Date: 2011-06-08
From: Jailhouse Hostel, Palmerton, PA

To: Leroy A Smith Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: clear sky

Well today was everything that was advertised. The weather was mid 90¢s with high humidity, and the trail showed us again why hikers hate the PA rocks. We were up early, eaten, packed, and standing on Main Street at 6:30 wondering if we would get a hitch back to the trail. The 3rd or 4th car that passed stopped and offered us a ride. We put our packs in the back trunk of the BMW and climbed in. She was on her way to work at the hospital, and said her husband was a hiker and that he would be so proud of her for giving us a ride. We thanked her profusely and were on the trail at 6:45. The day starts with an extremely steep and rocky climb up to the superfund site. There are large rocks and in many places you couldn¢t use your poles, you needed your hands to help pull yourself over the rocks. It was actually quite fun, but a tough start to a hot day. So much for that shower, after about 10 minutes into the climb we were covered in sweat. Once you reach the top you walk along or near the ridge that they are in the process of trying to re-vegetate after it was deforested from a zinc smelting operation in the valley. The 3 mile walk along the ridge was pretty good except for the 6 ticks I pulled off and of course the heat. Once that ended the rocks started again and didn¢t let up all day. The balls of my feet were sore and I stubbed my toes hard 5 different times. You trip and stumble hundreds of times during the day, but every so often you hit your toes square and hard. It makes a terrible thud, and then you utter terrible words at the top of your lungs for a while. I think the heat really sapped everyone¢s energy because everyone complained about the same thing today. We managed to make the shelter about 3:00, just about out of water. I went to the spring and filtered 3 liters for later and drank about 1 liter at the spring. I thought the shelter was going to be hot and crowded so I pitched my tent with no fly up on the hill. Hopefully it won¢t rain and a breeze will come in. It¢s really too hot to eat, so most of us are just trying to stay cool sipping water. It¢s supposed to be just like today tomorrow, so we¢ll try to hit the trail early again because we are hoping for 20+ miles into Delaware Water Gap tomorrow. I did see the biggest black snake I¢ve seen yet on the trail today, at least 5 12 to 6 feet long. He rattled his tail in the leaves to scare me, but he didn¢t need to do that because I was already giving him a wide berth and letting him pass. One of the coolest sites I saw today was a flock of Canadian Geese forming up into flying formation along the river. What was neat was I was just summiting the rocky ridge and they were flying about 25 feet below me in the valley over the river. It was a unique vantage point, and interesting to watch all the jockeying that goes on in the flock. It kind of reminded me of the movie, where the guy leads the flock with his ultra-light plane. I forget the name of the movie. I can add Peregrine Falcon, Flicker, and I think a female Bufflehead duck to my bird list. I took a picture of the duck with its babies coming out of Harpers Ferry, and originally thought it was a wood duck, but after looking at the Cabela¢s display I think it was a female Bufflehead.Alan 6/20/2011 - Earl Grey has reached Connecticut. I've added more photos to the photo section. To avoid having to go through the whole group to see the new ones, or having to see them in reverse, go to the journal for May 15th (where it lists by date). Click on the photo in the journal for that date (to see full size), and then you can just click next and view all the photos from that point on. Enjoy. - Mary