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 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!

June 9, 2015 by Kylena

AT-PA Rt183 to Port Clinton 6/6/2015

I’m back Pennsylvania!

Thank goodness I found a hiking pal in PA! It has been a lot of fun hiking these last couple of sections with Cindy, trail name “CanDo”.

This time around, I got to the parking area off Rt. 61 in Port Clinton with no major drama, just a little rerouting around Harrisburg due to roadwork. It is a nice little lot south of the town and has a blue blaze to the AT. As soon as I got the car backed into a spot (beautifully I might add), a text came in from CanDo. “I’m in the Rt. 61 lot.” Ummm…but I am in the Rt. 61 lot and it was clear she was not. This was soon sorted out…two lots, different sides of the highway. My lot was deemed the nicer choice to leave a car, so CanDo picked me up and we headed down to the Rt. 183 gameland parking lot.

Pulled in, gathered our packs, then headed up the gameland road to get to the AT. It was 8:45 and 15 miles were ahead of us. I like smaller goals, so I set my sights on Eagles Nest Shelter, about 6 miles in.

Intersection of the Gameland Road and AT…right turn and off we go!

A deer jumped to the side of the road flicking his white tail before disappearing for good into the woods. Good morning to you too, little deer!

Reaching the intersection with the AT we also disappeared into the woods, taking a right, headed north. There were no climbs initially, just a few rocky spots, so we soon found ourselves passing Black Swatara campsite and spring. The campsite looks to be large enough to serve a group comfortably. Someone has handcrafted a gorgeous sign for the site!

It was a wonderful day for hiking! The rain had finally cleared out leaving us with a morning of cool temps, blue skies and refreshing breezes! The trail was a regular amount of rocky as we stomped on towards Eagles Nest shelter.

Only another two miles until the shelter!

Eagles Nest Shelter has windows and gutters!

The shelter was 0.3 miles off the trail, which meant we added a little over a half mile to our trip by stopping for lunch there. We opted to pass on another 0.1 mile to see the view since we would get an overlook further down the trail.

What a super respite! We lolligagged for about 45 minutes before heading back to the AT. I took off my boots, laid back on the shelter floor and propped my feet up on the wall. Ahhhh!!!

This shelter even has a mirror!

Taking a break fooled my mind into thinking I hadn’t actually hiked this morning. So starting out after lunch was like starting anew on a 9 mile day hike, not the 15 we had originally undertaken. “I got this!” I said to myself.

The woods was still carpeted with thick ferns, but now the mountain laurel was beginning to bloom as well. Just gorgeous pockets of mountain laurel blossoms brightened up the darkness of the forest. We walked through admiring all of it!

Another little break along the trail.

The miles were just melting away and I still felt good. The guide book warns of the severe rockiness of the last six miles. I found the guide book to be wrong in this case. There were some spots of heavy duty rock hopping, but most of the trail just seemed like regular old Pennsylvania rocky!

Now this … this is one of the REALLY rocky sections! 🙂

Feeling pretty triumphant at Auburn Overlook.

The hardest part for me was the steep downhill into Port Clinton. Slow go there for sure. My knees and thighs were relieved when we were in sight of the bike trail at the bottom of the hill. Then another short down on some very suspect steps and we were at the Port Clinton trail depot. And since we had not had enough walking on rocks all day long…we proceeded to tramp all over the ballast to look at the trains!! Go figure…we are nuts!

Trail comes out to Fire Road, then turns back into the woods…almost missed this arrow!!

Yay! Reached the rail trail!!

The final assault, I mean descent, to the depot.

As we left the train depot, a guy stops and asks, “hey, you two know about the all you can eat spaghetti dinner?” WHAAAAAAT?!!!!! Oh, this was the best end to a hike ever!

Oh Yeah!!!!!

All You Can Eat!!!! Yesss!!!

All You Can Eat Spaghetti Dinner…$8.

Feeling like real hiker trash…priceless!

Hike on! 🙂

May 30, 2015 by Kylena

AT – PA Rt. 501 to Rt. 183 5/28/2015

Up with the dogs at 5:30 am, then out the door at 6:30 am. I thought I was leaving early, but didn’t anticipate rush hour in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania! I mean come on, why is the traffic stopped? It’s a burg for God’s sake. 🙂

Rounding Harrisburg on I-83, my accelerator foot got jittery from the seemingly endless riding of the brakes. My heart soared when I finally zipped down the ramp headed east on I-81… ecstatic to demonstrate some of my NASCAR talent!

On to meet hiker pal, Cindy, at Rt. 183. I pulled into the parking lot right at 9 am … on time! We left my car and drove back to 501 in Cindy’s. The clouds were many shades of gray and hung low obscuring the ridges. We discussed the possibility of rain…

Pulling up to the 501 lot I noticed two dejected looking backpackers sitting on the ground. I wondered what they were up to. “Good Morning! How’s it going?” Their response was indicative of a rough night. Gesturing to the foggy mountainside, I continued, “Did it rain this morning, or is this just coming in?” Now they let loose…they described a hellish night in a wicked thunderstorm. They had been hiking a few days and were now ready to take a day off to dry out in town! We left them waiting for their shuttle to arrive.

The trail rides the ridge of Blue Mountain which made for pretty nice walking, although a few rocky sections kept me humble. I quickly learned to teeter-totter on the loose stones! Ahhh, new skills…or is that skillz? 🙂

Here I am showing off those skillz! Thanks Cindy for the pic!

There were quite a few campsites along the trail. Sweet campsites! Small, but plenty of space for a couple of backpacking tents. We stopped for a long lunch (30 minutes!) at one such site.

It was great to stretch out…I rarely stop for long when I am hiking alone. I don’t know why…I just don’t! Cindy told me she is the same way. How about that? 🙂

There were also a few excellent views. This was taken by Cindy at Shikellamy overlook. I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I still cannot pronounce Shikellamy correctly despite Cindy repeating it several times for me!

A cute little red spotted newt was hiking the trail today…that I stepped right over without noticing…thanks Cindy for pointing it out!

We came to Hertlein Campsite soon after the newt sighting. Wow! A beautiful place to camp! The stream was flowing freely. Afterwards, Cindy and I both wished we had filtered some of that fresh, clear, cold water to drink!

This section between 501 and 183 is interesting as it switches from rock jumbles to mountain laurel groves to blue berry patches…and then there are the FERNS! As far as the eye can see in all directions, ferns!

At one point we met up with another section hiker who had started at Delaware Water Gap and was coming south. She was ready to finish her section after getting caught in the aforementioned hellacious thunderstorm and almost stepping on a rattlesnake the day before! I don’t blame her! I kept an eye out for snakes the rest of the way to our car!

Our traverse crossed an old pipeline, then entered the woods again for a few more rocks. The trail looks to be in some stage of slight rerouting. It is easy to follow, however, so we were soon at the historical stone marking the location of an old fort.

This historical stone also meant we were nearing the end of our hike…and the crossing of Rt. 183. Whew! Had to take that crossing at a jog!! Blind curve…fast cars!

Despite a bit of humid weather and occasional distant thunder which kept reminding me that we might encounter our own little scary thunderstorm, this hike was a blast! And we stayed dry!

We exited the AT about a half mile after Rt. 183 to walk down the service road to the Gameland parking lot and my car.

We will return to do Rt.183 to Port Clinton next weekend. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Ankles beware!
Hike on!!!

Gallery April 20, 2015 by Kylena

AT – PA Swatara Gap – ??? It’s Hot, It’s a Ridge, and It’s Rocky…And I love it!

This gallery contains 4 photos.

This summer I am set to complete the Pennsylvania section of the Appalachian Trail. I am about half way through the state, having completed Pen Mar through Swatara Gap in May 2014. In June I am backpacking a big section with my backpacking pals, Google & Cindy…but I can only go for a week. This […]

Gallery August 9, 2014 by Kylena

AT – PA Pole Steeple to Pine Grove Furnace SP (Loop Hike) July 2014

This gallery contains 5 photos.

So here I was in the midst of teaching Calculus for the first time and while I was delighted in that assignment…the task of preparing lessons was sucking my summer right down the drain. I felt unbalanced, like a stool that is missing a leg. But then, finally, a day arrived that I could truly […]

Gallery June 24, 2014 by Kylena

On the Trail with Sidekick Pauli and Little Caesar! June 21-22, 2014

This gallery contains 4 photos.

Last weekend was the FIRST weekend of “ahhhhhhh” that I have had since we started getting the house ready to sell. Well, the house is now on the market! It went on the market on June 17, our anniversary…it wasn’t planned that way, but is so symbolic as remodeling the house just about killed our […]

Gallery June 14, 2014 by Kylena

AT-PA Peter’s Mtn Shelter to Duncannon 9.3 miles 5/27/14

This gallery contains 11 photos.

May 27, 2014 Last Day Peter’s Mountain Shelter to Duncannon Rain was in the forecast, with possible thunderstorms so we got moving early hoping we could get to Duncannon before the rain! I ate a quick breakfast of Clif bars and hot tea before heading out. We made good time and decided to make a […]

Gallery June 14, 2014 by Kylena

AT-PA Yellow Springs Village to Peter’s Mountain Shelter 5/26/14

This gallery contains 3 photos.

May 26, 2014 Yellow Springs Campsite to Peter’s Mountain Shelter 13.5 miles, Staying at shelter Something like sciatic nerve pain, but down the front of my leg, kept me tossing all night. Add that to continuously sliding off my mat and you have all the makings for an early rise! I had fallen asleep […]

Girl Gone Hiking

One step, then one step more

Tag Archives: section hiking

AT – PA Lehigh Gap to Smith Gap ~12 miles

AT – PA Eckville Shelter to New Tripoli Campsite 13.3 miles

AT – PA Windsor Furnace Shelter to Eckville Shelter 9.1 miles

AT-PA Rt183 to Port Clinton 6/6/2015

AT – PA Rt. 501 to Rt. 183 5/28/2015

AT – PA Swatara Gap – ??? It’s Hot, It’s a Ridge, and It’s Rocky…And I love it!

AT – PA Pole Steeple to Pine Grove Furnace SP (Loop Hike) July 2014

On the Trail with Sidekick Pauli and Little Caesar! June 21-22, 2014

AT-PA Peter’s Mtn Shelter to Duncannon 9.3 miles 5/27/14

AT-PA Yellow Springs Village to Peter’s Mountain Shelter 5/26/14

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: