Date: 2014-06-13
From: Jailhouse Hostel - Palmerton, PA

To: Gateway Motel via PA 115
Miles today: 20.1
Weather: broken clouds

So we conquered the hardest rock scramble south of New Hampshire without rain but still got soaked later in the day - it is about time to get new boots since the waterproofing has worn out!Woke up in the morning to check the weather - it looked like the radar was going to clear up around nine so we waited around the hostel until then. We had set up a shuttle ride with Brenda at nine so we called her to confirm our departure to the trailhead.Noticed in the night that Tittycakes had left - I hope he did not try to climb the rocks at night! It rained pretty hard overnight and the trail was soaked again.We met Brenda outside of the hostel and went to the trailhead - nice older lady who offers a work-for-stay for hikers who need it since you can only stay one night in the jailhouse hostel. She only asked for a donation when we arrived at the intersection and we thanked her for the ride.So the rock scramble out of Palmerton was intense - less so because of the rocks and more so because of the WET rocks from the rain! It was tough in some parts but I used my poles the entire way - no hand scrambling for me! The climb up rewarded us with nice views down into Palmerton and the river valley below - without the fog it would have been better! Luckily it did not rain while we were climbing or it would have been really tough...After getting to the top it was really nice walking through the Superfund site - mostly just walking through grassy fields that were somewhat wet but not enough to soak the boots. We enjoyed some more views into the valley as we walked along the ridge. We ran into Reset and two section hikers up by the powerlines when we took a break. Missed the blaze for the trail and started to follow a road towards the gap but realized it was not the right way to go. So we turned around and found the actual trail about 200 feet parallel to the road- the road walking would have been much nicer the actual trail was rocky and rough. Big Dawg was not happy with following that little section of trail since it was so rocky.A quick rest at Little Gap and then we decided to eat lunch after we did the climb - made the wrong choice the climb out of the gap was steep and rocky! We got to the top and stopped to eat lunch immediately - we needed the energy. Such a big climb out of Little Gap!After lunch we were hiking much slower than earlier - not sure why but our moving average was much lower. We had sunshine during lunch but thunderstorms rolled in during the afternoon - our first time walking in thunderstorms on the trail! The rain felt nice but our boots got soaked - wet feet are no fun! The rain cleared up and we started making good time after Smith Gap - ready to be at the shelter and eat dinner. Finally arrived at the shelter and decided to eat dinner and press on to Wind Gap. Reset, Mr. Jingles, and Tittycakes were at the shelter along with the two section hikers from Georgia - Some Day and Goat. The dinner motivated us to move and we knocked out the miles to Wind Gap before it got completely dark - hiked most of the mileage with Tittycakes in tow and had great hiking conversations! At the road we decided to walk to a nearby motel while Tittycakes moved on. The Gateway Motel was a place to get out of the elements and get our boots dried out. The room was ok but it was all we needed - even had some pizza delivered to the room!Glad to have knocked out a long day - ready for a shorter day into Delaware Water Gap tomorrow!Almost out of Pennsylvania and its tricky rocks!