Date: 2018-05-28
From: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter

To: Stealth Camp mile 1265
Miles today: 24.0

I woke up a few times last night to the drizzle on my tent. The rain never got heavy but it was steady and then the wind would knock it off the trees making it seem like it rained for much longer. A wet tent wasn't a big deal. I figured I'd dry it out tonight when I tented again. I was out of camp by 6:45 and the start of the day was over nice terrain. Only a minor amount of rocks and smooth ups and downs. Then we hit the knifes edge. Having rained last night, you can imagine a rock formation called the knifes edge may not be super fun. It wasn't. The rocks had zero traction and you're lucky if they are angled in any direction remotely horizontal. It was slow going but I think Two Clicks and I enjoyed being near each other for this section because of the likelihood of injury. Neither of us sustained anything more than cuts and bruises but I will admit, the swears were flying. After knifes edge, we hiked Bake Oven Knob-- what a weird name-- but again, more rocks.Shortly after those two climbs about 12 or so miles in I approached a road. Here, I heard a car approaching and was curious because often times these dirt roads are desolate. As I got near the road crossing I met eyes with the driver and low and behold, it was Fresh Ground with the Leap Frog Cafe. He poked his head out the window and said "ready for lunch?" before he even parked his car. I walked over with a huge smile on my face and helped him unload his equipment and set up. This man has a system and it's amazing to watch! In 5 minutes he had snacks galore out and began cooking me a burger! By this time, Two Clicks and another thru hiker called No Name showed up. We sat around, ate watermelon, fruits, little Debbie snacks and then the colossal burger he made us. It was even seasoned! This man is unreal and I'm sure we'll be catching up to him more and more throughout the trail. The only bad thing about all the free food is my food bag still weighs close to the same it did coming out of Hamburg! But hey, that'll just extend my next resupply past the original spot!As Fresh Ground said, we had just completed some of the hardest Rocky sections of PA and had a lot easier terrain here on. He was right and the three us of jaunted down into the Lehigh Valley. Although the terrain was easier, we still had a 1300 foot climb in 0.7 miles! The climb out of the valley was crazy. Definitely the steepest on trail yet and often required hands and feet literally climbing rocks. Oh and did I mention, this section is the longest stretch without water we'll face. Roughly 20 miles which to PCT or CDT hikers isn't much but it's unheard of on the AT. I carried 3L of water weighing over 6lbs and the others did the same. With a full food bag, my pack was heavy! The good thing was that even though we were going to camp before the next water, I didn't need to cook tonight because Fresh Ground had fed us so much I could just eat my lunch for dinner! It all worked out. Once we reached the top of the Lehigh Gap we looked back at the Lehigh Valley and River. It was a beautiful section. The top of the mountain had Zinc Smelting going on until 1980 so the ATC and other groups are working on reforestation of the area and so it offered much different terrain and views than the past few days.We pushed another 6 or so miles past the climb and found a stealth spot. It was nice. Two Clicks and I set up camp, ate a bunch then did quick chores. We hung a bear bag and had some laughs with this then ended up turning in early to chill and listen to our books. We both love going to bed early which makes hiking together great! I will be leaving PA early Wednesday and hitting New Jersey around the 1300 mile marker! It's all moving so quickly!