Date: 2018-10-21
From: Stealth Site near Palmerton at 927.7

To: PA RT 309 - Blue Mountain Summit B&B
Miles today: 18.0

I set my alarm for 5:30 this morning, but, because I¢d fallen asleep at about 7, I was wide awake at 12:50 AM. I read for a while and played Sudoku on my phone and eventually fell back to sleep. At 5:30, I got coffee and breakfast going from the comfort of my sleeping bag. This is a dry stealth site, so I used some of the two liters I carried from the ski lodge yesterday.  It had rained a bit overnight and continued to drizzle now and again as I went through my morning routines. At 7:45, Tommyhawk and I donned our packs and bid adieu to Guru and Mega who were just beginning to stir in their hammocks. From our stealth site, we passed by the Palmerton Super Fund site. Beginning in 1912, Palmerton was the location of zinc smelting plants whose smokestacks belted our large quantities of heavy metals for decades. The result: the portion of blue mountain above Palmerton was completely defoliate. Palmerton was added to the list of EPA Superfund sites in 1983. Revegetation of over 3000 acres of Blue Mountain began in the 1990s and is continuing. Three miles of the AT weee relocated from the ridge of Blue Mountain and currently pass above Palmerton on very smooth trail below the ridge. As we walked this portion of the trail, we could see skeletons of trees that had been dead for a long time, but we could also see that trees and other plants were making a comeback. Hopefully, the comeback will be complete in a couple generations or so, though I suspect it will be a few hundred years at least before drinking water from these hills is safe.After passing the Superfund site, the AT descends rapidly and rocking to the Lehigh River. Thanks to Tommyhawk who captured today¢s photo of me near the top of this descent. Note the perfect hiker form and no butt crack - let alone butt. The descent was nothing in comparison to many of the steep, rocky descents of Maine and New Hampshire. Though technical in a few spots - meaning I tossed my hiking pole down and climbed down backwards - the tough portion of the trail was short and lasted less than 10 or 15 minutes.Once we were down in Lehigh Gap, we crossed the river and ascended back to the ridge. There was little elevation gain or loss for the rest of the day. We lunched at Bake Oven Knob Shelter. There were a lot of day hikers out, it being a beautiful, though windy, October Sunday afternoon, and there were also a number of bird watchers. As cool as it was (temperatures in the forties) we did see a small snake and a box turtle today. I neglected to get a photo of the snake. It was moving very slowly, and both a Tommyhawk and I picked it up. I thought at first that it was a baby rattlesnake. I did get a good photo and video of the turtle.  There were a few rocky patches during today¢s hike - especially around the Knifes Edge - but nothing to complain much about. As Tommyhawk put it, everything up north has prepared us for Pennsylvania rocks. The Salomon X Ultra boots that I bought back in Lincoln, NH at about mile 390 were good for about 400, maybe 450 miles. For the last 100 miles, the soles provided very little protection from whatever I¢m stepping on and the uppers have really fallen apart in the last week. Water from the wet grass that we walked through along the trail above Palmerton soaked through to my socks in no time because of tears in the upper shoe material and seams.After the Knife¢s Edge, the trail was smooth and flat, and I felt my late afternoon energy surge coming on. We made it to the PA RT 309 by four, and I said goodbye to Tommyhawk who was pressing on to a shelter 4 miles further. Hopefully, I¢ll be able to catch up to him in a few days.  The Blue Mountain Summit B&B is easily visible from the trailhead at PA RT 309. Though officially closed, I had spoken to the owner Bruce when I called last weekend, and he accepted my reservation and was expecting me when I arrived. I left my backpack just inside the front door of the restaurant and watched football for several hours. Bruce was redoing the men¢s room, but checked on me from time to time and refilled my beer glass as I watched the Washington Redskins narrowly defeat the Dallas Cowboys thanks to a missed Dallas field goal with no time left on the clock. For dinner, I ate a delicious Italian sub from Whole Foods that Bruce¢s wife Karen picked up for me. After the game, I took a nice hot bath - which I haven¢t done in ages. It was well passed hiker midnight, and I was so relaxed that I fell asleep in the tub.  Today was a very good day.