Three Months

On Saturday (6-18) I reached Baked Oven Knob (a big rock pile, really) by mid-morning.  Other hikers and I complained about the poor signage.  I fell once on some rocks but I remembered what Swamp Dawg told me, "If you are falling, fall on the backpack.  It will absorb the shock."  I did just that and I was fine.  I was met on the trail near Palmerton by Hardy and Elke Kaffenberger from Kennett Square, PA.  I met them on my US Western National Park Grand Circle Tour in May of 2010.  They drove 1 1/2 hours just to get to the trail.  After they took me to dinner, I was back to hiking at 5:30 PM.  The highlight of my day is seeing friends along the way.  I climbed a very treacherous rock face leaving Palmerton.  The AT Guide Book says it's among the most challenging on the AT south of New Hampshire.  I fully agree--it is not for the faint of heart.  It is a long, very rocky, and an extremely steep climb.

I finished hiking at 8:30 PM and hiked 15.0 miles.  Sunday (6-19) I was back to hiking at 7 AM.  By mid-morning I was out of water.  I expected to hike a mile into a town to get water.  Just before the road I would have hiked on to get into town, there were two cousins camping.  I asked if they had any water.  They gave me two liters which they didn't need because they were packing up to go home.  They saved me a lot of time so they were a big blessing.  I had lunch on a flat rock and napped 1 hour and 20 minutes!  One of my longer naps happened on a giant boulder!  I must have been really tired.

I had dinner at Leroy Smith Shelter and pushed on another 3 1/2 miles before finishing at 7:30 PM.  I hiked 16.5 miles.  On Monday (6-20) I had plans to meet a new friend.  I didn't know how long I needed to hike to reach Route 33 which goes to Wind Gap, PA so I began at 6 AM.  I was meeting Jerry Lehman who I met 6 weeks ago while he was section hiking in VA.  He drove about an hour to meet up with me again and help me out.  After breakfast he drove me to the Verizon store, the laundromat, and the grocery store.  I had to buy a new cell charger at Verizon because the old one wasn't working.  It was great visiting with him and I appreciate him carting me around so I could do my errands.  After leaving Jerry, I hiked from 11:15 AM-7:45 PM and tented at the Presbyterian Church of the Mountain Hostel.  I went 16.6 miles.  After 91 days of hiking, I am averaging 14.1 miles a day and have gone about 1,300 miles.  Slowly but surely, I'll keep plugging away.