7 miles into Delaware Water Gap and the Church of the Mountain free hiker hostel with the works: shower, bunks, leather sofas, and a good old-fashioned bronze-bell alarm clock that wakes you up every hour of the day.

Seems all the hikers I’ve met on the trail congregated here. It doesn’t take us long to launch a blitzkreig on the town’s Apple Pie Cafe, and my god the meal is good.
Then it’s across the street for a thru-hiker classic — the gas station resupply. Here’s the lightweight, high-calorie, prepackaged assortment of cathartic arrest inducing substances only a hiker would call food…

That meager pile is my next 72 hours worth of food, and looking at it I realize it won’t be long before I’ve atrophied into a scarecrow.
Not surprisingly the bar is the last stop. 45 cent wings and smooth draft with my own congregation of newfound friends. That’s the way a day should end.
I’ll keep it trim today and forgo the usual bout of random thoughts. Besides, things get all mixed up in my head when alcohol gets involved.
It’s hard to stay between the lines if you drink and drive. Staying inside your own mind is harder — Nomad