couple.

Hopefully we’ll see them again. The next 7 miles were a mind numbing mix of wet rocks, slick rocks, small rocks, big rocks, dumb rocks…you get the picture. Mel’s shoes were soaked through from the rain so she continued to have some issues with rubbing on her toes, but we took frequent breaks and made it to Hahn’s Overlook in about 3 hours. It was too overcast to see anything and by that point, we just wanted to be done. So, we climbed down off the overlook, crossed some powerlines, and had about a mile of hiking on our only easy section of the day, an old logging road, which took us to PA91. As we crossed, it started to rain again, and we made fast work of the last half mile to the shelter. Once here, Stubbs went for some water (we actually have a spigot nearby) and I chatted with Circumstance and Retread, who is still plodding along and seems pretty determined to finish. Dinner was Spam and Mac-n-Cheese and then we sat and watched as the fireworks kicked off in the valley below us. We are prepared for a long night of noise, but hope to get some sleep so we can be out early enough to get to Delaware Water Gap and get a shower before the Warrens meet us @ 11:30 tomorrow morning.

It’s boring ole Mr. Bones again, back from a 2 day hiatus that I greatly enjoyed. Stubbs did an admirable job with her blogging and I am happy to say that she agreed to do it a little more often! So, you’ll probably be hearing from her on a weekly basis. Today was a letdown and a great time all at once. It was a letdown because we knew that once we finished our breakfast buffet and headed back upstairs, we only had 2 hours until checkout. We made the most of it though by hopping in the hot tub for a final time, getting a final shower before the days of hiker stink return, and watching the last half of “Over the Hedge.” Shortly before 11 we headed down to the lobby to check out and thank Marcia yet again for making us feel like royalty @ her hotel. If you’re ever near Allentown, PA make sure to book a room @ The Hawthorn Suites! Greg showed up promptly @ 11 and , after a quick stop @ RiteAid for a couple extra water bottles, we headed back toward Palmerton. There was supposed to be a dry stretch of about 13 miles today once we started walking. We made a quick stop @ the Post Office and picked up our new tent poles and mailed our old ones back. As we were finishing up, Greg came meandering up and said there were strange locals outside who kept trying to talk with him! We laughed, checked both ways for inbred locals, and hopped back into his Subaru Outback. 5 minutes later we were back @ the parking area we had left only 2 days before and were shaking hands and saying farewell to our new friend. Stubbs commented as he drove off that it is always a bummer out here to meet cool new people and have to say goodbye with the prospect of never seeing them again. (Greg, in the event that we don’t see you again, you were a huge blessing for us and we wish you nothing but the best. If you’re ever Indiana way, look us up and we’ll give you a free place to crash. Give all our best to Drew and Shavon as well.) The temps were in the low 90’s, the sun was hot, and the humidity was thick. We really missed our king-sized bed from the hotel! However, Maine is still a long way off and we had to get past Lehigh Gap to get there. This section of the trail has been the most talked about section for the past 200 miles. The climb was supposedly more difficult than getting a spot on an Oprah’s Favorite Things episode and the rocks in this area are legendary. We thought it lived up to it’s billing in at least one of those regards. The rocks were certainly a thing to behold. The trip to the top was basically a scramble over an exposed ridgeline that was literally nothing but dark yellow granite and sandstone. So, the rocks were as described. However, even with it’s high degree of difficulty, the climb was actually a lot of fun! Rock scrambles are a favorite of ours and Lehigh Gap was one of the best on the trail thus far. Once on top, we walked for about 4 miles through basically a wasteland left behind by all of the zinc mining in the area. We had to look for rock piles with paint on them instead of trees, as the trees are all dead and have fallen over. It was an ugly place, but ruggedly beautiful at the same time. We also found a spring not listed in our book and picked more than enough blueberries to have our fill. It seems the barren mountaintop is a perfect place for blueberry bushes. Who knew?! Our plan for the day had been to do 16 miles, but a late start, slow going over the rocks, a thunderstorm, and a perfect camp site @ 11.9 miles all collaborated to help us make the decision to stay here for the night. We cooked our rice and tuna, watched another storm blow in, and actually got in our tent before 8. Stubbs is already well on her way to Dreamland, and I am laying here listening to the raindrops on the leaves above our tent. Every so often you can hear the report of some far off fireworks display, and the birds are still chirping in spite of the rain. Tomorrow we’ll be back to full speed and we’re looking forward to meeting our friends, the Warrens, in Delaware Water Gap on Saturday. We should also be into New Jersey and under 900 miles by the weekend. Enjoy your Independence Day merriment and have some potato salad in honor of us! Peace and love.

Wow! Happy Biiirrrthday to me! Thank you everyone for all the awesome comments. I beat Joe’s record with 27 comments. Nice work. It was so good to hear from people I haven’t heard from in a long time. The Kamm family gets a special shout out since each one of you sent me a comment. (Klaire, you need to pick up an old Calvary Memorial Church Directory and look under Boerman. I think you might remember me). It certainly was a birthday I will always remember. We slept in until around 8 a.m. only rolling out of bed for a free hot breakfast in the hotel lobby that consisted of mini pancakes, french toast, eggs, sausage, tator tots, muffins, fruit, toast, bagels, and a variety of drinks. Yum, yum! While eating we met Janice and Leon who were in town from the Bronks for a Church of the Nazarene Retreat. We shared our journey with them and how God has been working and were able to hear about the cool things God has done in their lives as well. After eating as much as we could before the buffet closed down for the day we retreated to our room for the rest of the afternoon. Marcia, the manager, informed us that the Jacuzzi room was ready for us so with much haste moved our gear about three doors down and jumped in the Jacuzzi as soon as it filled up with water.  What a treat for our tired muscles. It wasn’t until 5:30 p.m. that we left our room, and only to grab some dinner at a Chinese joint next door (Yes Bernie, we eat a lot of crap, but when you burn 5000 to 6000 calories per day, grilled chicken and green beans would not get us to Maine before wasting away to nothing). The Healthy Wisley’s will return after we see that glorious sign on top of Mt. Katadin.  We are back in our room laying in a king size bed that will probably have an inprint of my body since I have only been out of this bed for a couple of hours today. Joe has treated me like a queen giving me a massage and walking to the Cracker Barrel for a chocolate shake that he ended up waiting 30 minutes for. What a sweet guy huh! I am a very lucky women cause I know there were serveral other women after him in college.

Whisper and Sunbeam got back on the trail this morning so they will be a day ahead. We will hopefully catch up to them soon and several other we haven’t seen for about a month. Thanks again for making me feel so special and I hope you all will have the opportunity to enjoy a fireworks show on Friday. Live out your dreams and God Bless.

Is it really July? Wow, time is flying and we still have 7 states left to explore. Hey everyone, it’s Stubbs. Mr. Bones is lying beside me in a king size bed watching a new show called Wipe Out. We have reached Palmerton, PA and are taking a much needed nero and zero for my feet to heal and avoid hiking on the worst section of PA for my Birthday, which is tomorrow. I have been hiking with bad blisters for the past 50 miles and the old ones have healed but i’ve formed new ones since I have to walk with a limp. I think I have cried at least twice per day the last three days because the pain is so intense. Rest assured I am still in good spirits and as Mr. Bones would say, “If it was easy people wouldn’t cry at the end.” I am glad to be healthy and strong and the good days always out number the bad.

This morning we woke up feeling like we slept in a bowl of ice cream sine we were so sticky from the humidity even though it was cool last night. Knowing a shower was a few hours away we packed up quickly and left the shelter around 7:35 a.m. to get our 7.5 miles over with. We were told by several SOBO’s(south bounders) that the trail into Palmerton was smooth sailing with only one small section of boulders. Let’s just say that we find most SOBO’s to be liars. Either that, or they have no idea what they just came through. Never trust a south bounder, is a rule the NOBO’S try to live by, but everytime we bump into someone going south we always want to know what is coming up. Whether easy, hard, level, up or down we still have to hike it, so we hiked over level ground with sharp rocks all the way to PA873 where we were picked up by Greg (the guy we met back at Pine Grove Furnace who was out hiking with his brother Drew and Beautiful Name Girl). He drove Sunbeam, Whisper, Mr. Bones and me twenty minutes from the trail to a town called Allentown, PA. Thanks for the ride Greg! It is always a blessing to meet people like you who just want to help four very stinky hikers. By the way, Mom and Dad, if you think we stunk back in Hampton, you should smell us now! We now call Hawthorne Suites our home for a few nights and I must say I feel spoiled here. The Manager, who goes by Marcia, hooked us up with a 20 dollar discount and will upgrade us to the Jacuzzi suite tomorrow for no extra charge. We are so blessed with the nicest people. Marcia, thank you for your hospitality and friendly smiles. This is the most beautiful hotel room we have stayed in since we started our journey. The only walking we have between today and Thursday is the distance from the bed to the toilet and down to the lobby for a hot breakfast. Living the good life and creating unforgettable memories. Don’t forget that tomorrow is my BIRTHDAY, and think there are enough people out there to send me more comments than Mr. Bones had for his Birthday. The record to beat is 21 comments! Don’t let me down. Goodnight and live out your dreams.

Assuming nothing catastrophic befalls us, tonight will be our last night sleeping in a tent with a broken pole. For the last 4 nights we have made do by using a sapling and duct tape to help hold it aloft, but our new pole system should be waiting for us @ the post office in Palmerton. We are spending the night next to Bake Oven Knob Shelter and closed out our rockiest day of the entire state of PA by a hike up, over, and back down the other side of Bake Oven Knob. We crossed a section known as The Knife’s Edge, and if you take a wrong step either way along the 200 yards or so, you fall down a steep cliff and to an almost certain death! It was a 6th grade boy’s dream vacation! In reality, that 2-3 mile section was our favorite of the day because the rocks we crossed were mostly big enough to simply jump from rock to rock and stay above the small, sharp rocks sticking out of the ground. It was a section that without a backpack would have been a whole lot of fun! However, those few miles were competing against 10 or so others that were nothing short of agony. So, as much fun as they were, the entire day as a whole was really pretty exhausting and painful. Mel has developed another blister on that same left foot and we had to stop a couple times for her to do some surgery. I just now asked her if it felt any better and she said only when she doesn’t have shoes on, which doesn’t work very well for hiking.

We left Eckville this morning around 9:30 and really struggled up the mountain and back onto the rock filled ridge. We had to carry enough water for 12 miles, as the nearest springs were over 1/2 mile from the trail, and the temps were back in the high 80’s with lots of humidity. That humidity did bring a little rain later on though, which was a huge blessing. We stopped for a break @ an overlook called Dan’s Pulpit and met back up with Whisper. A couple hours, and 4.5 miles later, we staggered in to Allentown Hiking Club Shelter. We took our boots off here to give our toes and feet a little chance to rest, and had a snack/lunch. There were some nasty clouds overhead, so we sat around to see what would happen. It mostly blew over and Whisper took off just ahead of us to get into camp a little early. We left around 2 and made quick work of the 4 miles to PA 309. This was the only section of the day that was relatively smooth and we couldn’t have been happier to make a few quick and easy miles. There is a nice B & B @ the highway and just before we reached it, we found some trail magic from Red’s (another thruhiker) mom in the form of pop and fresh strawberries! That helped to soften the blow of finding out the restaurant @ the B & B was open every day but Monday. As a result, we only stopped long enough to fill our water bottles on a spigot out back and grab a quick snack. We had just under 6 miles to go @ this point and it was nearing 4 p.m. The final section contained both Bake Oven Knob and The Knife’s Edge so we were very happy to finally make it off the top of the ridge and down to the shelter. When we arrived, Mel started on dinner and rested her aching feet while I went for water. The nearest spring that wasn’t dry was easily .4 miles one way down the mountain, so I was lucky enough to add at least 3/4 of a mile to my day! However, I did manage to snag some more raspberries on the way back up, so I guess the trip did have a few highlights. We ate dinner (mashed potatoes, gravy, and tuna) and then I had a 2nd dinner that we picked up from a section hiker back @ the 501 Shelter (whole wheat pasta and cheese with crab meat!). Tomorrow we are doing 8 miles into Palmerton and a guy we met a few days back @ Pine Grove Furnace named Greg is picking us up and taking us to do our laundry and dropping us @ a hotel. Mel’s birthday is on Wednesday so we are planning to take a zero and celebrate by not walking on any rocks for the day! That’s all for tonight. God bless and comment if you can, as it really does get lonely out here. Peace and love.