We woke up and started out on the Trail, full of excitement because a good friend, Tom, who was currently living in Allentown was coming out to meet us. He said he'd drive to Palmerton in the early morning and hike out and meet us somewhere along the way to hike back to Palmerton. The terrain was very flat, but rocky again in some places. After a few hours of hiking we had to carefully maneuver over some large rock cliffs, using our hands to keep safe. Sooner than I'd expected, a familiar shirt and face emerged down the Trail. We greeted each other with hugs and Tom gave us some fruit, granola bars, and powerades for a snack. He had a small backpack and had passed out a lot of these items to other thruhikers he passed along the way. Tom offered to help us slackpack by strapping Nepsis' backpack to his back and mine to his front. We thoroughly enjoyed hiking the next few miles without our backpacks and catching up with Tom the whole way. The time went by a lot faster. We had to climb over a few more rock cliffs along the way and down the steep mountain, and across Lehigh River to a parking lot where Tom drove us to Palmerton, which was a mile and a half from the Trail. We checked in to the Jail House Hostel at the police station. The town lets hikers stay in the basement of the borough office for free. It was never really used a jail and was nothing fancy. It was just a bunch of crude, wooden bunks in two large rooms with concrete floors. But it was free and there wasn't even a suggested donation or even a donation box like most other free hostels we've stayed at. The town was very nice and after getting delicious ice cream at Claude's Creamery and showering, Tom took us out to One Ten Tavern for dinner where we enjoyed a great meal. Tom then took us shopping and bought our groceries for our resupply. A couple of friendly, old locals recommended we go to the park for a free concert during the day. When Tom asked one lady what kind of music the band played, she told us all kinds. So after dropping off our groceries back at the hostel and being joined by another hiker, Soleil, we headed over to the park. Once there we found hundreds of spectators and probably ninety-five percent of them were over the age of fifty. The band was playing polka and we sat near a small wooden bridge where an old couple were dancing with enviable vigor. They were fun to watch while the band moved from polka to oldies and old television theme songs. Then they weirdly played Robin Thicke's hit song from last summer. Tom and Soleil danced for a bit, but after awhile we had to bid farewell to Tom. He generously gave us more money to go toward new shoes since one of mine was starting to fall apart. After he was gone we hung out for a bit at the park where there was wifi and I posted a blog. We then went to sleep back at the hostel.
Miles hiked today: 18 Total AT miles completed: 1253.9 Total AT miles left to hike: 931.4
Day 97
We woke up and went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast before heading over to the library which opened at ten where I was going to blog some more, but got distracted. We didn't stay long because we'd have to get going to make it to the shelter we planned to stay at before dark. We ate a big lunch at a local cafe where a couple of locals asked us about thruhiking. Before they left, two of the men came over and one handed us a five dollar bill and the other a twenty. Palmerton was definitely one of the top two friendliest trail towns we'd been to so far, not only for this gesture of kindness, but because the hostel was free and many locals stopped to talk to us or at least say hi. After grabbing a chocolate milkshake for dessert we walked out of the town to the Superfund Trail that led back to the AT. Soon after getting back on the Trail we had to do some serious climbing up and over these large brown rocks. We had to use our hands so much that we collapsed our trekking poles and strapped them to my pack. The climbing was really fun, and the views down to the surrounding towns and river were incredible. Once we made it to the top, the going was very easy, but still rocky in places. We had left town a bit too late though and it started to get dark before we were at the shelter. We tried to hurry, but soon enough it was dark. We didn't know how far away we were from the shelter, but we pressed on with our headlamp on. We don't like getting to shelters after dark because the shelter is more likely to be full and we'd probably bother other hikers who are trying to sleep as we set up our sleeping gear and eat dinner. Thankfully, we were closer than we thought and we made it to Leroy A. Smith Shelter before it was completely dark. And it was empty so we could be as loud as we wanted before going to sleep!
Miles hiked today: 15.5 Total AT miles completed: 1269.4 Total AT miles left to hike: 915.9
Day 98
We began the day with some flat, yet rocky terrain. About halfway through the day the terrain was still flat and rocky in places. At one point the grip of my trekking pole detached from the rest of the pole. I still could use it sometimes if I held it up by keeping a finger or two on the very top of the pole, but it was annoying and didn't really work for too long, especially going downhill. Eventually, we made the gradual descent into Delaware Water Gap, a small town the Trail crossed into. We found the Church of the Mountain Hostel where we could spend the night for a small donation. In the small bunkroom in the basement of the church we found Oconee fast asleep. We took showers and greeted Oconee when he woke up with hugs. On his recommendation, we went to the Sycamore Grill which was more of an upscale dining experience than we usually get on the Trail. It was a bit weird being there in smelly hiking clothes and crocs when everyone else was more dressed up, but it seemed like they were familiar with hikers coming here, especially since there was only a few dining options in the town. I looked up shoes online and found the ones I wanted for a cheap price so decided to have them sent to a friend in New York City who we would visit in a few days. I just hoped my shoes could hold up until then. We were very satisfied with our food and went back to the hostel to figure out the plan for the next few days. We had to plan our days further than usual because we wanted to make it to NYC for the fourth of July. It was hard to get to sleep in the small, hot, and cramped bunkroom, especially since an older hiker was ill.
Miles hiked today: 20.2 Total AT miles completed: 1289.6 Total AT miles left to hike: 895.7
Day 99
I got up very early, despite not getting very much sleep. I went into the common room and read a magazine and soon after Nepsis came out too. After a bit, we walked to a gas station to buy a few food items. We decided to wait for the recommended, local bakery to open at eight o'clock for breakfast. We walked over right when it opened and bought some delicious pastries for breakfast and bread and a small jar of chocolate-cherry jam to take with us on the Trail. We packed up and didn't get on the Trail until nine o'clock which was late, considering we planned on a long day of hiking.When Nepsis tried to find some tape in the hostel to try to fix my trekking pole she found someone had left a pair of broken trekking poles by the hiker box. One was very broken, but the other was only broken in that the top section would not collapse. So I swapped out my pole with this one since it was a little better. We crossed out of town over the Delaware River on a long bridge with lots of cars and trucks zooming past. Once over the bridge we were out of Pennsylvania and in New Jersey. We were excited to be here because a thruhiker who had also thruhiked a couple years back and a local of Palmerton both told us that as soon as we got into New Jersey the rocks would be gone. After crossing the bridge, past a visitor center, and back into the woods, we started a slow ascent back into the mountains. We were surprised to find rocks. There weren't as much as in Pennsylvania, but certainly enough to be considered rocky. We hiked past Sunfish Pond and further a couple of miles until we reached a side trail that led us to the Mohican Outdoor Center where we decided to stop to eat our lunch inside and to use their wifi. We spent a couple of hours there waiting for a big storm that was supposed to come through. It didn't come, but the weather report kept saying it was about to come. Since we were both so tired from not getting enough sleep the night before and wanted to escape the storm, we finally decided just to spend the night here. We bought some sandwiches for dinner and headed over to the cabin which was large and super nice and clean. Only two other hikers spent the night there and we all had separate rooms with mattresses. Since we hiked so little we decided to wake up early and hike our biggest day tomorrow.
Miles hiked today: 10.8 Total AT miles completed: 1300.4 Total AT miles left to hike: 884.9
Day 100
We woke up to our watch alarm, packed up, and left, ready for the thirty-three mile day. We felt great the first few miles and it was pretty easy going. Unfortunately, it had rained the night before and the brush beside the Trail was pretty thick and definitely still wet so we got pretty wet. Our shoes and socks especially were totally soaked. After awhile the terrain became a little less easy and our feet began to hurt since they were so wet. We moved slowly, especially me since I was still a little tired and half of the bottom of my shoe came off and kept tripping me up. Our morale dropped lower and lower and we kept taking breaks. When we were almost out of water we stopped by a brook to fill up. When I dipped our bottle in we discovered the water was orange. Even though this wasn't too horrible, it was kind of like the last straw. We hiked on a bit further to a shelter a bit off the Trail to rest for awhile and get more water. We decided to abandon our plan, but I was too tired of making plans so I gave Nepsis the guide book and asked her to come up with a new plan. She came up with a plan that only put us a day behind my plan, but didn't have so many big milage days like my plan did. After resting at the shelter entirely too long we got back to hiking, reinvigorated by knowing we didn't have to go so far today and the following days. We hiked up Sunrise Mountain where there was a pavilion and some views and on to Mashipacong Shelter where we spent the night, happy to come to the end of a bad day, and happy to have a new plan.
Miles hiked today: 26.4 Total AT miles completed: 1326.8 Total AT miles left to hike: 858.5
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