Date: 2011-07-01
From: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter

To: Slatington PA
Miles today: 17.3

I had to go into town to get the package that I forwarded from Pine Grove. I knew that I couldn't get there before the post office closed today so I figured that I could just get it in the morning. The idea was to stay at the shelter just before town, then in the morning, get my package and get back on the trail. I did the usual morning routine and headed down the trail. Since it was my birthday, I thought it would be good to treat myself to a nice lunch at Blue Mountain at the bed and breakfast. I got there before they opened at 11 am so I waited on the front porch. No one else on the trail knew it was my birthday so I just enjoyed a quiet time by myself. I had the prime rib sandwich and a stout. It was delicious. "Stroller" stopped by just to get some water just as I was finishing. He didn't want eat there so, after talking a bit, I took off down the trail. The first view along the way was called Knife Edge. It was a series of rocks that had a drop off on either side. It wasn't so far down to be dangerous yet if one fell, it would definitely leave a mark. The picture is the view from this rock formation. The next view was similar, a collection of rocks just 0.4 miles up the trail. I continued along the trail to Bake Oven Knob Shelter to get water. The shelter looked to be a run down shelter but the tenting area was good. My book told me that there were multiple water sources downhill with the most reliable furthest down the hill. With it being so hot and dry, I ended up having to hike about a mile down the hill to find water. It was a little aggravating but this is all part of hiking. I got the water loaded into my backpack and continued to the original destination shelter. There were a couple of overlooks along the way that were nice to stop at but other than that, the hike seemed pretty easy and kind of boring. I got to the shelter that I planned to stop at to find another run down looking shelter with almost no tenting spots left. The only one available was taken by a south bounder named Max. We talked while I tried to decide if I really wanted to stay there. I don't like sleeping in shelters unless there's a very good reason to do so. This is especially true if the shelter is run down and there are issues with biting insects which was the case. Since the road crossing for wasn't too far from the shelter, I decided to go into town and just get a room at the Fine Lodging in the downtown area. The only issue was whether I would hike in for 2 miles or get a ride. As I was hiking into town, I passed by a house where 2 young guys named Brian and Max were outside. They were a couple of hiker friendly types who offered to take me into town. They knew exactly where I was going to stay which was a plus. The hotel was more like a boarding house that the owner opened up to hikers during hiking season. It was built in 1850 but reasonable. I took a shower and headed to the chinese restaurant for dinner. The food there was fantastic. I really didn't expect that a small town would have such a good restaurant. I needed to do laundry but had to wait until morning because it was so late. I just headed back to the room and went to the room, did some facebook browsing then went to bed.