Date: 2004-05-27
From: Eckville Shelter

To: Lehigh Gap
Miles today: 24.9

Woke to the bustlng of Dad and Mack and rose just before 6am. It was a beautiful morning, nice and cool and we hit the trail by 7:15 with the long day a long shot in our minds.As usual, the day began with a long climb and then leveled out on a rocky ridgeline. We both turned our music on - I put The Clash on repeat in an effort to motivate me uphill. It helped. The rocks soon got to me though - I just get tired of wading through the boulders, making slow progress, and having to divert brain power to planning every step. Tedious, but at least we were rewarded with some excellent views. We hit a road crossing before noon where The Blue Mountain Summit restaurant was located about 0.1 miles west. Already 11.5 miles into our day and hungry, we walked over, dropped our packs and shoes on the porch and headed inside for a real lunch. The staff suggested we sit on the patio (since we are after all dirty hikers) but the place was nearly empty so we grabbed a table in the air conditioned dining room instead. We figured they could serve us and still manage a 3 foot radius if they tried. Food was good - but by that point anything that doesn't come in a sealed pouch and require adding water would have qualified as gourmet. Service was mediocre - there's no more Southern hospitality in the north. We were once again just grubby, stinky hikers - not good willed free-spirits of the trail.We sat outside for a few after lunch and I developed an unexpected stomach ache that would stay with me for the next few hours. So in addition to us feeling tired and unmotivated, I was in some serious discomfort and trying to decide whether it was food poisioning or giardia (it was neither). At least it distracted me from my feet. Despite the protests of every fiber in our beings, we hit the trail again by 1:15 with about 13 miles to go. Neither one of us thought we were going to make it.Music kept me plodding along and I think I managed to hit a huge chunk of the albums on my Ipod. I even threw on albums I hadn't listened to in years and found myself enjoying the memories they evoked. Some were from my days in Boston, others reminded me of shows I had seen and people I have met, and some brought back specific moments in time. Out here my head mostly lives in the past or contemplates the possibilities of the future but my moments in the present are fleeting. It's not a bad thing because I've managed to steer clear of any bad neighborhoods in my mind and often whatever I'm thinking about puts a smile on my face.We hit the next shelter around 3:30ish and stopped to get water at the stream which was a good hike downhill from the shelter (hate that). We rested for awhile and I planted another seed of thought in Semi-Joy's head. We were shooting to hit a shelter about 0.7 miles shy of Lehigh Gap and I suggested that if we were feeling up to it we press on into Lehigh Gap and hitch a ride into Palmerton where hikers can stay for free in the basement of the old city hall, rumored to have the best shower on the entire AT. The thought of a shower was all of the motivation I needed - it has been way too hot not to shower every few days and my skin was salty, rashy, and irritated. We mulled it over a bit and decided to see how we felt. It was about 7.5 miles to the Gap and we were both still feeling pretty sluggish and not anticipating arrival until at least 7pm or so - a 12 hour hiking day. We plodded on.The reward was worth it. In the final stretch of the day we came across Gentle Ben who was slackpacking from Eckville Shelter. His girlfriend was waiting for him at the gap and he offered us a ride to town. We glad ly accepted and I have to admit - by this time my feet were killing me but my mind was on a shower and there was just no stopping me. We hit Palmerton around 7:30 or so, ate dinner, and found the old city hall. Embarrassingly we couldn't find the entrance to the hall and the doors we checked were locked so we spent a good potrion of the evening scouting for and trying to call the local police to open the doors and let us in. Turns out we simply overlooked the correct door, which was unlocked the entire time. I had heard that this place used to be the old jail so I think I was expecting to be able to pick out my own cell and cot or something. I was disappointed though - just a big basement with hiker bunks. We rolled in around 9pm and were greeted by 5 other hikers there getting ready for bed. Since they were almost at lights out I decided to forgo the shower for the night and just set up my bunk and sat outside journaling. A wicked thunderstorm moved in around 9:30 and I was grateful to be sleeping indoors for the night. Funny, I used to be a bit jumpy around thunder and lightning and although you won't ever find me sitting under a power tower during a storm I've become somewhat of a junkie for their thrill. Especially being able to be outside yet sheltered as they blow through - kinda like the thrill of being in your car as it drives through the car wash. Unless no one else gets a kick out of that but me. But now I see a storm brewing and I think bring it on.Pulled my boots of to reveal feet that looked like they underwent some sort of chemical peel. Plus five new blisters (to be added to the previous 4) courtesy of the new boots. I hate this part of the day - walking on blistered feet is awful but sometimes lancing and cleaning them is even worse (I use the term cleaning lightly - I sterilize the needle and then try not to rub dirt the blisters. No actual cleaning is done). I spend the mornings wrapping my feet in gauze and duck tape and spend the evenings marveling at the damage that remains after I pull all of the tape off. I can't seem to win here. My feet never get a rest and they never seem to have enough time to really dry out - only a few hours at night. And they're certainly not getting any better, they're getting worse. OK - I admit that the 25 mile day didn't help, but I think I have been in denial as to how bad the situation is. Feet are busted, hit, junked, wrecked, and my toes look like little red sausages. Worst part is I have no one to blame but myself.