Date: 2017-06-04
From: Bake Oven Knob Shelter, PA

To: Delp Spring Campsite
Miles today: 17.5

6/4/17, Delp Spring Campsite, PAMiles hiked: 950.2 Miles to go: 1239.6Walking under the forest canopy on the ridgeline this morning, listening to the church bells ringing in the valley below, I thought of Emily Dickinson. When she was criticized by a neighbor for not attending Sunday services, she responded with the following poem: Some keep the Sabbath going to the Church ¢I keep it, staying at Home ¢With a Bobolink for a Chorister ¢And an Orchard, for a Dome ¢Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice ¢I just wear my Wings ¢And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,Our little Sexton ¢ sings.God preaches, a noted Clergyman ¢And the sermon is never long,So instead of getting to Heaven, at last ¢I¢m going, all along.I've always felt the best place to see the glory of God is in the forest. Walking along this ridge I was once again reminded how blessed I am to be able to undertake this journey. The weather forecast was calling for rain today, so we got up and got hiking to cover as much ground as possible before the ubiquitous rocks became slick rocks. We were particularly hoping to complete the climb out of Lehigh Gap before the rain settled in. The climb out of Lehigh Gap is another AT icon. The New Jersey Zinc Corporation ran a smelting operation for over 80 years in the town of Palmerton. Heavy metal emissions from the smelting operation completely denuded the slopes of the neighboring Blue Mountain, which in turn led to severe erosion. The whole area is now a Superfund site. This is where the 1000 foot climb occurs. Portions of the climb are almost vertical and require climbing hand over hand up the bare rock face. We hoofed about six miles over rocky trail to reach the Lehigh Valley. As we came down the ridge, we discussed the possibility of hitching into nearby Palmerton for lunch before starting the climb.  Sitting Bull, who is a later riser but faster hiker, caught up to us as we were debating and said that it was supposed to start raining any minute. As it began to sprinkle, the three of us decided the best course of action was to forgo lunch and climb while the rocks were dry. Good choice. The climb was everything it was advertised to be. Many times we had to put down our hiking poles to be able to use our hands to pull ourselves up the rock face. If you were to lose your balance - easy to do with a 35 pound backpack on your back - you would get seriously hurt. To add to the experience, we were all carrying extra weight because the upcoming ridgeline has no water, so we had to fill up all our containers with water before starting our he climb, adding an additional 5 pounds to our packs. The three of us took our time on the ascent and made it safely to the top. For being such Brave & Fierce thru hikers, we were rewarded with a couple miles of smooth, rock-free trail. What a glorious couple miles that was; but, lest we begin to think that Pennsylvania was going soft on us,  it was no time before we were back in the rocks with a vengeance. To add to the misery, the rain settled into a steady downpour. Ugh. We slowly trudged along for another 6.5 miles in the pouring rain, until we arrived at Delp Spring. This part of the ridge was flat enough to accommodate a few tents, so we decided to stop for the night to rest our poor, battered feet. I set up my tarp to give us a place to prepare our food and hang out out of the pouring rain. There is nothing more miserable than hanging out in a damp tent for several hours waiting for the rain to abate. The tarp at least gave us a dry place to congregate. We thought that most of the people around us had hiked on an additional six miles to the shelter;however, it turns out that they were all behind us and began arriving one by one. When they saw us hanging out under the tarp, they all decided that they were sick of the rain and ready to stop for the day. Pretty soon, we had twelve people under the tarp. It was tight quarters; but, a lot of fun. Everyone was grateful that I was not an ultralight hiker and was willing to hike with a large tarp. They were also very excited about the two King Size dark chocolate candy bars 1st Sgt and I had to share with the group. The rain has finally abated and we are all in our tents or hammocks for the night. We are all hoping for sunny days until we can get out of PA and off these rocks.