July 30 Mile 1315

Woke up chilly this morning. Planned a long day-18.5 miles. Hiked by Crater Lake that was formed by a meteor that fell in 1865, we were told. Pretty flat today, which allowed for a lot of miles. Also,the rocks began to lessen as we get further into New Jersey. Went by Rattlesnake Spring and over Rattlesnake Mountain. Didn't see any rattlesnakes there. By now I realize that my I-Phone is pretty much dead, killed by water. So this is the reason for the long delay in my blogs, almost two weeks now. As we get near the end of the day, we come down to a road, and there to the left is a real restaurant and they welcome hikers. In for dinner! Know that this will get us in late for the evening, but figure we can stop somewhere along the trail and camp if it gets dark. After a good meal hike over Sunrise Mtn Road and Tootsie Pop sees a bear! It's moving through the woods and now it is getting dark.
This is a bit unnerving, due to the darkness falling. To keep up our spirits and scare the bears we start singing songs. Mostly hits from the 80s and 90s. I begin to fall behind as I am the slowest of the group, and recall the old joke that in a group " you don't have to be faster than the bear, you just have to be faster than your companions". So we go on to Culvers Fire Tower which is an open place we hoped to camp, but with the bear about, we decide we should go on to the Gren Anderson Shelter which is supposed to have water and maybe more people to scare the bear away. Finally get there after dark and sleep in the shelter itself, rather than our tents, cause of the bear and darkness. No one else is there. Then realize there is a road less than a couple of hundred yards away. Seemed very strange to be so near a road and hearing cars drive by. As we went to sleep Tunes read to us a chapter of a Clive Kussler novel he found in a shelter. Exciting story! Feel asleep fast and excited cause tomorrow I get to see my Sweety for the first time in two months! Far too long!!!