Date: 2013-07-07
From: Blue Mountain Summit

To: Palmerton
Miles today: 13.9

Day One Hundred and Twenty One - (13.9) Blue Mountain Summit to PalmertonIt was so nice to sleep in this morning, Ken wasn't taking us into town until 8am. In town we went to the diner for breakfast and then left our packs at the jailhouse (it's a hostel in the basement of a municipal building). Two Socks picked up his birthday package at the post office (thanks for the chocolate and dog treats) and I stopped to buy coke and Gatorade for today's hike. It was 10am by the time we were back at PA309 and on the trail. We like to leave really early in the morning to avoid the heat, not only were we leaving way too late today but it is the hottest day on the trail yet. Things started out relatively good and when we arrived at knife's edge (a section of the trail that is famous for falls) I was surprised at how easy it was and how well Melkie handled it. The trail was rocky but not too bad, we were starting to get thirsty though and we were getting low on water. We had stopped to talk to a day hiker who asked us if we were okay for water and later Two Socks speculated that there might just be trail magic waiting for us at the next road. When we arrived at the road Dave a local hiker had just pulled up and delivered a cooler full of beer, water and coke! Thank you so much Dave it couldn't have arrived at a better time! While we were sitting there discussing Pennsylvania trail Matt arrived. He is a southbounder that started on June 10th. He said he started the day after the first northbounder summited Katahdin. He had an ultra light homemade pack that was made out of netting. I can't believe how fast he is going! We continued on and our feet were hurting from all the abuse. I arrived at the next road and found two chocolate bars with a note that said for Trouble and Two Socks. I yelled back to Two Socks that we scored again just as he yelled because he had rolled his ankle. The last few miles we grumbled through, Two Socks from the pain and I was hating all the gnats. We finally made it to the last shelter and after saying hi to the Snails (section hikers from Montreal) I continued down to the spring to get water. I don't think Two Socks was very happy that he had left his gear up at the shelter because it meant that he had to go back up while I could sit and wait for him by the spring. We pretty much walked the last mile in silence battling our own frustrations but when we got to the road where we needed to hitch hike into town things got better. I had barely crossed the road and stuck out my thumb when a pick up truck pulled over and gave us a ride. It was so quick I had to yell over to Two Socks that we had a ride, usually he is the one that gets us rides. He dropped us off just before the police station (he didn't want to get caught with us riding in the back) and he figured that we needed to go there. He was right! In order to stay at the Jail House you have to sign in at the police station and show then your ID. I was a little worried because the AT Guide says that they don't allow pets but when I walked in with Melkie beside me the officer stopped to pet him so I figured that was a good sign. After signing in and buying cokes from the machine at the station for Two Socks, Old Boy and I we sat outside and relaxed. It turns out Old Boy was the one who left us the chocolate bar trail magic! Thanks! I took off to the Jail House to have a shower and snuck a quick one in as soon as Goldilocks came out (I guess there was a line up for the shower-oops). It felt so good to be clean and I was wanting to go eat but Two Socks hadn't even shown up yet. When he arrived he suggested I go ahead and he would join me. It worked out perfect because the diner had wifi and I uploaded my journals and checked messages while I waited. After dinner I had to buy dog food and I would have liked to get laundry done but there just aren't enough hours in the day sometimes. The Jail House has a 10pm curfew so the lights are out as I finish this up. I didn't want to push my luck by letting Melkie on a bunk so we are both sleeping on the floor in front of a big fan right by the door (I bet it's the coolest spot anyway). I forgot to mention that as I came into town I saw Zenmaster and Canadian Bacon, they are staying here tonight and hiking out with us in the morning. It's too bad the Snails aren't here because us Canadians might have a chance at outnumbering the Americans and the Germans, oh well maybe tomorrow night. Good night world!Trouble