Date: 2005-06-08
From: Jailhouse Hostel

To: Leroy A. Smith Shelter
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Miles hiked today : 15.915.8 AT miles + 0.1 mile of side trailI initially woke up this morning at 6:00 a.m. as the other hikers were preparing to leave, though I went back to sleep until 9:00 a.m. At that time, I ate breakfast, packed up, and went to the library to use the internet until it was time for my conference call. I was at the payphone at 11:00 a.m. and realized that the call wasn't scheduled until 11:15 a.m. Grr! After standing there for 15 minutes with nothing to do, I made the call and it lasted less than 20 minutes. I made some related calls and had Chinese food for lunch before returning to the jailhouse hostel to get my pack.I walked out the back door at 1:50 p.m. and was spotted by Roger, one of the Borough Hall employees, who asked whether I needed a ride back to the trail. As hikers are only allowed to stay one night at the jailhouse hostel, I believe Roger was getting a litle antsy when he saw me hanging around into the afternoon. I took him up on his ride and was back on the trail at 1:55 p.m.Simply put, it was hot today and the rocks were relentless. Climbing out of Lehigh Gap, my thermometer read 100.4 degrees. I had a 1,070 foot climb over 1.0 mile and it was tricky, as much of the climbing was up and over boulders, which required the use of both hands. After the climb, I had a fairly level walk over golf ball sized rocks with no tree shade, as this stretch of trail had no vegetation period. Apparently, there used to be a zinc smelting plant in Palmerton and it severely poisoned the land. Now the area is an EPA superfund site with a 10 mile radius. I saw a sign that said it was safe to hike through the area, but that children shouldn't play here on a continued basis. Hmm...I took a 5 minute rest break at 3:55 p.m. and by 4:20 p.m., I had cleared the dead zone and reached Little Gap. I was debating whether to ration my existing water or to hitch 1.5 miles into Danielsville for water. I decided to ration and crossed the road and entered the woods, only to find a couple gallon jugs of water, one of which was half full. This was the best trail magic I could have hoped for. I sat for 25 minutes and filtered 3 liters of water, drinking one of them immediately before continuing on.At 5:30 p.m., I stopped and watched a thick 6 foot long black snake cross the trail. I don't believe it noticed me at first, because as soon as it finished crossing the trail, it stopped and rattled its tail at me. I didn't need a second warning. At 5:55 p.m., I was amused to see a wild turkey in the bushes and even got to hear it gobble as it ran away. I also saw a large number of small brown toads along the trail once the temperature dropped into the low 80s.My next stop was at 6:35 p.m. for a 5 minute rest break and at 7:45 p.m., I caught up to Stealth and Ninja, a thru-hiking couple that I hadn't seen in quite awhile. They were setting up camp and I was tempted to stay, though I wanted to reach the shelter.At 8:00 p.m., I reached Smith Gap and the sky was growing dim. At 9:00 p.m., I had to put on my headlamp to see the trail and I arrived at Leroy A. Smith Shelter at 9:30 p.m. The people in the shelter were already in their sleeping bags, so I set out my sleeping gear and had a simple dinner of pb&j tortillas before journaling.Delaware Water Gap is only 20.3 miles away and is a destination I've been looking forward to for a long time. Depending on the terrain between here and the next shelter, I may push for Delaware Water Gap and take a zero day on Friday. If the terrain tomorrow between Wind Gap and Fox Gap is as bad as I've heard, then I may stop at the next shelter and do a short day into Delaware Water Gap on Friday. Happily, the Delaware River, just 0.2 mile north of Delaware Water Gap, is the end of Pennsylvania and the beginning of New Jersey. While I'm sure there are rocks in New Jersey, I'm looking forward to "escaping" the Pennsylvania Rocks.Bedtime at 11:15 p.m.