Date: 2011-06-23
From: Palmerton, PA

To: Palmerton, PA
Miles today: 0.0

This is Dave (All In) updating from Palmerton, PA. I'm taking a zero day today since it is raining and the trail out of Palmerton starts with a very open rocky 1,000 foot climb. I'm looking into climbing without my pack tomorrow and having a local trail angel shuttle it up to me at Low Gap. Water is a big issue for the next twenty miles or so since there are few springs and the ones that are available are usually half a mile downhill from the trail.The hills outside Palmerton (where the AT goes) are a Superfund clean up site. The hills are totally deforested due to a hundred years of zinc smelting that ravaged the local ecology. The climb out of here is a legend on the trail because it is so steep and rocky.As for the zero day today ... when I woke up it was not only raining but my legs felt like jelly. I'll do laundry, eat some meals (can you believe I have trouble getting enough calories?), treat my poison ivy and bug bites and rest my feet. The blisters have healed but the feet are still sore. People with 1200 miles behind them say the feet never really stop hurting. Good thing there is plenty of vitamin I (ibuprofen). After the tough rocky stretch yesterday that Rusty mentioned in the last posting, there was a beautiful walk along the ridgetop for four miles. I was moving pretty fast ahead of a storm that never materialized, but I took time to appreciate the butterflies, wide variety of flowers and wild blueberries (OK, so the bears should have people bagged the berries if they didn't want us eating their food.) I saw a couple of black snakes. They can be aggressive, but only long enough to create an escape route. Still no furry friends, but there are sections where the trees are widely spaced, the undergrowth is mostly ferns and the overcast skies create a feel of dusk. I can imagine a bear behind every bush in those places.Tomorrow, I will make the climb out of Palmerton and continue toward Delaware Water Gap (Post Office zip code 18327). I expect to reach DWG by Monday. That is also the New Jersey state line. There are only about sixty miles of trail in New Jersey, so my next planned town stop is Greenwood Lake, New York about Saturday or Sunday (July 2nd or 3rd). Mail drops to Greenwood Lake can be sent to "Anton's on the Lake, P.O. Box 1505, Greenwood Lake, Warwick, NY 10925) (Connie, that coffee and other supplies you mentioned could be sent to either DWG or Greenwood Lake. I do like finding a package when I reach a town!) I expect to be in Connecticut by July 10th, but I'll have to post town stops a little later when I get a better idea of the where and when based on the terrain. Food resupply will be mostly from markets and convenience stores along the way since towns are not as easily accessible and hitchhiking is illegal in NJ and NY.I like the way Rusty is writing up my text postings. He gets the essence of what I send and dresses it up for more interesting reading. Thanks again for doing that for me. I really appreciated Justin's visit. It came at a good time when I was struggling with the first of the real rocks. Thanks to Ed for taking care of the apartment problem for me. Thanks to Lisa for the past supplies and the promise of the next package. (You are an important part of my support team.) Randy, when you drive through on your way to Maine this weekend, wave as you go by. Or call and find me and buy me lunch!) Keep those guest book comments coming. They really do give me a boost when I turn the phone on and find a positive comment.