Date: 2006-07-10
From: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter

To: Palmerton, Jailhouse hostel
Miles today: 17.4

It has been a long day, complicated by poor judgment on my part toward the evening, but all worked out well in the end. The result was I walked 20 miles including a 2.5 mile off-trail road walk.I started packing about 7:00am after my beauty sleep, and had everything in the pack except the tent by about 8:15am. The tent dried off pretty well by then except for the footprint, so I kept it stretched on the poles and packed up the rest of the tent. I took the ground cloth up by the shelter to dry in the sun, and ate my breakfast there while perusing the register and adding my entry. By then the footprint was dry. I finished packing the tent and then needed to visit the privy. I was finally off at 9:00am. So much for an early start.My first stop at about 10:45am was at Blue Mountain Summit at PA309. The restaurant was closed, so I ate half of yesterday's trail magic power bar as a snack to tide me over to lunch. Lunch was at "The Cliffs", a formation of rocks requiring hands and feet to surmount. From the top there was a great view. I had lunch while drying my sweat-soaked shirt and kilt in the sun. There was a nice breeze to keep the gnats away and some shade, so it was an enjoyable spot. By noon I had completed 7 of today's 17 plus miles.During the afternoon there were several additional boulder fields to maneuver through. They slowed me down a bit and wore me out, so I took a break at a parking lot where locals could park climb to Bake Oven Knob, another rocky overlook commanding a great view. I was surprised I had reached it as soon as I had at about 2:00pm. That would put me at Lehigh Gap about 5:30pm, which is when I got there. I took two additional breaks during the afternoon.I had planned to go to what Wingfoot lists as "Fine Lodging" in Slatington, PA about 2-1/2 miles south of the gap, as they supposedly shuttled hikers in and out. It turned out I got the answering machine. I left a message but there was no call back for 30 minutes. My mistake in judgment came when I yogied a ride in from the young man who was doing an AT traffic survey for the national park service, without first having a confirmed place to stay. When I got to "Fine Lodging", it turned out to be anything but "fine" for the price they were asking, and there was no one in attendance. After waiting until about 7:00pm, I decided to try to hitch to Palmerton. I had absolutely no luck, and it was after 8:00pm when I got back to Lehigh Gap. To be fair, the owner did call back while I was hoofing it back to the gap, but, of course, my cell phone was off to save battery. Moral of story: do not go into Slatington or anywhere else away from the trail if you don't have a confirmed place to stay!As it was late and I was out of water, I had no choice except to begin to climb the .7 mile, 600' ascent southbound to the nearest water source and shelter that I'd passed on my way into the gap. Just after starting up, I ran into John and Susie Bednar with Traildog, who had hiked up to the shelter with apples for whoever was there. They were coming down with them as there was no one there. I struck up a conversation and they offered me a couple of apples and then offered to take me to the Jailhouse hostel here. John is a scoutmaster and was curious to see the hostel, since he often recommended it to hikers. I guess the trail magic he and Susie were doing was not a one-time thing. Anyhow, thanks to John and Susie, I got here in time to get a restaurant meal including 2 real milkshakes, to resupply, and to register with the police as an official hostel guest -- all before the 10:00pm hostel curfew. The place had trail magic of cold drinks and snacks, decent bunks, and a great hot shower which I enjoyed immensely. There was also a great hiker box. Hiker boxes are where hikers put stuff they don't want or need for someone else to take. I did get a few things from it. The hostel is maintained as a community service by the local scout troop. Kudos to them and to Palmerton Borough.Also here are Cornbread, SheBear and LoneWolf. We have a shuttle out of town at 7:00am tomorrow so, for a change, I'll be getting an early start. Plus it'll be nice to be climbing back up Blue Mountain in the cool of the morning. It's a barren, moonscape devoid of vegetation due to the zinc smelter that operated here for many years.On! On!