Day 94 - 6/17

Daily mileage: 17.3
Total trail mileage: 1278.0
Starting location: Smith Gap
Ending location: Kirkridge Shelter
Weather: Thunderstorms and heavy rain last night. 63 degrees in the
morning. 64 - 72 degrees during the day. Cloudy in the morning. Then
partly cloudy. Cloudy in the late afternoon. Windy all day.

I am at
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=40.936832,+-75.186359

Today was fairly uneventful until I almost stepped on (what I believe
to be) a copperhead. I was walking along and was bringing my foot
down when I noticed a little movement. I very quickly froze and
almost had a heart attack; my foot was 3-4 inches from coming down on
the middle of the snake. If it didn't move a little, I would have
stepped on it with the likely result of being bitten. As for the
identification, I am not sure what type it was. It was about 2-3 feet
long, tan, and had large brown circles outlined in black running along
its length. If these snakes were bright orange like the newts I
wouldn't be nearly stepping on them as much.

The rest of the day was also uneventful. I finished the last section
of bad PA rocks (woohoo!). I made it to Kirkridge Shelter, the place
that I did a warmup hike with some other people back in November.
Wow, it looks different now. So much undergrowth. I set up my
hammock close to my November site, but it is not in the same exact
location.

Tomorrow I'll meet up with my friends Greg, Veronica, Keely, and Ed
around Mt. Minsi for lunch and then hike down to Delaware Water Gap
with them. From here it is a short, easy hike into town and I'll be
practically done with PA! (officially, I will have a little bit left
crossing the bridge, so I won't be done with PA until Saturday morning).

Go USA tomorrow! (World Cup)