Date: 2005-06-04
From: Hawk Mtn. Sanctuary

To: Leigh Gap
Miles today: 0.0

Hey everyone! This is Laura, Forrest's daughter. We've just arrived back from a 3-day section hike on the AT. We really enjoyed our trip, and got to relax (as much as one ever can while backpacking!) and take it easy. We started on familiar trails at Hawk Mtn. Sanctuary. We've always loved going there to hike and watch the wildlife, so we knew the beginning trail of our hike (and, of course, dad knew it from hiking it 20 some years ago with my mom!) We started on Monday, the 20th, at 10:00 or so, through some nice woods, then up a long hill to the top of the ridge, which we'd mostly be hiking on for the rest of our trip. We stopped for a lunch break at Dan's Pulpit, a nice overlook, and enjoyed the view, some crackers and gorp, and reading the register. Dad looked for hikers he knew from all his other hiking this season, and found several familiar ones. We got going again for a few hours, then climbed up the rocks at the Tri-County Corner vista. We scared away a few turkey vultures, who circled for a while. One landed, looked at us for a few minutes, then decided to take off again! Another nice view as well. One more hour of hiking, then we got to the Allentown Hiking Club Shelter, which was very nice. We enjoyed talking to several other hikers at the shelter, had our dinner, and went to sleep around 9 (late night!) We did 7.4 miles. Next day, we got up around 6:30 for breakfast, and headed out about 7:45. The trail was nice and easy, so we did 4 miles in about an hour and a half. Somewhere in the middle of that, we got my first ever trail magic, which was pretty exciting! Anice cold birch beer and a candy bar helped move us along nicely! Later, we crossed Rt. 309, and also saw very cute twin fawns in the woods, as well as a family of turkeys with their babies. We stopped at a powerline where we could enjoy the view and have a snack, and saw some other hikers. Stopped later at the Cliffs vista to air off our feet, and climbed up Bear Rocks for a great 360 view. We crossed the "knife-edge" and we now feel ready for just about anything after that "challenge"! Up to Bakeoven Knob, then a little ways to the next shelter. We had to walk waaaay down the hill to get to the spring (passing two dry springs on the way!) and, of course, then had to walk back up with our water. We went back down the trail a little ways to camp at a nice spot (where some insanely bored hiker had built a nice chair and side -table out of rocks!) Set up our tents, had dinner, then set in to amuse ourselves (in various ways, such as cats cradle, cordage-making, and dreaming about food, despite the fact we'd only been out two days!) until it was late enought to go to bed (AKA 8:00)! We did 10 trail miles, plus some extras. Our last day, Wednesday, we really had to hold back because we only had 7.7 miles left to complete before Mom picked us up. Dad let me "sleep in" until 6:45, then we had our breakfast bars, packed up, and got going. In about 2 miles, we got to a powerline and discovered a lot of wild blueberries! We had a lot of time, so we spent a good amount of time picking and eating the blueberries, which were excellent! Continued along the ridge, and Dad manages to cut his leg and his finger simultaneously, and after patching himself up, we keep going. The vegetation is a lot thinner here because of the zinc plating plant in the valley years ago, which hurt the surrounding environment. Some vegetation is growing back now. We decided to walk out on a blue blaze trail that goes along the edge of the ridge and gives a wonderful view. We sat and ate our lunch, and walked a little farther down that trail to see more of the valley. We hiked back to the AT and completed our last mile and a half to meet Mom at the Leigh River bridge at 2:30. We headed home with a mandatory stop for soda and snacks! We enjoyed our short hike, and are hoping to get back out on the trail again before the end of the summer.