Date: 2016-07-16
From: Palmerton

To: Stealth Campsite
Miles today: 20.2
Weather: clear sky

Woke up in "Aunt Tracy's Garage" at 6:30. I packed up and charged the remaining electronics. I actually slept really well in the garage even though it was hot I had an industrial fan going. Little did I know that this was going to be the most difficult day yet on the trail. I headed to Bert's restaurant for breakfast and loaded up on whatever I could fit down the hatch. After I finished with breakfast I walked to Family Dollar to buy a few small things and headed to Dunkins for my iced coffee. I got back to the garage and packed up the rest of my gear and got onto the sidewalk for my 2 mile walk back to the trail. The temperature in Palmerton at 8:30 in the morning was already 83 with a dew point of 71 I knew it was going to be a hot day. I also knew the first water source was not for ten miles so I had all 3 of my Nalgeen bottles full. I made it back to the AT at roughly 9:30 and started my climb up and out of the gap. This hill is part of the Palmerton Superfund site from zinc smelting between 1898 and 1983. The trail at the top has been rerouted to help repopulate trees as the whole ridge had been deforested. The climb up was very difficult with the beginning part of the climb similar to climbing 10 flights of stairs. Then you have to climb up rock cliffs. It was difficult with smitty, a trekking pole and having basically a 4 year old strapped to your back. The poles I had up toss up and then use my hands and feet to climb up each section. Finally reaching the side of the ridge the trail follows at an angle to the ridge line going over loose boulders of varying sizes for about a mile. Now physically this was easier but now you have loose boulders with greater chance of rolling an ankle. Finally reaching the top of the ridge line the trail is relatively flat with small sections of boulders or rocks jutting out of the trail. Though with the deforested ridge there were small birches and shrubs leaving me in the full sun for 5 miles. It was hot but I knew water was going to be and issue. The reroute of the trail was nice as it took you to the edge of the ridge and with small shrubs and grass you could see the whole valley. The trail finally after 5 miles darted back into a wooded area but this is where the rocks started up again. Will it ever end. I descended down to little gap road and proceed with a rock climb on the other side back up to the ridge line. The trail then became flat but instead of large boulders to hope from one to one the trail was now littered with small pieces of bedrock and pointy rocks sticking up on the trail at all angles. You had no choice but to step on them as there was not enough space between the boulders to step in dirt. This lasted for 15 miles with no breaks or if there was it was maybe 20 feet. Point after point poking the bottom of my boots. My insoles and tread are good but repetitive jabbing and my feet were starting to become sore. I came to the first spring at 9.6 miles in. This was were I was going to refill water. Small hand written note said spring dry. Gosh that's not good as the next water was the shelter but the guidebook said unreliable spring. I pushed on and passed eagle taking a nap on the side of the trail after what appeared him having his lunch. I was down to my last Nalgeen of water and had 3/4 of it left when it got to smith gap road. This is where I met cupcake and her guy burrito. They were getting picked up by burritos sister for dinner and maybe an overnight at a hotel. She was up for a wedding and normally lives in North Carolina. They gave me the rest of their filtered water which filled up one Nalgeen and I was back up 1.75 full. It was 3 miles to shelter and about 8 to wind gap. I pushed on stepping on pyramid after pyramid. Ow ow oweweewwwe. I arrived at the side trail for the shelter at about 4:30. It was .20 to the shelter and .20 to the water. The first and second water was dry but the third was 1.3 downhill was reliable. There were two girls and wallet at the shelter. They said another couple had gone to look for the third water. I thought to myself I'm gonna put that 1.3 to get me closer to wind gap. I signed the log and said goodbye to everyone. I moved on with only 4.6 from the shelter to the gap. I was down to my last Nalgeen of water. I proceeded to trip three times with the little rocks sticking up like mini walls just the right size to catch your foot if you don't lift it high enough. The third trip I almost face planted my entire front side on the jagged rocks. I have no idea how I recovered with the weight of my pack making the trip even worse. I had about one mouthful of water left when I started to descend into the gap. I could tell I didn't drink enough water today as I was rationing it. I had walked almost 20 miles with no refill on water. I also had walked in the hot sun for many miles which is something that's normal. Yes we are outside but generally with the tree cover you have filtered sunshine and lots of shade. So with the added abundance of sun I think it caused me to feel a little blah. When I reached the gap there was a hand written note informing hikers that the springs north of here were dry and to get water in town. I began the walk in which was a total of 2.5 miles. I tried hitching but no luck. I think now that I'm in the northeast I'm going to have a harder time hitching. I walked about a mile and came to a turkey hill gas station. I could see c-sharp, blue and sailor in front sitting and charging their phones. Their sentiments about water and rocks were the same as me. I went inside and bought a gallon of water and a Gatorade and a Mountain Dew. The three of them packed up and moved on as they had been in town for about 5 hours. After finishing my drinks I continued on further into them arriving at McDonald's. Good place to load up on food and to fill up on water as I drank most of the gallon already. While eating dinner my feet were throbbing and overall I felt gross. I decided I would just stay in town and soak my feet and keep rehydrating so I could start the day off with full water. I called both motels in town and they were full. Argh!!!! I guess this means walking the 2.5 miles back to the trailhead and into the woods. I headed back the way I came and stopped at the gas station to buy another Gatorade. It was dark at this point and I put my head lamp on to to continue walking out of town. I got to the gap and began the climb up which luckily was not too rocky but steep. The whole way I was looking for anywhere to camp but no luck. I reached the top of the ridge and the rocks began almost worse than the other side. Small jagged little pyramids sticking up. Walking over this is so much harder in the dark and almost more painful. After two miles of walking and seeing no campsites I finally see two headlamps. As I approached they said who is it. As soon as I heard the voice I knew it was c-sharp. I asked is there room and do you mind if I crash here. Blue, sailor, sea sharp and jack rabbit were there. I hadn't seen Jack rabbit since North Carolina and was surprised I caught up to him. He's a fast hiker and apparently has been lazy the last two weeks or so. I set up my tent and basically crashed after the gang offered me a shot or two fireball. What a long tough day. The one positive is New Jersey is only 15 miles away.