Date: 2005-08-27
From: South of Wind Gap, PA

To: Palmerton, PA
Miles today: 19.7

19.7 miles todaySleeping in the Jailhouse HostelPalmerton, Pa. I couldn't believe it was morning already. I woke up once or twice in the middle of the night, but I slept great. I woke up at 5:50am and made coffee and ate breakfast. I was walking at 6:50am. I'm using a new alcohol stove that Moosie made for me. He warned me that it turned over easy. He was right. I'm glad I had plenty of water or I might have had to do without coffee this morning. I'll have to be really careful from now on because I was almost out of alcohol too. I saw a doe soon after I started walking today. About 2 miles later, I saw a buck with a huge rack on him. I couldn't count how many points he had, but I would say he was the second largest I've ever seen in the wild. I've mastered the art of positive thinking with these Pa rocks. I just walk down the trail and repeat to myself; "I like you, I like you, I like you." Ouch!! :-))) I saw a bunch of turkeys running away from me just before I got to Smith Gap. When I walked by where they were, 4 more flew out of the tops of the trees. They hadn't come down from their roost yet. I had to stop and put my pack cover on at 9:45 because it started raining. The clouds rolled in with the rain and it lasted about an hour. In an hour and a half, the sun came back out for a while. I hiked by the Leroy A Smith Shelter without stopping. Someone posted a piece of paper that said the third spring was flowing good. I walked by Delp's Spring and someone had posted that it was dry. I walked down into Little Gap and then back up. The walking got much easier after that. I had another 5 miles to Lehigh Gap. I was glad the rocks had dried by the time I got there because it's a steep rocky down. I got to the road at 1:30pm and got a ride with the third car and they took me into Palmerton. I was sitting at Bert's Steakhouse at 1:40 and had ordered lunch. This is the friendliest town on the A.T. for me. Everytime I come here, the people go out of their way to be friendly. It was no different this time. I had 4 different people stop and talk to me while I was eating. I met Raymond Boulio who said he worked with Gene Espy about 25 years ago. He said he worked for Add More at Rollin's Air Force Base in Georgia. I told him I met Gene at The Gathering last year and I think I saw him somewhere this year too. Gene thru hiked back in the 50's. I waited outside trying to see a cop to flag down to register at the Jailhouse Hostel. I didn't see one and it started raining, so I went on in anyway. The 3 sobos that I thought I would see here had left 10 minutes before I got here. I guess I won't see them now because they were going to the Little League World Series. I took a shower and went and resupplied, then went and ate dinner. After dinner, I bought some snacks and went back to the hostel and ate somemore. Do you think I'm getting my hiker hunger?? I have to eat like that because...and I'm not kidding, I'm getting too skinny. Oh, what a tough life...having to eat all the time. ;-))) I cleaned up some around the hostel. It's a free hostel and still someone had left it all messy. I walked back up to the store and bought more snacks. I think that might top off my tank for today. :-)) I'm heading for Eckville Shelter tomorrow. I'm supposed to meet Honey Boy there on Monday morning. I'll walk each day, but stay at his home for a couple nights.