Date: 2009-08-02
From: Bake Oven Knob Shelter

To: Wild camp south of Delps Trail
Miles today: 17.2

It would be easy to label today a crap day but it wouldn¢t be fair. It certainly didn¢t go the way I planned but who said the Trail should be easy. So it wasn¢t crap but it was tough and although it was tough it still wasn¢t without its compensations.We had a storm last night (3am). I like storms during the night as I hope it gets rid of all the precipitation before daybreak. Before I have to be out in it. When I woke at 5.30am all was fair, great, ¢What was that?¢ Blast ¢ more rain. But what did it matter I would hike anyway but it just meant that I didn¢t exactly jump out of bed. It was with more if a huff and a puff and with some slouched shouldered resignation that I eventually emerged. The ground was awash, the forest was misty, there was rain in the air but it was light. No pacific paradise certainly but nothing to complain about really.Besides maybe this is the best weather for heading into town. When hiking is characterised by head down, keep moving, focus on the goal, sacrificing the enjoyment of the hike itself. When it¢s like this at least there is not much enjoyment to sacrifice.I wondered if the negative aspects I encounter during those ¢into town¢ miles are common? I¢d always assumed so but I didn¢t really know. I try to go into town maybe every six days, maybe fro half a day out of six. I don¢t focus on the Trail as I should but the rest of the time the Trail is my life. If you go into town every three days (which I would say seems to be the norm) does that mean that proportionately you spend less time enjoying the Trail? Or with even shorter resupplies could you find yourself in a situation where the Trail itself is only a necessary evil to join up the real purpose of the trip: to experience the towns?!?!?!From where I stand I do seem to see people blasting along the Trail to spend day after day in town. They seem to have a great time and good luck to them but is that really the purpose of their trip? I just know it isn¢t for me.Battering on the thunder began to crash around me. Now I wasn¢t focussed on town but the next shelter. Would I make it before the heavens opened? And, of course, the answer was no - close but no cigar. With ten minutes to go I got well and truly drenched. Oh well, such are the joys and besides, laundry, shower and a warm bed all lay just ahead ¢ or so I supposed.I decided to go to Palmerton for two reasons: 1) to go to different places from 2003 ¢ to ensure 2009 didn¢t just become a repeat of what had gone before; and 2) Because Libby said Palmerton had been her favourite town stop ¢ she couldn¢t explain why though, so trusting her judgement I¢d go find out for myself, or so I thought.My first problem was getting there. There was the road or there was a blue blazed trail. Being a hiker I thought I¢d take the Trail. Now it¢s a funny thing getting lost (ok not that funny). Sometimes it just takes the most minor confusion or misinterpretation. Maybe 99 days you will get it right and one you will go completely astray. Maybe 19 people find it easy and one impossible. Today I would be that one. For the life of me, and I tried, believe me I tried, I could not make head nor tail of it. So near yet so far.I wandered back and forth, retracing steps, retrying options. Not willing to give up but knowing deep down that I¢d have to retrace my steps. The Trail was overgrown, it was at time calf deep in water, small stones lodged between my feet and my sandals. I was walking for miles and getting nowhere. Where was the trail to town? Was it the same as the winter trail? Surely not but ¢¦.?!?! Blast, double blast, and balderdash ¢ who¢s idea was this anyway? I¢d tried up, I¢d tried straight ahead, I¢d tried around but none of them got me anywhere and none felt right. There was a nagging thought that ¢just fifty more yards¢ and it would all become obvious, but I¢d already gone 500 yards more than felt sensible, at some point you just have to turn around. But not yet, I¢d have one more go at getting down to the road. Hallelujah ¢ a tack ¢ a consolation for the 90 minutes wasted and the untold unnecessary miles. Now it would just be half a mile to town and that promised hotel room ¢ or was it?It was 11.57am when I arrived at the hotel to find that it wasn¢t. They only rented rooms by the week. In the name of the little man! Strangely though this rebuff wasn¢t such a kick in the guts as my earlier frustrations. Plan ¢A¢ had fallen apart but now I had two very clear options:1.        to stay in Palmerton at the hostel; or2.        to hit the Trail and aim for a hotel in Wind Gap tomorrow. It was 20 miles away so I¢d really like to do 8 or 10 today.Neither option was ideal but I¢m really not a fan of hiker hangouts and so generally try to avoid hostels. They¢re cheap and they are cheerful but they are also crowded, basic and tend to mean that everybody was the same Appalachian Trail Experience. I could afford a hotel room and enjoy the personal space, the peace and quiet, the air conditioning and a bathroom all to myself. It sometimes also offers a diversion from the hiker scene. I think it helps me to personalise my adventure but I also miss out on some of the benefits of the alternatives. I guess you just can¢t, unfortunately, do it all. My decision was made I¢d quickly resupply and try to get back on the Trail by 1.30pm, knocking off 10 miles before dark. It was a bit of an ask after all the earlier wasted effort but it was a plan.The day was still cloudy but now it was dry and that was perfect for my early afternoon climb out of Lehigh. This is a stretch of steep boulders which can at times require a bit of thought and the use of all four limbs. It¢s also a long exposed section with no water. On a hot day it can be a bit of a killer but today was great. The clouds were high so I still got treated to great views of the valley as I climbed higher but their presence helped keep me cool.I was also pleased to see Firefly scrabbling her may upwards just in front of mw. I caught her at the top when she stopped to talk to a south bounder and we wandered on together for a while. I was flagging and a shower led me to pitch my tent, I still thought I might go on but I rested for an hour eating dinner. When the rain stopped I started again but not for long. It had been quite a day, I was bushed but I enjoyed Lehigh.