Appalachian Trail Northern PA

After returning from my aborted attempt to climb Cho-Oyu in Tibet, and spending a week visiting Mom & Dad in Novato, CA, I took a one-week trip to Southern California, Arizona and Las Vegas to visit friends. In late October, I drove up to Colfax to visit Carolyn & Lauraine and spent a couple days with Ayden, my 2-year old grand nephew. Carolyn and I took Ayden to a pumpkin farm where he enjoyed riding on the tractors. Ayden and I carved a pumpkin together for Halloween and I got a chance to see the house his mom is trying to buy down in Auburn.

I stayed in Novato while my parents went back east to visit family and then I picked them up at the airport when they returned. Paul came for dinner on Saturday, October 27^th and we all drove up to Petaluma to see his new house, which he closes on in a few days. Rick & MaryAnn came by early Sunday morning on their way back to Grass Valley and Dad made us all breakfast.

On Tuesday, October 30^th, I flew American Airlines to New York, and then took a bus from the Port Authority Terminal to Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Arriving around midnight, I walked the last mile down the hill towards the Delaware Water Gap and checked into the Pocono Inn where I had ended my southbound journey on the AT last year. The weather for the next week, at least, looks good so I had set an ambitious goal of trying to reach Harrisburg, 144 miles south, by November 9^th.

I overslept Wednesday morning and did not get out the door until 8:00 AM. The trail out of Stroudsburg climbs 1000-foot Kittatinny Mountain, and then levels off for fifteen miles. I hiked about 2 ½ miles per hour, stopping every two hours to drink. I have two, one-liter containers which I filled with water from the motel, but when that runs out, I will treat stream water with iodine tablets. I saw only two other people on the trail all day. I had planned to hike 20 miles to the Leroy Smith Shelter, one of the log lean-to’s built by various hiking clubs and designed so long-distance, or thru-hikers, don’t have to carry tents. When, however, I reached Wind Gap at the 16 mile point, and saw a motel just 100 meters north of the trail, I succumbed to civilization and checked into The Gateway Motel. After a shower, I walked another mile east to the town of Wind Gap and ate dinner.

Thursday I was up early, determined to make up for the four miles I did not hike yesterday. At 6:30 AM, I checked-out of The Gateway Motel and started hiking. Unfortunately, it was still pitch-black outside and my first task was to climb a 500-foot slope up Blue Mountain. I hiked very slow, but was able to find my way. I had a headlamp buried somewhere in my pack, but felt I could get by without it. It became light enough to hike within 45 minutes and I was able to pick up the pace.

Although many of the trees are loosing their leaves, there is still spectacular color in most areas. I saw a lot of bittersweet, which I have not seen in years. I also passed under a huge nest of hornets, hanging from a branch directly above the trail. There is a possibility of showers in the afternoon today. My goal is to reach Palmerton, 21 miles away, so I hiked as quickly as possible. I only met two people today also, one of who was a hunter. Apparently it is turkey season, so in addition to bears, I need to be wary of hunters. I changed out of my black Windstopper jacket and put on my bright yellow Gore-Tex jacket, which blended in with the leaves.

I was developing blisters on both feet, but there was little I could do about it so I pressed on. I made a wrong turn and lost the trail near the Blue Mountain Ski Area. But the trail maps are quite good and I saw a place I could regain the trail after hiking on service roads for a couple of miles. The AT in Pennsylvania is notoriously rocky, so the opportunity to hike on the road was welcomed. Before Lehigh Gap and the descent into Palmerton, there is a mile plus section along the ridge, which is an absolute moonscape. Fire must have raged through here years ago, but nothing has grown back.

At 3:30 PM I took a side or blue-blazed trail down towards Palmerton. This trail was recommended during inclement weather as the main trail can be treacherous, but it was also a more direct route to the downtown area where I was headed. The trail ended at the Palmerton Recycling Center, which closes at 4:00 PM. As luck would have it, the time was 4:05 and I was now locked inside the compound with a 12-foot barbed wire fence protecting the facility from people who might want to sneak in and steal garbage. I followed the fence for a couple hundred meters and found a place where I could squeeze through.

The road continued for another mile into town where I found the only hotel, The Palmerton Hotel, was fully booked for the night. I thought of calling a taxi to take me seven miles to the next town, but there is no taxi service here. At the library, I discovered that the town has a municipal building where they allow thru-hikers to sleep, for free. So after checking my email, I went to the police station where I was able to gain access to Borough Hall. This facility has bunks for 16 hikers, together with a shower and toilet. I am the only one here and have the place to myself. The only negative is that the building also houses a shooting range so it sounds like there is a war going on in the next room.

I learned that Palmerton was a company town, established by The New Jersey Zinc Company. NJZ was the largest producer of zinc in the world, employing 3000 people in this town. The company donated scores of beautiful brick buildings to the town when they closed operations. One of the bricklayers who helped build the buildings was Jack Kelly, father of Grace Kelly who became Princess of Monaco.

Friday morning I got up and went across the street to do some laundry. There was a pile of dirty hiker towels at Borough Hall, which I also threw in with my stuff to complete a full load. While my laundry was washing, I ate breakfast at the same diner where I had eaten dinner last night. I overheard one of the waitresses tell a customer that someone in town had counted 568 kids that had come to their door for candy on Halloween. I’d like to live in a neighborhood that gets 568 children trick or treating on Halloween.

I had considered staying in Palmerton for a second day to help my blisters heal, but it is perfect hiking weather so I continued on. I waited for the library to open at 10:00 AM so I could send some email, but was hiking by 11:00 AM. It was about a mile back to the trailhead, and then I crossed the Lehigh River and started back up Blue Mountain. I only hiked about eight miles today, stopping at the Bake Oven Knob Shelter for the night. There are three springs here, but all three are dry so I am down to one liter of water. There are also no ‘bear boxes’ to protect food from unwanted intruders, so hopefully, any bears will be more interested in the big pot of meatballs a scout group is cooking about a mile back than my Slim Fast bars.

I did not sleep well at all. At 6:30 AM, I packed up and started again. This being the weekend, there were several groups of people camped in the woods. Even though it was early, I met half a dozen people hiking up the mountain to count hawks. Apparently this is one of the best hawk-watching sites in the country. One guy told me they had counted 20,000 hawks so far this year!

At 10:00 AM, I reached PA Route 309. I had planned to hitchhike three miles down to a store to get water and some food, but there was a restaurant named Blue Mountain Summit just 200 meters from the trail junction. I had seen references to Blue Mountain Summit in my trail guide and on the maps, but I thought it was the summit of Blue Mountain. The restaurant did not open until 11:00 AM, but I went around back, found the owner, and was able to get in early. As I was his only customer, I spoke with Ken for quite some time. For lunch I had onion soup, Philly cheese steak, French fries and six cups of coffee. I was back hiking again by 11:30 AM.

I continued to meet dozens of people along the trail in the afternoon. I counted 15 hawk-counters as well as numerous people camping or hiking for the weekend. My blisters have callused-over, so I can move a little faster. My legs have adjusted to the mileage so I should be back on track by tomorrow.

I hiked an additional twelve miles in the afternoon to Eckville Shelter where I arrived at 5:00 PM. This place is a palace…I had been expecting another lean-to in the woods but this shelter is fully enclosed with six bunks, electricity and a year-round caretaker who lives in the house, which is on the property. Tap water is available and there is a privy, but that is closed for the winter. The caretaker, Mick, told me the AT club in Pennsylvania maintains this shelter, as well as a similar one 35-miles south, where I will be sure to stay in a couple days.

I slept pretty well Saturday night and got up early Sunday to continue hiking. I saw scores of people today. After about eight miles I came to The Pinnacle, an outcropping of rock with a 270-degree view of the valley below for at least 30 miles. The weather was very clear so I took a break here to enjoy the scenery. A fellow hiker reminded me that we had switched to daylight savings time last night, so instead of arriving at Port Clinton at 3:00 PM, I actually got there at 2:00 PM. I checked into The Port Clinton Hotel, only one step above sleeping in the woods, washed out some clothes in the sink, and ate lunch in the restaurant. I could not get a signal on my cell phone and had to hike part way back up the mountain to make an important call. Afterwards, I returned to the hotel, watched some TV and planned my hike for tomorrow. Monday will be my longest day so far, 23 miles so I’ll need to leave early and take very few breaks. I picked up a sandwich at the restaurant which I will eat tomorrow night.

By 6:30 AM on Monday I was up and out of the Port Clinton Hotel. I hiked through the little town, over to the railroad headquarters where the trail steeply ascends Blue Mountain again. I hiked in 2 ½ hour segments separated by water breaks. The weather was great and I felt good. I met a few people along the way but did not stop to chat. As it was, I did not reach the 501 Shelter until well after dark and ended up hiking the last portion with my headlamp.

This is the other fully enclosed shelter maintained by the local hiking club. There are two other hikers here, both US Marines, about 20 years old from Camp Pendleton in California. Their unit is scheduled to deploy to Iraq in December of 2008. They were having a hard time keeping up a 20-mile per day pace, but their packs were larger than mine. The caretaker of the shelter is Ron, who stopped by to say hello when he got home from work as a State Forest Ranger. He told us there were restaurants four miles in either direction on PA Route 501, but the local pizza place, which delivers here, was closed on Mondays. Fortunately I have a sandwich I have been carrying all day so I don’t have to go anywhere.

It rained hard during the night and I was glad the shelter was enclosed. I had considered taking a ‘zero day’ on Tuesday, but by 7:00 AM the rain had stopped and by 8:00 AM I was out the door. I hiked ten miles before lunch, and then took a one-mile detour on PA Route 72 to a restaurant, which was described in my guide. The restaurant had closed years ago, but was now being remodeled as a BBQ restaurant, catering and take-out business. I met the owners, Amy & Oliver, together with their two young sons, who had just finished 1½ pizza and were about to discard the last four pieces, which they graciously offer and I accepted. Their new business, Smoked Lightening BBQ in Swatara Gap, is scheduled to open next week. As I finished the pizza, Amy brought out a plate of pulled-pork, which had just come out of the smoker, so I feasted on that too. To top it all off…Oliver gave me a ride back up to the trailhead. What a great place!

I hiked another six miles in the afternoon including a short time on an old railroad bed to Rausch Gap Shelter where I arrived at 5:00 PM, just as darkness was settling in. I saw a good size buck today, my first real wildlife sighting. This whole area is laced with abandon coalmines.

Wednesday was another long day so I did not waste any time getting started. I have left Blue Mountain now and am onto Sharp Mountain, where I hiked through a rhododendron grove, and then down to Clarks Valley, eleven miles before noon. I am down to my last five energy bars and with no further opportunity to divert to civilization, those will have to last me until tomorrow night. After a short rest in the valley, I climbed Peters Mountain another seven miles to the Peters Mountain Shelter where I would sleep Wednesday night. This shelter is a relatively new two story structure so I rolled-out my sleeping bag upstairs. Although it was only 3 PM, I was quite tired and with nothing else to do, I decided to go to sleep.

It is really getting cold now, particularly at night. I’m thankful that I brought my good sleeping bag. I got up before daylight again, packed and was hiking by 6:30 AM. Today is my last day of hiking and I only have 10 miles to hike to Duncannon, which is the end of section 8. At my first break, I called US Airways to learn that they wanted $240 for a one-way flight from Harrisburg to New York. I took a second break an hour later and learned that AMTRAK can get me from Harrisburg to New York for $47 in three hours so I booked that reservation.

I crossed the Susquehanna River Bridge and walked into Duncannon before noon. I had hiked the 144 miles in 8 ½ days, a little faster than planned and much faster than any of my previous AT hiking trips. Pat and Vickey Kelly at The Doyle Hotel served me a great lunch and although they offered me a place to stay for the night, their rooms have no phones and I still had a poor cell signal now that I was off the mountain, so I found a Days Inn in Harrisburg which their cook drove me to after he got off his shift.

Friday I took a cab to the AMTRAK station in Harrisburg, rode the 8:00 AM train to Penn Station, transferred to the LIRR to JFK where I rented a car and drove to Connecticut. I’ll be here for a week visiting friends before heading to Miami Beach on November 16^th.

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