Date: 2003-07-02
From: Duncannon

To: Palmerton, PA
Miles today: 0.0

   Alright! I'm at Tommy's fountain in Palmerton, PA. Tonight I'm staying in the basement of the jail. It's a nice place; they even gave us a care package! Since the good times in Harrisburg (courtesy of Jay), Goat took off to Jersey Shore and Sprite and I did some quality walkin'. The first day, we did 4 miles...it was great. A nice and easy day is great after a stay in town. We sat around and read TIME magazine for hours on end. The next day we hiked with some weekenders, one of whom was a female in her early 20s that looked fantastically soft (in a GREAT way). Nice eye candy...especially for an 18 year old who's been out in the woods for 3 months.   The next day, we went to the 501 shelter which was a nice place--we got leftovers from the trail magic at 183. It was the first time i've ever gotten full on vegetables alone...good eatin'!   The next evening, I went into Hamburg to the grocery store, got groceries, and had a grocery store meal. It was one of the best meals I've ever had! I had popcorn chicken, cheese sticks, a large salad, a quarter of a watermelon, some dirt cake, and 2 cans of birch beer. Birch beer is a PA thing apparantly; I'd never seen it before that grocery store but it's now on my top 3 beverage list. It's good stuff for sure. When I came out of the store, I asked around for a ride (2 miles) back to the trail to no avail so I started walking back. I made it into the downtown area and a car pulled up, "HEY! I told my wife that there was a hiker lookin' for a ride and she said, 'LETS GO FIND HIM!' Do you still need a ride?" "YOU BET! THANKS!" So I got a ride all the way back. I stealthed on the ridge right above the road there.    The next day was another great day for walking. I met Boat and we had a great break on top of the Pinnacle for lunch and then we went down to Eckville shelter for another LONG break. I took a solar shower after eating an ice-cream sandwich and 2 Pepsis. Lazee, the guy who took care of the shelter (which was a sort of a barn behind his house) even let me charge my camera battery which was GREAT. We headed up to the next shelter for the night.    This morning, I woke up fairly early because I'd heard that you had to register at the police station before 4:30 in order to stay in the basement of the jail. About 2 hours into my walk, I came to a rocky summit with a great view and decided to take a break. It was seriously one of the best breaks I've ever had! There were NO bugs up there and so I just sat, read, and ate. While I was taking that break, I watched buzzards soaring over the mountain. I decided that romance is relative. Hawks are supposed to be romantic but buzzards are supposed to be gross but this morning I thoroughly enjoyed watching the buzzards. They have a certain grace to their stlye...they don't beat their wings much at all, they just soar and catch the drafts. They flow. I think I actually like them BETTER than I like hawks.   I really should have moved on passed Palmerton because this means that I'll have to do big miles (32) tomorrow but I think that this stop is worth it. This town has lots of character, i mean, I'm staying in the basement of the burroughs hall!    Wish me luck on my big day tomorrow. After that, it's off to the YOUNG FAMILY REUNION! It'll be good times.