Date: 2010-06-23
From: Allentown Shelter

To: Palmerton
Miles today: 17.7

Set my alarm for 4:45am. Freight Train was still out before me! Didn¢t fall asleep last night as fast as I¢d hoped. Feet are the most tired part of my body. Nice and flat trail with typical amounts of rocks.Needed water so I stopped at Blue Mtn. Summit restaurant where they allow hikers to use their spigot. PA309 was extremely busy! Stood on the side of the road for a while for a break in traffic.The rocks at the Cliffs and Bear Rocks were legendary in my thru-hike. Climbed on them for hours it seemed. The sadistic and heartless trail designers here felt as though we thru-hikers could live up to the challenge of running the path over obstacles like that, but they can¢t take the time and initiative to paint the blazes enough to see the hell they laid in our paths. I found myself cussing and laughing simultaneously! Although we talk about the rocks in PA, but I can¢t recall a time when we walked on rocks without touching dirt (however small) for anything more than 14 mile at a time. Honestly, they could make it harder. I probably would have if I had the responsibility. I want to earn this thing the hard way. Bring it on!There was a Doe in the parking lot of Bake Oven Knob. We stared at each other for 15 minutes. I was admiring her figure. Her sleek efficient frame, like that of a large greyhound. So beautiful and streamlined. I admire their ability to survive in so many environmental challenges. Urban or wilderness, they thrive!There was an incredible amount of trash around the parking lot of Bake Oven Knob. The locals here don¢t give a crap about this area. Well, a large number of the frequenters of this place don¢t give a crap about it. I caught and passed Freight Train by this point. He¢d gotten temporarily lost on the rock scramble and I¢d seen him below bush-whacking and looking for a blaze. I always feel sorry for people when I do that. I¢m not lost, but they are. I try to be careful not to upset them; already they¢re in a fragile state of mind at hat point. He¢s obviously frustrated. We both stopped at Bake Oven Knob Shelter. He¢s a nice guy. He wears a giant wide brimmed hat almost like Tomato. He doesn¢t understand how my pack weighs so little. I offered him some chewing gum and bacon because I was gorging on my food since I¢d be hitting the grocery store later today. I left the shelter before him.On the way over the South trail I discover that the wild blueberries are ripe! I spend several hours picking them and placing them in a Quart Zip-lock! Kept thinking about how I¢d eat them. Vanilla ice cream would be good. It¢s getting hot outside and there isn¢t much of a breeze. I¢d ran out of water and planned to get some soon at George W. Shelter, but the blueberries slowed me down and now I¢m thirsty! By the time I get to the shelter, Freight Train (who passed me while picking berries) had arranged a ride and he left word for me to hurry up! I ran to the spring and chugged down 2L of untreated water and boogied down the train. When I got to the trail head by the highway, they were just loading his pack into the trunk! Yes! I¢ve got a ride!A local gives us a ride directly to the Palmerton jailhouse hostel! They have showers!! Wasn¢t expecting that! High water pressure like a car wash! It blasted the dirt off my without the soap. Walked to the grocery store and bought a new phone card at Riteaid. The grocery store there gives hikers a free apple! Found out over a conversation at Bert¢s dinner with Freight Train, Animal, and Magic Man that there is a motel on the way to DWG where you can get a meal. Ahhh! I wouldn¢t have stopped here at Palmerton had I known that! I don¢t have my maps for this section because I didn¢t get my package in Port Clinton!We chatted about the wooden puzzle on Bert¢s dinner counter. Animal is a clever man. He¢s a former Army officer. The first time I met Animal, I was in the throws of Ishmael and didn¢t feel like hearing his loud voice at the shelter. I couldn¢t focus with him talking about his weird caveman like diet. It¢s based on eating only what our diet would have been like 6,000 years ago. So no agriculturally products. Today and yesterday, I¢ve seen him eat Frito's and ice cream. He¢s definitely smart, but he likes to point it out a little to much for me. Magic Man is an out of work factory worker on unemployment. He¢s been contacted by his former employer to possibly return to work or lose his unemployment benefits. That sucks to be 2 months away from finishing and have to return home to a job you hate. Freight Train has been offered a job interview. He¢s debating about going to the meeting.Me, I¢m happily separated and not planning on anything but Katahdin!