August 31, 2015 by Kylena

AT – VA Rt 601 to 2nd Parking Area South of Sky Meadows SP

Riveting title don’t you think. 😉

Started early last Saturday (before the Labor Day Weekend) …Sidekick Pauli in tow. We had the whole day to hike! I found the Rt.601 parking lot without difficulty, but wow! what a drop off into the parking lot! I switched out my sandals for hiking boots, grabbed extra water for Pauli, then headed down the blue blaze towards the AT. Heads up, people, the heat was back in town!

Left turn onto the AT, then in about 0.2 of a mile we were cross Rt. 50, a major highway, which thankfully was pretty quiet this morning. Sidekick Pauli was already in tongues out mode as you can see in the pic below!

On the trail just after cross Rt. 50.

The trail hugged Rt. 50 climbing gently until reaching the parking area on Liberty Hill Road. Afterwards, the climb becomes more steep, but not unreasonable so. I had plans to take the Old Trail (the old AT) up the hill and AT back down the hill. I had never taken the Old Trail and had conjured up a trail that was overgrown, filled with briers and ticks, with a faint path leading through it. I pictured faint or non-existent blazes on the trees…and quite honestly, I imagined getting lost!

The Old AT!

I could not have been more wrong. The Old Trail is marked clearly and often with purple blazes and the trail is pristine! What a nice surprise. The only part I didn’t like was the multitude of spider webs spanning the trail. Goodness, I must have taken twenty little spiders hiking with me…and their webs were in my hair, on my pack, everywhere.

A calm ascent up this little hill before the real heat of mid-day set in. Butterflies owned the pipeline where wildflowers were abundant.

Then it was back into the woods for a short stretch before we reached the AT. We were now in Sky Meadows State Park proper.

New colorful signs are replacing the old standard brown and white. I allowed myself a moment of nostalgia looking down at the classic brown and white sign that had been tossed to the side, then admired the brightly colored new trail marker with improved information.

We turned right, then took a nice sit down break at the intersection of the North Ridge trail. It is a proper resting spot with a bench! Sidekick Pauli crawled underneath finding a cool spot to rest and to keep a watchful eye on anyone coming up the trail. 🙂 My traildog!

The plan was to continue south to the first parking lot off the Thompson Wildlife Management Area. This would allow an easy starting point to continue this section at a later date. The PATC map showed Orchard Parking to be about another 0.7 miles, not too far.

I passed an overgrown path to the right and thought, “If this were Indiana, that would probably be the trail”…snarky I am at times…

After a while, I was more suspect that the overgrown path had indeed been the trail to Orchard parking, as I was not finding any other paths to take. I finally came upon a little sign with a tent symbol and, hallelujah! A PATC trail maintainer! I talked with him a bit and confirmed that I had passed the trail to Orchard parking. So, time to turn around and head back to route 601, this time following the AT through Sky Meadows.

It was such a beautiful day, and I was in no hurry since earlier in my hike I had dodged a huge bee…lost my footing, and fell, cracking my kneecap on a rock. Surprisingly, while it was plenty painful, enough endorphins were flooding the area to keep it manageable!

I was ever so pleased to get to blue blaze that took me back to my car!

Hobble…I mean, Hike on!

August 6, 2015 by Kylena

A Bone to Pick With My Hiking Stick

I am not a thin, svelte, or overtly sporty human. I did not play sports in high school…and quite honestly, was pretty intimidated by the whole team sports thing. I was in marching band…in Texas…and while you could argue that is a team sport…I won’t.

I am the girl who walks into walls because I am thinking. The girl who had a bag of crackers in one hand and a book in the other.

As a teen did I Walk? …Yes, to the Ice House to get a pack of Marlboro 100s, then to the Dairy Queen for a dipped cone. Walk? Yes, into the woods by my house with my friend Stephanie, Charles, and Michael to …yes, smoke…but also to make trails, to follow trails already made, and to escape.

Why am I bringing all this up?

Because as I look at hiking groups I see two types of hiking groups for women: 1) You are a sporty person and 2) you are not a sporty person.

Here is what pisses me off the most. I am not a sporty person and I am a self-proclaimed chunk…but I love to hike. When I first started hiking, I struggled to go three miles. But I do like a challenge and now I can hike up to fifteen pretty easily…but I am still a chunk.

Google & Me (BoobOnARock). I am the one embracing the chunky. 🙂 Oh, and I gave that smoking shit up long ago. It is just a slow suicide, not worth it!!

I don’t like it when hiking groups patronize us chunky women (and maybe the chunky guys out there get this too). We don’t all want to stick to the easy hikes. Schedule a variety of hikes so your group can “grow” hikers in an environment that is supportive. Don’t give in to your underlying assumptions that fat girls can’t hike or fat girls don’t want to do anything remotely physically taxing. Knock it off with offering hikes that ensure we don’t skin our fucking knees, cause bitches, we can bleed with the best of them!

Rant done! Hike On!! 🙂

July 19, 2015 by Kylena

Big Meadows Never Disappoints!

Big Meadows, in Shenandoah National Park, is a place that is as much spiritual as it is physical. From a picture or a drive by in the car it may just look like another big field. It is so much more.

Big Meadows

We set off Friday morning with the dogs to wander around this area before the throng of weekenders descended.

It is probably best to forgo a heavy regimented hiking plan in this area. There is no map for the meadow, and we usually just kind of wander around, feet following our “oh!” and “ahhh!” moments. This doesn’t mean there are not any trails. There are MANY trails, all made by deer as they criss-cross the meadow in what seems a haphazard, confusing fashion. Once on a trail and fully immersed in the meadow it begins to make sense as our feet find our own crooked, nonsensical route to happiness. 🙂

Since the dogs were with us today and we wanted to avoid the ticks, if possible, we walked down the road to Rapidan to the trail head for Stony Mountain trail, then back. We think it was about 4.5 – 5 miles in total.

Little Caesar with Farmdog Jett & Sidekick Pauli

Taking a road like this one is deceptive because even though it seems flat, it is descending. On a previous hike, we walked up this road from Rapidan, Hoover’s camp…and it was six miles of not so fun! 😉

Today, however, with a bit of fog rolling over the trail from time to time, was quite pleasant.

Walking down the road to Rapidan

The road has some hairpin turns! The trail head for Stony Mountain trail is located just off of the first big hairpin turn. This was our turn around point.

The first big hairpin turn, along with Little Caesar and Farmdog Jett.

On the way back up I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to the road, having drifted off into la-la land. All of the sudden, I was looking down on a rattlesnake! Both Sidekick Pauli and myself jumped, then skittered over to the other side of the road, while I was yelling “Holy Crap-a rattlesnake”!! Once a safe distance away, I asked aloud, really more to myself, “Why no rattle? Why did he not warn us?” then as I took another look figured out he was probably dead. I wasn’t going to prod him to check it out, but I was pretty sure. I snapped a picture and moved on.

Looking at the picture later, I confirmed that he had to be dead. Still…what a shocker! I kept to the middle of the road after that!!! 🙂

The best reason, in my opinion, to visit Shenandoah right now in the middle of hot, hot summer are the wild flowers and the fungi! These made climbing back up the road not so bad. We were also lucky to have that rolling fog which kept us cool throughout our hike.

Wildflowers! And a Fungi!

The fog greeted us as we left the woods and made our way back across the meadow.

An everchanging landscape…brightly sunny to dramatically foggy.

In the meadow, hike on!

Myterious? Melancholy? Fog settles over Big Meadows

July 11, 2015 by Kylena

Morning Stroll at Antietam Battlefield

I understand, I think, why the battlefields are made for auto traffic…but to really get a sense of what a Civil War soldier might have felt you might want to get out of the car and walk. I only say “get a sense” because there is no way for me (with no battle experience) to really understand on any level what a soldier, who is carrying all his stuff, wearing a wool uniform, eating whatever is in the ration can, and who might be miles away from home, is going to feel lugging himself through some muggy, hot farm field in Maryland to fight in a war he may or may not understand.

When I began my walk this morning on Rodman Avenue (just off Route 34 east of Sharpsburg, MD), it was a pleasant 75 degrees. Probably about the same temperature on September 17, 1862, the bloodiest one day battle in American history. 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing at Antietam…wrap your head around that number.

Walking down Rodman Avenue

Along the road, are monuments, similar to Gettysburg. If in a car, there is no place to park along Rodman Avenue or even pull over in order to get out and read the about the monument…of course this is why they have a podcast…so one will NEVER, EVER, have to get out of the car. Great for those who truly need it, but come on America, many of us are able to get out and walk!! Um…okay, I’ll stop now.

Colonel Benjamin C. Christ – Monument to the 50th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry (1st Brigade, 1st Division, 9th Corps)

It is beautiful walking up the road. To the left are views of the mountains and Sherrick Farm and to the right are meadows blooming with wildflowers. It is an easy road walk and this morning it was pretty quiet. The birds chattered and flitted from the field to the meadow and back again, sometimes resting on the fence line before taking off again. There was a nice breeze, but I could feel the humidity bullying its way in and knew in a few hours this walk would be unbearable.

Good Morning Mountains!

Bucolic Sherrick Farm

The fields were already heating up so I decided to hike those first, then dip down towards Antietam Creek. At the end of Rodman Avenue, turn left and continue to Burnside Bridge.

Burnside Bridge

I passed the bridge and continued to the “Final Attack Trail” as this traversed through many open, sunny fields.

Along the “Final Attack Trail”…I love those fences…

Leaving the ridge on the “Final Attack Trail”

However, there are spots of shade to find respite! Sidekick Pauli and I found a wonderful tree under which to take a little break before heading back out into the field.

Then we were blessed with a longer walk through the woods. Nice and cool!

Sidekick Pauli’s Saturday Smile!

We stayed in the woods for much of the time as we wound our way down to the “Snavely Ford Trail”. Turn to the right at this trail junction in order to walk along Antietam Creek. Sidekick Pauli very much wanted to go to the creek as it meant she would be able to get in and cool off!!

Where are my hedge clippers when I need them?

The trail is a bit overgrown at the moment and I sort of wished I had on long pants. That thought only lasted for a moment though as I was soon hot, hot, hot, climbing back up the hill to reconnect with the trail to Burnside Bridge.

We crossed the bridge and rounded out our hike by meeting up with the “Sherrick Farm Trail”. This trail is quite nice and passes a genuine swimming hole complete with a swinging rope!

Sidekick Pauli crosses Burnside Bridge

Beginning of Sherrick Farm Trail

After the swimming hole, the trail goes uphill to meet the Burnside Bridge road. Take a left, cross the bridge, then take a right and continue on the trail. At this point, “Sherrick Farm Trail” starts to resemble a real, meaning more rugged, hiking trail and may not be for everyone…it is not bad, just a little slanty with roots and a few rocks.

It doesn’t last long! Sidekick Pauli and I were back at the car in no time!

This hike was about 4.5 miles long and included road walking, easy trail walking through rolling cornfields and along Antietam Creek. It is a beautiful way to spend an early summer morning.

So get out of the car and Hike On! 🙂

July 2, 2015 by Kylena

AT – PA Wind Gap to Delaware Water Gap (then to parking in NJ) ~18 miles

Day 7: June 26, 2015 Last day!

Snuggled in my sleeping bag in Stempa’s garage I said out loud, “I just had a sadistic thought.” Of course, Google and CanDo insisted I share. “Well, if it is going to rain on Saturday, then why don’t we just hike through to Delaware Water Gap tomorrow? It’s only 16 miles.” Google had been thinking the same thing and soon CanDo was in agreement.

So off we went to Wind Gap, again slack packing…Delaware Water Gap or Bust!

Of course, there was a climb coming out of Wind Gap and it seemed to go on for a long time! As usual, once on top it was the usual rocky and we were able to move pretty quickly along the ridge.

We DID NOT bypass the rocks! It was such a gorgeous day to be on the trail and we wanted to go up and see the view!

Our first landmark was Wolf Rocks about seven miles north of Wind Gap. So glad we did not take the bypass as the weather was great, the sky was blue and the Rhododendron was in bloom. Just gorgeous!

Up on Wolf Rocks

Rhododendron!!

Google wondered if we would have thought these rocks were as easy if we would have had to climb over them on day one or two. Regardless, they were flat and didn’t tip over! Beautiful walking across them!

CanDo in the thicket…or the thick of it!

Beautiful Day for a long hike!

One rock at a time! Google and BoobOnARock coming down from Wolf Rocks.

Coming down off the rocks was slow-ish…but still not too daunting. So off to Kirkridge we went!

Woohoo! Props to us, we made Kirkridge by 12:30 pm!

This was a personal challenge day for me and I felt good about progress so far and that my body actually felt good. My face showed my determination to finish this off.

Determined!

Why I wanted to get done, I am not sure. Maybe because seeing that little Bongo on the trail the day before made me miss my own Sidekick Pauli and the rest of the pack. Whatever, I was on my way and not going to be denied Delaware Water Gap today. 🙂

A few more rocks, a fire road walk that seemed to go on forever, then the descent into the Gap was all that was left.

Regular Rocky Trail

Google

A lot of Fire Road Walking prior to Mount Mimsi

A lot of Fire Road Walking prior to Mount Minsi

The best…like a serpent coming up out of the ground! Across the Gap.

Of course we got ice cream! How do you think we made it 18 miles? 🙂

It was a great week of challenges met!!

I wish I could say I was finished with the AT in PA, but I need about ten measly, little miles between Swatara Gap and 501. No problem…I will be back PA when my ankles are again their normal size! 🙂

Enjoy the Flipogram and Hike on!!!!

July 2, 2015 by Kylena

AT – PA Smith Gap to Wind Gap ~8 miles

Day 6: June 25, 2015 My Dad’s Birthday

We hiked this section starting at Wind Gap and hiking south to Smith Gap. There were more thunderstorms in the forecast, so we agreed to another night in Stempa’s garage.

I thought about my Dad today as I hiked backwards to Smith Gap. He has Alzheimer’s and his mind is not what it used to be. My moving south, instead of north, confused me at times and I wondered if my Dad could relate. We ran into hikers that had passed us yesterday. My Dad runs into thoughts daily that have passed him over the years. Is it now, or is it then? Have the years passed since meeting you, or am I meeting you for the first time? I hate what is happening to my Dad. I hate what is happening to my Mom as she experiences my Dad’s erratic behavior. I hate that I cannot help my sister and brother who are taking on the brunt of the responsibility for making decisions for my Mom and Dad out there in Hoosierland. I hope someone reminds my Dad that it is his birthday as I hike down this trail backwards.

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The first climb going south out of Wind Gap is a climb, but not one that deserves much attention. Here are a few things that stuck like glue in my memory of our hike from North to South.

CanDo at Hahn’s Lookout

1) There was a negative guy wearing snake guards who I never met but I knew him intimately through the stories of other hikers. My eyes scanned the trail and shelters for this guy all day long…never ran into him! My takeaway…Be positive, Be polite, Be helpful if possible, and for God’s sake, smile at people on the trail…they are spreading stories about you the minute they run into another hiker!

No sign of Snake Guard Guy.

2) A thru-hiker at the shelter carried avocados with him. He put a whole avocado on a bagel, making an impossibly huge, awkward sandwich that I thought he would never be able to fit in his mouth…um, yeah, I was wrong! As impressive as that was though, it was his care in packing out the pitts that stole my heart. ❤ ❤ 🙂 🙂 Well, that, and when his friend got to the shelter, he insisted on the friend relaxing while he went the half mile down to the third spring (the only one with water) to refill all of their water bottles. My takeaway…Good friends are hard to find and once you have them make sure to continue to nurture that relationship.

Breaktime at Leroy Smith Shelter with the Bagel & Avocado eating thru hiker. 🙂

3) There was a trailer park across the road from the Wind Gap parking area, and Stempa was surprised none were trying to help these hikers who were out of water. My takeaway…People may not be able to help a hiker if they are in a position where they are having trouble just keeping their lives together. Or People may just not want to help … or may not know they can help. They may see a hiker and think “Wow! that guy must have a great life if he can just come out here and go for a long hike.”

It’s a great life being able to buzz around on the trail! Water or no Water, part of the fun is figuring it out! 🙂

4) Met another section hiker who, just by coincidence, was waiting at Smith Gap in her car when we arrived. She gave us a ride back to Stempa’s, without a second thought! We exchanged contact info…I plan to help her with the Maryland section, shuttles and such. My takeaway…never shy away from the opportunity to build your network of hiking friends!

An Unexpected Ride to Stempa’s smashed into the back of an SUV. 🙂

5) Met Bongo! A boston terrier hiking the trail with her humans. Adorable! You can follow Bongo’s journey through her human’s journal.

Bongo!!! Human’s admitted that she slackpacks occasionally. Love this little cutie!

It was a fun hike, but lacking the drama of climbing out of Lehigh Gap! But what I know for sure is this: Sometimes the trail itself does not excite, but the people are ALWAYS interesting! 🙂

Delaware Water Gap or Bust…Hike On!

July 1, 2015 by Kylena

AT – PA Lehigh Gap to Smith Gap ~12 miles

Day 5: June 24, 2015

Okay. Yes. Um. I’m ready? Maybe. Okay. Yeah. Let’s Go!

The most anticipated day on this section. I had Googled it, YouTubed it, and sufficiently freaked myself over it! Then I pronounced we needed to slack pack our way up Lehigh Gap. I got no argument from Google or CanDo. Hmmm. What a surprise. 🙂

I had also found out that the water sources were pretty much nonexistent on the ridge between Lehigh Gap and Kirkridge Shelter (where there is a spigot!). So why not also stash water at Little Gap in CanDo’s car. This would make our packs even lighter! I still carried a liter and a half plus Gatorade…but it felt super light with everything else stashed at Little Gap!

So here we go!

Car is locked, let’s go!

Climbing was steeply uphill through the woods at first. No problem!

When I saw we were coming out of the tunnel of foliage, I knew the hike was about to get real. My heart started fluttering…argh! too many darn YouTube Videos!!

The First Look Down

Not so bad…except the blazes go straight up after this. 🙂

I took a deep breath and just told myself “put one foot in front of the other. This is just another mountain, just another pile of rocks, I got this!” So I climbed along the exposed ledge. No problems. Doing good! Oh FRICK… WHAT THE HELL??? I have to go where???

I had a “come to Jesus” moment when I got to a place that really pulled on everything I got to get up on the next level of rocks!!! It was like this: My feet were teetering on a thin little ledge and my arms were fully extended, fingers curled into notches that were barely more than slight indentations in the rock face. I looked down…oh, absolutely NOT going back down! I looked up and like a mantra repeated the “F” word several times in a row. I told myself there is no room to be self conscious about how I get this done. So I hurled myself up hissing the “F” word, pulled with my arms inhaling the “F” word. I was pushing like crazy with my legs, my feet flailing and scraping the rock face..more “F” word mantra with occasional short grunts. Cripes, it felt like child birth!!! Pain in a different place, but still! But I had that baby, yes, I did!

My “Come to Jesus” Moment

No thinking, Just Climbing! (Thanks Google for the pic!)

Google & BoobOnARock
Making our way UP!

Crawling over the top…Not a pretty picture, but major concentration going on here. Climb up, throw poles, climb to poles, throw them again…

I continued to cleave to that mountain until I crossed over the top of it and had a nice sit down by the FLAG…God Bless Freaking America…where you are free to kill yourself on any mountain you want! Whew!!!

I made it!! Happy Day! This is so cool up here! 🙂 (Thanks CanDo for the pic)

We made it to the top in an hour and a half, unbelievable…we thought it would take much longer. For sure, wanting to get off those crazy rocks is a mighty motivator! 🙂

Once at the top, the walking is easy and the views are absolutely gorgeous. I went between feeling like Maria in Sound of Music, to Heidi in …well, Heidi. Wildflowers, cool temps and great breeze. It almost felt like hiking in New Hampshire. 🙂 🙂

Google on the ridge

Superfund Sign
To find out more about Palmerton & Environmental Travesty caused by Zinc Smelting you can access the Lehigh Gap Nature Center Site
http://lgnc.org/conservation

On the approach to Little Gap, Google stopped to talk to the Ridgerunner about the water situation. We were all mulling over different plans in our heads, but none of us was talking out loud about anything yet…just thinking. The Ridgerunner mentioned John Stempa, who we knew from the FB section hiker page. Google texted a hiker friend for his number…then we packed up our packs, refilled on water, WATER…like I was now carrying my full pack and nearly 5, FIVE, liters of WATER. Camel I am NOT!!

Up we climbed out of Little Gap, slowly. Very slowly up a rock jumble hill. Stepping oh, so carefully, I felt the swing of that water and tried my best to stay ramrod straight!

Arrived at Delps Trail and campsite at 4:30 pm. CanDo headed for the woods, while Google and I dumped our packs and started talking. The water situation. We had enough for tonight, but the spring at Delps was dry, so what about tomorrow?

Taking a break!

Nice Campsite, but no water!

We went back and forth. Google checked her phone and saw that her friend had provided Stempa’s number. She puts in a call, maybe he can give more info on the water situation.

John Stempa did more than that! What a guy! He enticed us to hike another 2.7 miles to Smith Gap by offering us showers, water, dinner and his garage to sleep in! We took the bait and hiked that last 2.7 like a boss (after ditching most of the water we had struggled to carry for the last 5 miles).

Dinner at the Kunkletown Pub with John Stempa. 🙂

If you are ever hiking in the area, look him up…a Trail Legend! $10 to stay at his place, extra for dinner at Kunkletown Pub!

Delaware Water Gap or Bust…Hike On!

June 30, 2015 by Kylena

AT – PA New Tripoli Campsite to Lehigh Gap 12 miles

Day 4: June 23, 2015

This day garners a “holy shit” in my book. It began with a 0.2 climb out of the New Tripoli Campsite. That was just the warm up! The star of the hour was Knife Edge…we thought it was going to be the big event of the day…but were properly humbled by several more rock piles of boulders tipped at precarious angles just begging us to slip and fall!

When we got in sight of Knife Edge I thought, “Oh, and here we go.” I don’t know, I may have said it out loud too because just at that moment Google got a look at the Knife Edge and exclaimed, “Oh, I have to pee!”

The Knife Edge

Google showing her fancy footwork on the Knife Edge

Not to go into details, but the only place to go was on the rocks, and so she did. As she was in her compromised position, a man’s voice exclaims loud and clear, “That is quite a sight so early in the morning.” Haha…no room for modesty!! This was our introduction to ISO, a thruhiker, on his way north. You can read his account of that moment in his trail journal!

BoobOnARock on Knife Edge (thanks CanDo for the pic)

After the Knife Edge, we continued to climb up and over the rocks that make up Bake Oven Knob. At one point, during a descent, I stopped, completely puzzled on how I was to get down. I had come upon a sheer drop off of about 5 feet. How to do it? I stood there thinking as Google and CanDo approached from behind. I thought about sitting and sliding, but my legs weren’t long enough to ensure a good landing on the tilted rocks below. I thought about climbing around it and finding another way down, but after looking around and all the other RIDICULOUS options, I decided NO. There had to be a way down! I had been eyeing a tree that had some flexible branches with some interest. “Hey, I remember as a kid getting down from trees by holding onto a branch and letting gravity gently take me down to the ground”, I thought to myself, “Why not? why not do that now?” I did it! I grabbed onto the limb and jumped! It worked! I was down!

I turned to look triumphantly at Google and CanDo…I did it, I did it!…”Oh crap!” My pack was so heavy it began to pull me backwards…I was moving…falling…gently, but definitely headed down! I hung onto that limb as if my life depended on it. Well, my life was depending on it as I slowly bent backwards until, good lord, I was upside down! “If this limb breaks I am dead meat…Well, I am not letting go until I can secure myself.” Google and CanDo were rollling, and I was laughing hysterically. But I had to hold on! I couldn’t stop gravity!! I notched my boots somehow and pulled myself up into a sitting position. Success! I had Tarzanned down!

And while Google and CanDo may have thought me crazy…Google ended up catching that limb down for a ride also. Although, she did it more gracefully than me! Haha!! 🙂 🙂

On another rock jumble, we saw a beautiful rattle snake sunning himself up on the rocks. I didn’t even notice him, and for sure he didn’t see us as a threat! CanDo got a nice shot of him though!

Then the trail got a little nicer and we started making better time. We met three women headed for Knife Edge. They told us there was an approaching storm for later in the afternoon, hail, strong winds, torrential rains…oh joy. We picked up the pace!

In fact the reason I don’t have a lot of pics for this post is because thunder chased us down the trail! We stopped in at Bake Oven Knob shelter as the sky got dark and the winds were picking up. A little rain fell, but then nothing else. So we took off for Outerbridge shelter at a good clip!

Outerbridge Shelter (thanks CanDo for the pic)

When we pulled into Outerbridge, we met up again with ISO. Taking time to rest and have an actual conversation with him was great. He is a good guy and we decided since we were going to stash water for ourselves at Little Gap (on the other side of Lehigh Gap), that we would stash a gallon for him as well! There is no water on the ridge!

Hey! A guy offered us a ride on the bridge! (thanks CanDo for the pic)

We walked the final mile downhill to our car motivated by the fact we would be staying at a hotel in town while it stormed outside!

Delaware Water Gap or Bust…Hike On!

June 29, 2015 by Kylena

AT – PA Eckville Shelter to New Tripoli Campsite 13.3 miles

Day 3: June 22, 2015

Well, after an evening of thru hiker tales, including one about a hiker who took part in “hike naked” day, I conked out before it got dark in the Eckville Shelter!

Up early, ate my granola bars, and was ready to go! I swore off oatmeal after the last backpack. Why? I mean it is so good for me! It’s gross. It’s mushy. I have never liked oatmeal and do not see any reason I should eat that crap on the trail…unless it is cold out…then I suffer just so I can have something warm to eat. But I am working on an alternative to that also… 🙂

Watched several hikers leave as I sat at the picnic table and waited for Google and CanDo. Wondered for a moment if they would be offended if I just started hiking. But then I decided it was probably better to stick together since I didn’t want to do anything crazy without someone to spot me!

After getting back on the trail it resumed the regular rockiness. After a bridge crossing, the trail ascends steeply to the ridge. Nothing like a climb to get you warmed up in the morning!

Cute little bridge crossing this morning.

After passing the side trail to Hawk Mountain it is just another mile slightly uphill to Dan’s Pulpit. I was looking forward to this as it would give a view back to the Pinnacle…and I love to be able to look back at where I hiked before. It was blessedly sunny today, which allowed for a good view at Dan’s Pulpit.

Dan’s Pulpit looking at the Pinnacle

Pennsylvania raised its rocky head afterwards! Lots of fun rock jumbles meant tedious walking. Nothing like stepping on a rock that decides to dance with you! Add to that rising temperatures…whew. Every once in a while a great breeze would catch me unaware and I would just be like “Yesssssss!” The heat and the rocks had us slowing down a bit and I was happy to pull into the Allentown Shelter for a break and lunch. 🙂

Passed the Tri-County Corner

Yay! the Shelter at 7.4 miles.

Lunch!

I chugged my Gatorade, took off my shoes and rubbed my feet! These rocks were getting to be serious business. But after the shelter…smooth sailing. We got to Rt. 301 relatively quickly. It was flat fire roads again with beautiful ferns lining the path. Overhead, the blue skies and puffy white clouds went on forever. A gorgeous, hot day!

Nice trail after the shelter!

We found the turn off for New Tripoli Campsite without any drama…but when we started to go down steeply I was momentarily discouraged. Down, down, down. It seemed like forever! It was totally worth it. Great campsite with access to a very nice water source, a stream. How delightful to soak my feet in the stream after a hard day hiking. 🙂

Awwwwwww…..nice and cold!

It was a long day and when I climbed into my bag I fell asleep almost immediately. Tomorrow – the big day, Knife Edge and Bake Oven Knob. *snore* ZZZZzzzzzzz

Delaware Water Gap or Bust…Hike on!

June 29, 2015 by Kylena

AT – PA Windsor Furnace Shelter to Eckville Shelter 9.1 miles

Day 2: June 21, 2015

When we turned in the night before, everyone camping around the shelter had instructed us to yell if Scott Jurek ended up coming through. The buzz was up and down the trail, all of us wanting to cheer him on when he passed us!

Bag Lady dutifully checked in late … just to see if he was really still in Port Clinton. She had a look of concern on her face…he is on the move! WHAT!!! It is raining, storming, lightning, thunder!! But the tracker was erratic…and by the time we figured out his location he was nearing Eckville Shelter. 😦 So much for technology! He passed us while we were hiding out in the shelter!! Records wait for no storm apparently.

All those who were looking forward to seeing Scott on the trail were just a little bummed out. We had been soooooooo close! Well, we had that I suppose.

Bag Lady was only hiking with us for the first two days and decided she was going to take a blue blazed trail to bypass Pulpit and Pinnacle. We tried to convince her otherwise, but she was ready high tail it out of these wet, wet woods and rocks. So we said our goodbyes, and she headed to the right on Hamburg Road and we headed up the AT to the left.

I never get tired of being in the woods after a good rain.

Headed up!

As we began to climb a rock pile near the Pulpit, we all agreed that Bag Lady would not have approved of this trail! It was not a bad climb, just a lot of rocks. I thought it was fun, but of course, you know…this is only the second day and the excitement of climbing over rock jumbles is still fresh. 🙂

Climbing the Jumble!

This is where we heard the voice from beyond…

As we neared the top of the jumble, we heard a voice from beyond, ” Deeeebbbbbiiiee?”. That is Google’s name, and we looked at each other and busted out laughing…Bag Lady?!!! Bag Lady had gotten turned around and had ended up climbing an even steeper hill only to end up back with us! Oh, the humility! Welcome back, Bag Lady!

We all came together at the view from Pulpit Rock. The rain was gone, but the heat and humidity was back in full force. The sweat was dripping down my back and when I took my pack off, the straps were soaked. But the breeze felt so good as it cooled me off considerably!

View from the Pulpit

Leaving Pulpit Rock we hiked on together and in a few miles we found a nice break spot at the Pinnacle and a found a few of our reptile friends as well!

Rock Pile at the Pinnacle

Climbing over the rocks to get to the Pinnacle Ledge

View from the Pinnacle

Look! Bag Lady is waving!

My Reptile Friend is quite handsome!

Then it was a long descent to the Eckville Shelter. The last part of the hike was a flat fire road which was pleasant but hard on the feet after a while. We had been hiking it for about a half hour when Google stopped and whispered “listen!” Bullfrogs! I found two frogs talking to each other on a log…so cool!

Then we kept walking, dodging puddles, as we made our way down the fire road until Bag Lady left us to get her car in the Gamelands Parking lot near Eckville. She was going to drive around to Eckville Shelter and meet up with us before heading back home.

A long, flat road…not as easy on the feet as you might think!

Arriving at Hawk Mountain Road, we turned right and walked the last o.2 miles to the Eckville Shelter. OH!!! What a lovely place! Hummingbirds, flowers, a barefoot quality lawn! And, and, and … a shower! That’s not all…the caretaker, Mic, gave us popsicles!!!!

When you ask a question Mic will ask, “Did you read the map?”

Love the Hummingbirds!

Hikers gather-A bubble of thru hikers came in.

The shelter

Sitting and Chatting with Mic

After Shower and Rinsing out clothes (thanks CanDo for the photo)!

And the final sweet spot…Bag Lady and CanDo went to get us Gatorade, cold Gatorade!!

Delaware Water Gap or Bust…Hike on!

Girl Gone Hiking

One step, then one step more

Category Archives: Uncategorized

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