Samwise Hikes the Appalachian Trail! - Trail Journal -
	Home	| Updates	| Map	| Journal	| Photos	| Resources	| FAQ

July 17, Campsite - mile 1256

Wow I got here just in the nick of time tonight. I pushed on a couple miles past the shelter so that my mileage tomorrow is short enough to get into town at a decent hour, but I was racing a thunderstorm the whole way. It was just beginning to get worrisome when I finally spotted a camp site just off the trail that didn't have so many rocks.,so I sprinted to get the tent set up before the rain hit. I was only inside about 5 minutes when the wind hit & the sky got dark & the rain poured, & I smiled to myself with the pleasure of being dry & safe inside.

Well, I successfully make it through the big daddy of rock climbs today, aka Lehigh Gap. The mountain rising out of the gap is nothing but a huge jumble of boulders, & our job as hikers is to crawl, twist, climb & pull ourselves up over them for a mile. It's the first (and hopefully only!) time it took me an hour & a half to go one mile. I started out half an hour ahead of everyone else at the shelter, because I am so slow, & they all caught me less than a quarter mile up. By then, it was a group effort to get up - with each person stopping to watch & help the next person behind them to get up the rock that had just climbed, pointing out good foot holes & hand holds & hanging on to their trekking poles until they got up. We were so fortunate to have perfect weather for it, too. Although a brief thunderstorm passed through in the wee morning hours. the wind had dried all the rocks by the time we got there, and yet it was still cloudy so that the sun didn't burn us all up. All said & done, it was actually a good bit of fun,. thought I probably would have enjoyed it more without the big pack on. The views all the way up here were incredible, even if a bit depressing. The town of Palmerton in the valley used to have a zinc smelting plant which has totally & completely polluted & destroyed the surrounding countryside. It's depressing to look down at the hillsides, which are stripped of greenery & nothing but dry, barren rock.

To my amazement, it got even worse as we walked along the ridge on top of the mountain. surrounding us on both sides were thousands of dead, whitened trees on the ground, which itself was a terrible, unnatural whitish color. Everything is dead from the pollution of the zinc plant. However, a few things here & there are starting to grow - some trees, some blueberries & so on. I was reminded of Ezekiel's dream of the valley of dry bones. Our guidebook compares it to the Badlands, but personally, I think the Badlands are far more beautiful than that mess.

The rest of the day has simply been rocks & more rocks. We did have to hike a 16 mile stretch that had no water, so everyone packed a gallon this morning & it seems we've all made it without problems. The spring at the shelter was a half-mile trek, too, but at least it was flowing well due to all the rain we've had this year. So I filled up there, cooked dinner & then moved on a bit - and now I'll have only 18 miles into Delaware Water Gap tomorrow.

July 18, Delaware Water Gap, PA - mile 1273.7
(Church of the Mountain 'Hostel')

What a day it's been! My last day in Pennsylvania & my last day of the "PA rocks" & they finally wore me down! Not only did I take my first fall on them. but also my second! While I was climbing over Wolf Rocks, supposedly the last of the rocks in PA, I first did a face plant & smacked both knees very well, & later I took a really proper tumble over several rocks & scraped a lot of skin off my shin. Of course, I also had an audience for that one & they were quite aghast at the blood flowing down my leg. But it's not really too serious - some skin off & some bruising but it should heal soon. I had just enough gauze pads in my first aid kit to cover everything up, & then I finished the 9 miles into town.

As I got closer to town, I realized I could make the post office before it closed at 4:45, if I hurried. I decided to try, even though it wasn't crucial to get there today, it's still very nice to get the mail drop as soon as possible & get it sorted out. The last hill into town was a paved road, so steep, I actually found myself "jogging" down it. something I've never done with my pack on. Quite an experience! And I got to the PO with 15 minutes to spare.

- - [click the photo for a closer image] - -

I was hiking on & off today with Underdog & we ran into a rattlesnake on the trail, the first one I've seen so far on the A.T. It wasn't huge & it never rattled at us, since we took our pictures from a safe distance & then just waited patiently from a safe distance while he slowly slithered off to the side. A lot of hikers have been seeing snakes lately - often of the poisonous variety.

Tonight I'm cozily set up in a hostel run by the Church of the Mountain here in town. It is such a fabulous place! Everyone here is so welcoming & friendly, there's a bunkhouse here inside, plus an overflow shelter out back & plenty of tent space on the lawn. I've already thoroughly enjoyed my hot shower (towel provided too, WOW!) gone to the diner with a few other fellows who got in today, stopped by the bakery afterwards for an eclair & called Tony. He even said he might come on up to visit tomorrow night - on the spur of the moment. I had not expected any more visits, but I guess I'm still within 4 hours driving distance, & as long as he has Friday off, he may as well come on up! We left it open for now, though, & I'll call in the morning to see for sure.