Date: 2019-04-29
From: Bake Oven Knob Shelter

To: 1263.9 tentsite
Miles today: 12.1

This was definitely the most challenging day. The rocks up Lehigh Gap are kind of crazy, and require straight up rock climbing skills.I could have done a very lazy day today and saved this for tomorrow, but with rain in the forecast, I wanted these rocks to be as dry as possible..There were some teens ahead of me intent on posing for pics, and one of them struggled for a good 10 minutes or so with a particularly scary section. I made it through - and with a pack!I did say a little prayer at the bottom - I thought that really there was a chance that was my last day on earth if I slipped up somehow.The trail started rocky as always, and very steep, straight uphill it seemed. Then the rocks got bigger as I went up, until they grew into boulders. The AT white blazes were clearly visible the entire way, and I followed their recommendations exactly, zigging and zagging with arrows and directed blazes. I am not a rock climber, but today I was. But I was happy to trust the advice of the blazes over my own instinct.Best to take it one section at a time. See the direction I need to go in, work my way backwards making note of the footholds and handholds along the way, then going for it, taking a breather, and repeating the process.When I got to the top, the teens were posing and talking about sticking out their butts for their Instagram photos. Up there had a great 360 view, but I just did not want to get that 360 photo... for fear of falling. Something pushed me to keep going and get out of there... some instinct maybe.Up and over the other side and some big scary looking spiders (wolf spider?) were scrambling out of the rocks I was supposed to pass by. I did do at least one detour to avoid pissing off one of those guys...Made it up and over the other side, and the trail got easier and more pleasant. Was getting worn out and the last stretch, as always, seemed to go slow, until reaching a campsite.Incidentally, tonight I¢m camped on top of a giant government superfund site. There was a zinc company nearby that destroyed this mountain I climbed up in the early 1900s, and the government has been trying to clean it up for decades... unfortunately for AT hikers like me, this means there is contaminated water for 20 miles or so, which makes this not so ideal to camp at. Drank about a half a liter, so I now have 1.5 liters left for tomorrow before reaching the next water, a little over 10 miles away. Should be ok.Just a random side note - since my grandma died a few years back, I have been trying to take note of any memories I have of her. Today while walking I remembered her buying some books for me when I was a kid - some Berenstein Bears and Magic Schoolbus books. I remember how much I wanted those and how grateful I was to receive them... those were really good times. And now those moments are in the increasingly distant past, but they still make me happy in the present. These are the most emotionally tough moments on the AT so far - thinking about things like this, my future direction, and life in general. Those things are so damn stressful compared to the relatively easy goal of ¢where¢s the next shelter for the day¢.