“Reality is hard. It is no walk in the park, this thing called Life.”
~Patty Duke
June 8, 2022
AT miles: 14.4
Ascent: 1237’
Descent: 2190’
Weather: sunny and low 70’s
Sightings: lots of butterflies
High points: surviving “knife edge” and hiking with Smooth and Carjack
Most rocks are back-sleepers or stomach sleepers, but the rocks in Pennsylvania are all side-sleepers!
I was dreading the first five miles of today’s hike, which are supposed to be the hardest, rockiest miles in Pennsylvania. I felt better knowing that Smooth and Carjack (from the hostel) were also tackling this section and would be nearby. Also, since I was slackpacking again, I only had a few pounds in my backpack.
Carjack and I drove to Palmerton, where I left my car and we got a shuttle back to Rt 309. Heading north, the trail quickly deteriorated into a jumble of rocks. The rock hopping wasn’t too bad, but I am very thankful that I was doing this hike on a dry day!
Suddenly I was at the knife edge. I put away my poles and prepared for the worst.
Navigating the narrow rocky ledge took a lot of concentration. You had to watch every foot and hand hold. A tenth of a mile later I was done!
There were numerous other rock jumbles that needed to be navigated, but having survived the knife edge I was on a roll. I really have trust issues with rocks, and I do not enjoy climbing on them at all, but honestly today was almost fun.
We all stopped for lunch at Bake Oven Knob, which has a fantastic view.
After a few more rock scrambles the trail straightened itself out.
Under a set of powerlines there was orange plastic netting everywhere. If you looked through the netting you could see that there were vast VW bug-eating holes between the rocks. The whole effect was extremely weird.
Gradually the trail became lighter and more cheerful and suddenly we were high up on a ridge, walking through stubby pines and fern meadows.
There were a number of really great camping areas along the trail. In one camping area some wannabe rogue Rocksylvania sculptor had taken some of the local rocks and actually fashioned rock chairs!
For the next several miles the trail wound on the side of Blue Mountain, providing stunning views of Lehigh River and Rt 476, which went in a tunnel underneath the the mountain and the AT!
This particular section of trail just opened this year as a re-route of the prior section. We are the first class of AT hikers to walk this section!
Wild bleeding heart was blooming everywhere, and lots of stunning butterflies were flying about.
It was a long hot day, and we were all glad when we finally made it back to Palmerton, where we had to walk about a mile through absolutely crazy traffic back to the car. Another day on the Pennsylvania AT done!
Today’s a great day for a long walk in the woods!