Date: 2003-07-15
From: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter

To: Palmerton Jail
Miles today: 17.5

Well, I wound up in the Palmerton jail. Actually, there is a bunch of us hikers here. I'll start the beginning. I woke up realizing the tough day of hiking ahead. My goal was to traverse the other side of Lehigh Gap. The furnaces of Lehigh have sent out so much pollution that the vegetation on the mountain next to it is dead. The trail has to drop down from the long ridge we've been walking to cross the very polluted Lehigh river. The combination makes for hellish landscape that is just bare rocks. If I can climb the other side in the late evening, I will get a great start for tomorrow. I was packed up and hiking before Mr. Pumpy and Niagara stirred. The first few miles flew by, bringing me to a road with a restaurant. I thought about getting a hot meal but it doesn't open until Thursday at 11 am and it was only Tuesday at 9 am. As soon as I started hiking again, the trail got ridiculously rocky. I crossed Knifes Edge and Bear Rocks which are miles of climbing up and down piles of boulders. I think since there are no real mountains in PA they drag you over these rocks just to make it tougher. They really slow you down, but more importantly, they hurt your feet and add risk of injury. I got to the first shelter and the first place to get water. The water was way down the mountain and I decided to go the rest of the way without getting any to save me a trip climbing back up. Next I came upon large bald areas. There were nothing but blueberry bushes as far as the eye could see. These bushes were absolutely heavy with berries. I ate and ate blueberries for hours. I kept trying to hike again, but my eye kept pulling me off the trail again to eat more blueberries. After spending so much time there, there was no way I was going to make it to the other side of the Lehigh Gap. So I planned to stop at the shelter right before. I was filling up with water when Groovy caught up. He asked if I was going to stay at the hostel in town. I said if he was, so was I. We headed off to Palmerton, just north of the gap. At first, Groovy was trying to hitch it, but it was obvious that wasn't going to work. So we started walking the 2 miles. We had to walk against traffic with a very narrow median strip. Soon enough, a guy pulled over going the same way as we were and gave us a ride. We met up with Indiana Slim and went for something to eat. They wanted a beer, so we went to a bar that serves food. There was a good jukebox. We played all the Johnny Cash they had. My burger was absolutely awesome. I began to feel festive so I bought a round of beers and a round of shots. At 11 pm, the bartender said they were closing. We headed up to another bar.   Locals bought us a round of drinks. Groovy doesn't have any pants, just a homemade hiking skirt. He likes to say it is "Groovy Tuesday" and gives people hugs. This actually was taken pretty well by the locals. At 1 am, the bartender said it was time to go again. So we went to the last bar in town for just one more. When we arrove, we were warned that this is a fighting bar. I told Groovy, "No hugs in here." We went in and everyone was pretty drunk. We ordered 3 drafts for 3 dollars. Soon enough, Groovy starts hugging everyone. He gets to a particularly large man and the guy hugs him back. This guy turns out to be the owner. He tells the bartender that hikers only pay 50 cents for drafts, so she sets up another round. Then he buys us a round of shots. He came over and talked to me for awhile. He set us up with yet another round of shots which was all I needed. We staggered, and I really mean staggered, out of there at 3 am. We went back to the hostel which is the old Palmerton jail converted to take hikers. It is really awesome here and they have great showers. I am really going to hurt tomorrow.   Peace,Dutch