Mountains Under Foot

Hi MUFaddicts,

I know it’s been over a week since I last updated the blog, but it’s not laziness it’s because the guys had no Internet contact or very little. I only received Day 69-70 journal entries yesterday. The photos are also very behind because of the same reason, no computer access. I received a few new photos and was able to update Gallery05- PA with photos through July 12th. I’ve had phone contact with Hazard and they should be in NYC at the moment, so hopefully we’ll get caught up on the blog and photos very soon!

Apparently the trail through NJ was not very well maintained and the guys had a lot of setbacks. Also Hazard had a mishap yesterday – He sliced his hand open after slipping on a rock and catching himself palm down on a glass shard!!
The park rangers took them to the nearest town hospital so he could get treatment. He’s doing fine, had to have 6 stitches though. After that ordeal they caught a train into the City. That’s the last I heard from him, I am hoping to talk to him tonight, that is if he’ll answer his phone! “Son, answer your phone!”

More later!

Regards,
K

From Hazard’s notes:
Day 70: July 18, 2009
Travel
From: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter, PA
To: Delps Trail, PA
Beginning: 7;45am
Ended: 7:15pm
Number of miles hiked:
a) Trail – 27.6
b) other – .4 to and from water at New Tripoli.
c) AT Mile Marker – 1257.4 cumulative
Weather:
AM & PM: Sunny and hot. Great weather for rock climbing.
People: Caught up to Many Names at lunch, walked with Crocstar again today. Met Hopscotch and Cleancut. Said goodbye to Prof. Mark (Only doing PA).
Animals: Buzzards, hawks, and other birds of prey.
Money: $0, $1231 cumulative.
Notes of the day:
AM: Crocstar, Spoon, and I were the last hikers out of camp this morning despite it being pretty early. We made our way down the trail to where we had planned to go yesterday, New Tripoli Campsite, and descended all the way down to the water source. Crocstar apparently didn’t need any water so he skipped the extra walk and kept going. This would be the last time we see him until we stop for the night. A mile up from the water was The Cliff & Knife Edge which was fairly dangerous with the rocks being dry. If we were to go over that section yesterday it could have been fatal. The area was a rock scramble over jagged and slanted rock faces where one wrong step could send you over the edge. So that was fun. The next section put us at Bake Oven Knob, where we met the son of the Dan from Dan’s Pulpit (an outcropping at the top of a ridge yesterday) who had thought about one day hiking the trail. After chatting a bit we hiked down to Bake Oven Shelter for lunch.

PM: Crocstar had stopped by 30 minutes earlier according to the trail register. We quickly chowed down on some peanut butter and crackers. Many Names came up from the water source after reportedly being down there for over 20 minutes with half a bottle of water with a bunch of junk floating around in it. Needless to say the water source sucked and we would come to find out they will continue to be an issue for a while. After lunch was a ridge walk down to George W. Outerbridge Shelter which was the last place for water for the next 10 miles by my book. A short decent to the road and Lehigh Gap, home of the rock climb straight up the mountain. Going up this mountain was quite the challenge. We had to employ some of our rock climbing skills to make it up the trail. Hand over hand we crawled to the top which was very satisfying except for the fact that I snapped my hiking pole at the bottom joint and will need to get it repaired at the next outfitter. For now I’ll be walking with one pole, which is not good times. The top of the mountain is affected by acid rain that fell due to the extensive mining in the area and the trail has been rerouted through a reclaimed area that skirts the ridge and gives a great view of the towns below. We came across one 2-liter bottle of water provided by Allentown hiking club as a water drop. We took a little water from that and then found another water drop next to the road that was dry. When we got to Delps Trail where the next water source was supposed to be we found out from Crocstar, who had his big tarp already set up, that it was dry and the next water source was at the shelter 6 miles from here. Spoon and I had a dry dinner of Pop-tarts and cereal bars to conserve our water for the walk tomorrow. Camping out in the woods under Crocstar’s tarp while Spoon hammocks up. Tomorrow night we’ll be in a hostel!

From Hazard’s notes:
Day 69: July 17, 2009
Travel:
From: Port Clinton, PA
To: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter, PA
Beginning: 10:30am
Ending: 7:45pm
Number of miles hiked:
a) Trail – 22.6
b) other – .4 to and from Eckville shelter
c) AT Mile Marker – 1229.8 cumulative
Weather:
AM: The morning sun was killer and I just wanted to get out of town to avoid boiling.
PM: Clouds rolled in and the rain came starting as a drizzle and then bounced from steady to downpour for a couple hours.
People: Left a whole bunch in town. Walked with Crocstar today and ran into Grizzilla at Eckville. Prof. Mark was at the shelter.
Animals: Black snake in the middle of the trail and lots of chipmunks and other animals rustling along the trail.
Money: $11 for breakfast, $1231 cumulative.
Notes of the day:
AM: Eighteen wheelers flying by the Pavilion at 60 mph is not a great way to wake up in the morning. In fact, it sucks. Luckily the Three C’s diner down the road cured my morning woes with its Nibbler Platter that was basically a little of everything on the menu. Crocstar, Spoon, and I all enjoyed a huge breakfast that would sustain us almost the whole day. We waddled back to the Pavilion for our packs and headed to the post office on the way out of town. Crocstar had a mail drop that consisted of 4 dozen cookies, topo maps, and a replacement camera. After stuffing all of the cookies in his pack he exclaimed, “There’s definitely no need to resupply now.” The climb out of Port Clinton, unlike the decent down, at least had switchbacks to make our lives a little easier. Then it was down to Winston Furnace Shelter for water and prepare to take on Pulpit Rock & the Pinnacle.

PM: After that we came down a gravel road for a really long time which is never fun because the whole time you are thinking that this isn’t the trail, that you somehow missed the turn back into the woods. But it was easy walking and at the bottom was Hawk Mtn Road and Eckville Shelter. The shelter was actually a converted building behind this guy’s house which had bunks and electricity. We stopped in for lunch and to dodge the rain that was starting to hammer us. We hung around trying to keep dry and chatted with Grizzilla who had stopped earlier to take a nap but was deterred by the rain. When the rain finally let up a bit we pushed onward. The weather didn’t hold out for long and soon we were getting soaked while fumbling over slippery boulders. Good times. We stopped short of our goal today in favor of the shelter, but tomorrow night we will have to camp out if we want to make it to Delaware Water Gap by Sunday night. Tasty dinner, then sleep.