Date: 2008-09-09
To: Palmerton, PA
Miles today: 87.5

Waiting out the Severe Thunderstorms to go over the last big rock section in PA...not that there aren't a ton of smaller ones coming up...next update in Duncannon on Saturday while I'm watching the DAWGS play!Unionville, NY - Brink Road Shelter - Day 65 - 843.1 - 869.8 - September 4thAfter a nice breakfast, Mothballs, Stretch, & I headed out for the day - Thanks again to the Mayor & Co. for a great stay. Today's highlights: It was 93 w/ Heat Index over 100. The terrain was fairly flat. There was NO water on the trail and we only could get it at the Park HQ & at the place we had dinner at (a small tavern near the trail). We finished in the dark after dinner. We did over a marathon today!!! First one on the trip! On to the Keystone State tomorrow!Brink Road Shelter - Delaware Water Gap (DWG), PA - Day 66 - 869.8 - 894.6 - September 5thGot up and got out today to put in the miles to PA. The hike itself had some cool views along the ridgeline and the constant breeze today helped the hot temperature. After a nice lunch at the Mohican Outdoor Center, we finished the 10 miles and crossed over the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. The Church hostel here is wonderful and there is a big jazz festival going on this weekend. Thankfully, I got to hear a bit of tonight's music after dinner and resupplying in town. We are supposed to get going again tomorrow, but Hurricane Hanna has other plans for us...we might just take a zero...we'll see...DWG - Zero Day - Day 67 - September 6thAfter contemplating for awhile, Stretch and I decided to take a zero while the Hurricane dumped a ton of much needed rain on the area (Mothballs decided to hike today...whatever). It's our first zero since New Hampshire and was a nice day off during the rain. We also ran into Gritz again, another recent UGA grad hiking the trail SOBO.DWG - Leroy A. Smith Shelter - Day 68 - 894.6 - 914.8 - September 7thGot a late (8:45) start out of DWG, but we were only going 20 today, so we were in no rush. The weather was nice and sunny and not too hot. The leaves are beginning to change color, which is cool. We are now in "Rocksylvania," but it really isn't as bad as people make it out to be. Our speed isn't really slowed too much and my feet don't feel any different at the end of today than normal. I feel as if the whole rocks thing was blown a good bit out of proportion. Other than that, Stretch & I saw a few day hikers, but no thru hikers. All of the views from the ridge are of the farmland below...Palmerton tomorrow!!!Leroy A. Smith Shelter - Palmerton, PA - Day 69 - 914.8 - 930.6 - September 8thWhat a fun day today! We had a short 16 into town today that ended with a 5 mile hike through the Palmerton EPA Superfund site. The zinc smelting up til' 1982 completely destroyed the vegetation on the mountain and now is slowly coming back. After getting lunch, Stretch & I checked into jail in town (the basement of the Borough Hall in town houses hikers), We did catch the last night of the big Palmerton festival and enjoyed music & food in the park...just another one of those cool small town experiences on the trail! Tomorrow's forecast is for rain, but we haven't gotten rained on in so long that it will be good for us tomorrow!Sept. 9th - AM - So far today, we have been waiting for the severe thunderstorms with possible hail, high winds, lightning, and heavy rain to pass by. We think this is especially wise since the beginning section today on our map says "unmaintained, open and exposed." Probably not the best time to go out. We're going to (hopefully) put together 3 giant days Wed, Thurs, & Fri to be able to get into Duncannon for the game Sat. I sure hope we make it! Thanks everyone for reading along...the support really does help out here...the support team/family also deserves some credit for helping me along on the journey...thanks!