Date: 2014-06-12
From: Bake Oven Knob Shelter

To: Jailhouse Hostel - Palmerton, PA
Miles today: 8.0

Today we will be spending a night in jail - guess that is what we get for being hiker trash!After a decent shelter sleep (surprisingly comfortable floor) we woke up to another rainy drizzly day - luckily it is only a short jaunt into Palmerton for our resupply box! Last ones to leave the shelter after breakfast and putting on some wet boots and gaiters we headed towards town - yesterday some SOBOs told us of one big rock scramble on the way into town but it was the only one. Not too bad of a rock scramble as compared to yesterday and we were rewarded with trail magic at the end of it! Someone had left a huge tote of food and tons of gallon water jugs near a road access and it was wonderful - donuts and bananas and dinner foods and apples and other hiker supplies! It was a much needed ray of sunshine on the drizzly rainy day.We rested at the last shelter before town and ran into several day hikers going out in the bad weather - a little nuts to be out in the rain and no views! From the shelter it was a short walk to the Palmerton Superfund Trailhead and the blue-blazed trail into Palmerton itself - a nice side trail that took us safely above the main road and into the main street of town. It passes over a gated bridge but the security guard on duty was nice and let us go over the bridge - very nice lady!Once in town we stopped at the Palmerton Hotel to check in to a room - much to our surprise the bartender on duty (very nice girl) told us that the Palmerton Hotel was now a bar and restaurant that only booked one week stays! Luckily they held our box for us but we weren't going to stay for a week.Went down to the Palmerton Jailhouse Hostel in the basement of the borough hall of town - a free stay in town where all you have to do is check in and set up! The basement was set up to be a jail but was never used as one - now it was mostly a storage area (we had fake palm trees!)Settled in with Reset and Tittycakes and got showered up - the showers here will clean everything you have ever had on you! From there we got laundry going and had a good lunch at the Palmerton Hotel with the nice bartender. We ate a late lunch so afterwards we picked up the laundry and explored the town - not much to see or do but nice to walk around.We avoided most of the rain today and almost everyone we met yesterday came to the hostel to dry out - Reset, Tittycakes, and Mr. Jingles. Also met a new thru-hiker Hagar who had heard about me from some people on the trail - I wonder what they are saying about me! Must not be bad things or he would have reacted differently to my introduction. Ate dinner at Bert's Steakhouse and it was great - reminded me of Jackson Street that was in my hometown! Afterwards we spent the time in the hostel until 9:00 and returned to the Palmerton Hotel to watch some of the NBA Finals - Go Spurs! Our stuff dried out in the hostel after getting soaked in the rain and everything was good.We will see what the weather is doing tomorrow - supposedly a very tough steep climb up out of Palmerton with tons of rocks! We do not want to scramble in heavy rain...