Date: 2003-06-24
From: Allentown, PA 

To: Leroy A. Smith Shelter 
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: clear sky

I slept well in jail last night, but woke up sweating one time, and chilly the next time. I slept on my sleeping bag, in my silk liner, and was comfortable most of the time. Hotdog and I went to Bert's for breakfast, then picked up Trog and Texas Jack and headed for the trail. Hotdog had the rental car still, from his weekend in New Jersey, and offered to drop us off at the trail. We couldn't refuse. After dropping the three of us off, he went to a nearby town to drop off the car and they gave him a ride back to the trail.In the meantime, Trog, Texas Jack and I headed up out of Lehigh Gap, and back onto the ridge of Blue Mountain. I don't know exactly how long, but I've been hiking on Blue Mountain for a long time! I'd guess it's been a week or two! I'm gonna have to check on it, just to see exactly how long it's been. Supposedly the climb north out of Lehigh Gap is quite steep, and I had heard rumors of rebar in the rocks to give extra hand- and footholds. The climb was quite steep, but there was no rebar. It was actually fun, using my hands to help me climb the rocks, and using the poles occasionally just to help with balance. Trog, Texas Jack and I took turns taking pictures of each other on the rocks. That, and the awesome views from there, made the climb extremely tolerable.Five miles south of Palmerton to about five miles north of Palmerton, Blue Mountain is an EPA Superfund site, due to about 100 years of zinc smelting. The mountain is recovering, slowly, but it is still quite barren. That, while not a good thing, helped provide the awesome views of the surrounding valleys. It was clear today, for the first time in a long time, but hot. The forecast was for a high of 90. There was a nice breeze today, and after the 5-mile "tainted" area, there was adequate coverage from the vegetation, so it wasn't too bad.After the climb, the trail was fairly level, and for a few miles followed an old road, making nice, easy hiking. That would end, as the trail dove off the road into the rocky woods. About 2-1/2 or 3 hours after I began, Hotdog caught up to me. We had another bouldery climb, but shorter than the first. It was tiring, but kinda fun. The rocks are much more fun when they are dry! I wish my sis could've hiked on rocks when they were dry.Water is a bit scarce, since there aren't usable springs in the Superfund area. I started with 2 liters of water, and was out at the 10-mile mark, where I went down the mountain to Delps Spring. Knowing I had only 6 miles to go to the shelter, I got just one liter, but later wished I'd gotten two. I had to go down there anyway, why not? Because silly me didn't want to carry it on the mostly-level, but rocky terrain! Forget that! I was thirsty when I got to the shelter, but was very glad to hear, and see, that the water source was at the shelter, instead of 0.2mi farther, like the guide books listed. That's one of the perks of a rainy late winter and spring: the seasonal water sources are flowing well.WallyGator and Hiking Viking were here when we arrived, and Trog, Texas Jack, and Truckin' arrived after us. Viking, Jack and Truckin are tenting, leaving plenty of room in the shelter for the 4 of us. The temp has dropped some, since the sun fell, but it may be another silk liner night. I always get out my bag anyway, just in case the liner isn't enough.I am considering going into Delaware Water Gap tomorrow, a 20+ mile day, but don't really need to. If I did that, I'd head out late on Thursday, and do shorter mileage that day. If I don't go all the way, I'll go into DWG in the morning Thursday, do some town stuff, and head out. Either way, I have a plan of where to meet my dad and brothers Friday when they arrive. If they aren't coming until Saturday morning, I'll have to rethink my plans.Earlier today, I was thinking about something that struck me as funny. I came out here to do something that I wanted to do, that most people won't even dream of doing. Part of the allure of hiking the AT is to do something 'different', out of the norm, unlike what most people do. And to be independent. Yet, I follow white blazes wherever they lead me. It doesn't take much brainpower to do that. I am at the mercy of the trail builders and maintainers....where the blazes go, I go. Also, everyone else out here does the same thing. How individual or independent is that?? I kinda chuckled about it today. It doesn't effect my hike at all, I just found it to be ... interesting.I like suddenly realizing things, or figuring things out, especially about myself. It's amazing how I can, all of a sudden, see a different side of something. I call it 'growth'. No matter what happens on this hike, I know that I have grown. And that is a good thing.