Date: 2010-07-06
From: Palmerton, PA

To: Palmerton, PA
Miles today: 0.0

~~~The Bartender Knows what Beer I Drink - Time to Hit the Trail~~~After a fitfull night trying to sleep because of nerve damage on my right foot, I decided to take a third zero day here in Palmerton and will be out of town bright and early tomorrow morning to beat the heat.Temps here in PA are around 100 degrees with a low humidity rate, though the townfolk say otherwise. Us peeps from Florida KNOW humidity, though. Warrior has left to do a pre-arranged bike trip in Albany, NY and will find me on trail in three weeks or so. He has been an absolute wonderful travel companion these past few days and I will miss him very much.All blisters are on their way to being healed. This is kind of on the gross side, but after removing the loose nail from my right pinky toe, it no longer hurts and is mending well. Yuk, right?   Yeah, I know. Losing toenails is standard out here. All of our feet look like professional dancer's feet ~~~ just awful. So what? I just want good feet to hike with ~ yeppers.Our most pressing concern is the lack of water. With such high temps and killer rocks/boulders that slow down trail miles, we hikers are dropping like flies because of dry springs. Trail Angel's and ridge runners are leaving water where they can but even I, after getting my maildrop from the Post Office this morning, have put aside food to make more room and weight for extra water. Also, in this heat, food is the last thing you really want and I'll bet a lot of hikers are not cooking as much at night as they were a few weeks back.For those of you planing a future hike, I cannot say enough good things about Palmerton. The hostel has 14 bunks built by an Eagle Scout with bathrooms and showers available. In town, breakfast at La Dolce Casa across from the Palmerton Hotel when you walk into town. THE BEST COFFEE I've had since Santo Domingo years ago. Thick french toast, lovely bathroom ~~ excellent. Lunch is either chinese from across the street, though you will want to bring it back to the hostel as the front sitting area is overwelmed by the kitchen heat or a Subway's down the street. Or Tony's Pizza, going back out of town across from the Palmerton, has authentic Italian pizza and calzones. But for dinner, you just HAVE to go to the Palmerton Hotel. The downstairs is a bar/restaurant that has unlimited wings for $11.99 and a killer chef's salad that Warrior and Boomer can attest to. Yengling on tap and four tv's plus really nice staff. They open at 4pm. The Library opens at 10am and has 6 computers and they allow the hikers pretty much unlimited time. Also, you can pick up a free paperback book from what they are selling downstairs. The Country Harvest grocery store has everything you need to re-stock plus you get a free apple for being a hiker.Eager to hit the trail again, though I believe that taking the extra day to get my feet and swelling down is a plus as there's no point in any hike if I cannot walk. I will update when I can at the next town or hostel. In the meantime, Thank You again to everyone who is reading about my trip, signing my guestbook, saying a prayer for me and a big hug to my daughter's, Grace and Josie. I miss you more than I ever thought I would.Blessings to everyone ~~~