Hanging out with the (former) Mayor

Greetings, all from Unionville, NY (although we are hiking the New Jersey section of the trail).  Sorry it has been awhile since we have updated, but unfortunately we have not had access to internet in quite some time.  We've hiked 1,335 miles and have 843 to Mt Katahdin!  We have completed the portion of the trail that runs through Pennsylvania...it DEFINITELY lived up to it's nickname (Rocksylvania).  The rocks were plentiful and definitely put a hurting on our feet, but we did enjoy some nice vistas, especially in northern Pennsylvania, such as the Pinnacle and Dan's Pulpit, and Knife's Edge, where we saw a copperhead.  We also witnessed a black snake kill and eat a chipmunk, we felt lucky to be in the right place at the right time for that. We encountered some wonderful trail magic in PA 3 days in a row...a big box of snack foods and drinks left in the woods, a cooler of sodas left in the woods, an amazing dinner of 3 types of pasta and lots of dessert at a shelter, and a cold spring stocked with sodas!  The trail magic definitely gives us a psychological boost!  We've also been enjoying a bit of natural "trail magic", lots of blueberries and blackberries along the trail.  We stopped in Port Clinton, PA to resupply and ended up going into Cabelas to do some shoe shopping...the Cabelas there is the biggest one in the world and has some amazing taxidermy displays.  Sideways got some new shoes after putting about 800 miles on the Montrail trail runners that she had been wearing since Damascus.  We had a wonderful stay in Palmerton, PA, which has perhaps been one of the most hiker-friendly towns that we have stopped in.  We were so glad to be in town, when we stopped in Palmerton it had been more than 2 weeks since we had done laundry...it was pretty disgusting.  Our packs also now have a horrid stench, so we took them to the car wash and pressure-washed them in hopes that it would help with the smell, but no luck with that.  We stayed in the basement of the town borough hall for free.  Out of Palmerton, we climbed out of Lehigh Gap, which may be one of the most well known climbs on the AT.  We had heard terrible things about the climb, but we both really enjoyed it.  Palmerton is an EPA Superfund site, which basically means that the government took over the land that had been heavily destroyed by zinc mining rehabilitate it.  The mountains surrounding Palmerton are pretty much piles of boulders and smaller loose rocks and very exposed without any foliage.   There is little water on the climb out of Lehigh gap, and the water that is there is not safe to drink due to the heavy zinc contamination.  We got an early start on the day with plenty of water.  It also happened to be "hike naked day", the first day of summer. We stopped again in Delaware Water Gap, PA  to rest our bones and tired feet, and took a zero there.  As most of you probably know, the US has been competing in the World Cup (until today) and we have been hiking with some big soccer fans.  Although we don't care much about soccer, we have gotten sucked into watching some of the games with fellow hikers, but it is always a good time. We are now on the New Jersey section of trail and have been very pleased with the trail scenery..we have been walking along open ridges with wonderful views, as well as strolling around the many lakes and ponds along the trail.  New Jersey is "bear country" as there is no bear hunting here, so we have seen 1 bear so far in the state and spooked one more that we did not catch a glimpse of.  Unfortunately there is a lack of good drinking water here, and we have had to pay close attention to refill points along the way. The mosquitoes are the most horrendous that we have encountered in our lives. This is very bad news for Sideways because she has abnormally bad reactions to bites. I have even been tormented by them and I have fairly mild reactions to their bites. Just imagine at least ten mosquitoes at a time trying to bite you at all times and you can get a fairly good idea of what it's like. I think it has been one of the most annoying aspects of the trail so far.  Getting into the tent at night has become one of our favorite times over the last couple of days as we can get away from the vicious bugs. It has also been EXTREMELY hot, but we make sure to take plenty of lengthy breaks in the shade.  We are currently at the "Mayor's House" which is the private home of the Unionville ex-mayor. He accomodates hikers for a meager donation and furnishes showers, laundry, internet,and a home cooked dinner and breakfast. They are definitely giving southern hospitality a run for its money. We look forward to hitting the trail again tomorrow, and plan to hit the next town in about four days. The hiking is still rocky, but we are getting a few more breaks than in PA. We will soon be in New York, and a little bit closer to our friends and family in New England. We look forward to seeing you all as we move along, and we will keep all of you in the south updated the best we can. By the way, pics have been upda