Date: 2009-06-24
From: Eckville Shelter (Hawk Mtn Road), PA

To: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter, PA
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Cell goodOG notes We put ourselves in a the position of hiking too much in a day. We hiked long and hard yesterday and we arrived at our destination very late. That set our day today as one of not having the proper level of energy we needed. We were both slugish as we hiked today and just didn't have the energy we needed to navigate all the rocks. We crossed a lot of rocky terrain today. The rocks range from huge ones where we climb up down and over them to smaller ones that are hard on the feet. When we stopped for lunch neither of us wanted to go on today. Then we looked at various plans for the next two days and decided we could stay here. We are being picked up on Friday and we need to be at a road crossing for that. We figured two ten mile days for tomorrow and the next will accomplish that perfectly. We have a huge climb out of the Lehigh Gap on Friday. We are supposed to pick up more food in Palmerton, PA which is before the climb. We're hoping to make the climb without picking up the food and then getting picked after the climb. Hopefully we'll ride back to Palmerton and pick up the box then. Not having the weight of 3 days of food should make the climb a little easier.After deciding to stay here we had a very relaxing afternoon. We basically sat in the sun and chatted with hiking friends. I arrived here very tired and I now feel a lot better, this was the right decision.We've been planning on attending our niece's wedding on Saturday since we started the trail. I figured we would be somewhere near this area about now and it all worked out. It is amazing how things are falling in place. An unplanned thing we are hoping to do is join the family for July 4th. We will still be close, within an hour's drive, and it would be another opportunity to see family. C6 notesThe first part of today was hard. We've reached the real rocky part of PA...and I mean REAL rocky!. It was brutal, and it wore us out. We reached this shelter around 1pm, went the .2 mile downhill to get water for lunch, and ate lunch. Looking at where we need to be on Friday to coordinate our transportation for a niece's wedding this Saturday, we decided we would make today a short day and stay here. While we were making that decision, so were Prarie Dog, Angry Beaver, Leon, and Col Mustard. Being here with them for the rest of the day was lovely. We really like those guys! Angry Beaver and Prarie Dog were the folks who had the encounter with the rabid skunk with Early Bear a while back. This was the first time we were with them since that incident, so I asked if they would let me video their telling the story. Once we can upload the video to our son, he'll put it on the YouTube web site. Angry Beaver and Prarie Dog know this and are thrilled about it! They tell the story in such an entertaining way!We enjoyed relaxing for the rest of the afternoon and went to our tent right after dinner to try and catch up on the sleep we lost from getting in so late last night.We talked with our son this evening and he offered to help us get to a family gathering in NJ on July 4th. We're excited about that, too. The wedding this weekend, then seeing more of OG's family on the Fourth of July. Cool! That also gives us more time with our son and his family (our two youngest grandchildren). We're looking forward to that!Old Goat & Check Six