Starting off by David Welsh

Waking up painfully at 6:30am, we all stumbled out of our sticky sleeping bags with our hair sticking out in every which way. After packing up our stuff and walking down Schaumbochs Tavern, our eyes lit up at the sight of cheerios and bananas. After a sleepy drive to a drop off point about two miles above Jim Thorpe, and an interview with a stern serious park ranger, we were on our way and in Jim Thorpe in no time.

Walking down the busy streets as five sweaty young men our eyes spotted a restaurant called "Bear Feast".  The worst part of the trip that day was definitely the long twenty minute wait for our food.  Finally, we all sighed with relief as we received our gorgeous looking fries, burgers, chicken wraps, and salads.  After everybody's plate was licked clean, we were off in our canoes again.  Crashing through rapids and passing many playful tour groups.

Hearing thunder chasing us for the last three miles of the canoeing, we hurried.  We arrived at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center to be greeted by Nancy Taras. Right at that moment it started to pour down raining.  Nancy took us inside the Nature Center and warmed us up and fed us with chocolate.  Later on, while making dinner, both of Ryan and Todd's stove malfunctioned and wouldn't work. Luckily, I had brought my own personal stove just in case, we used it to cook the meals until at least one of the stoves had been repaired.  We filled our stomachs on freeze-dryed food and hiked a mile up the trail until we arrived at the shelter.  When we arrived there, we decided to set up shelter somewhere up the trail more, being that there were four bearded sweaty thru-hikers filling up the shelter.  We set up our tarp canopies in a flat grassy area and all laid underneath them, all with the same thought in mind.  "I hope it doesn't rain tonight...."

David Welsh