High Tech's '10 Chunk Hike

Miles from Springer	Features	Elevation
1216.8	Port Clinton, Pa. 19549 (400')	400
1217.5	Pa. 61, Port Clinton Avenue (490')? underpass Hamburg, Pa. 19526	490
1220.1	Pocahontas Spring (1,200')	1200
1222.7	Reservoir Road, Windsor Furnace, Hamburg Reservoir (900')	900
1222.9	Windsor Furnace Shelter (940') ?15mS; 9.3mN	940

Eckville Shelter
Day: 8-2010
Daily Mileage: 9.1
Mileage: 1223.2

Miles from Springer	Features	Elevation
1222.9	Windsor Furnace Shelter (940') ?15mS; 9.3mN	940
1224	Trail to Blue Rocks Campground (1,000')	1000
1224.5	Pulpit Rock (1,582')?Observatory, overlook	1582
1226.3	Trail to Blue Rocks Campground (1,150')	1150
1226.7	The Pinnacle (1,615')?overlook	1615
1228.4	Furnance Creek Trail (1,440')	1440
1228.7	Gold Spring (1,580')	1580
1229.3	Blue-blazed Trail to A.T. at Windsor Furnace (1,420')	1420
1230.2	Panther Spring (1,070')	1070
1232	Hawk Mountain Road (600') Eckville Shelter?9.3mS; 7.6mN	600

06/20/10 1:43 pm

Got up really early this morning, and since no one was with me in the shelter, I was able to pack up quick and leave. Must have been around 6am or so. Hiked to Pulpit Rock was great and the vista was fantastic. Took many pics here and also visited the Astronomy Park right on the other side of the trail. Hiked onto The Pinnacle. Would love to here the story of the rock pile just before the overlook. Again fantastic views (more pics) and enjoyed the visit with the father, son and son's best friend out for a father's day hike.

Hike from the Pinnacle to here was almost boring. Old wood roads with very little to see, and just a gentle downhill. It seemed a lot longer than it should have.

Got here and already had a shower. 9.1 miles, not bad for a day. Feet feeling better, but knees starting to complain (or maybe they always were, but were drowned out by the feet....who knows?).

Interesting "shelter" but I am glad it is here. Don't think I could make it to the next shelter (tired and it is the hottest day yet).

Allentown Shelter
Day: 9-2010
Mileage: 7.4 so far today
06/21/10 3:30 pm

Left early once again from the shelter. Hike up not too bad and was worth it with the views from Dan's Pulpit. Could have done without all the rocks after that though. Got here a few hours ago and took a nap. Woke up when the father/son combo from last night arrived. Went to get water...OMG are they kidding! First spring was dry and the backup was straight down hill 1/2 mile!!! Nice shelter (love the bunks) but could it have a closer, reliable water source.

Hope to hike on to Tripoli Campsite after dinner settles. Mac and Cheese with Spam!

P.S. Hiker hunger starting to kick in!!

P.P.S. Having problems getting a cell phone signal to online this log. Should be able to online it when I get near the turnpike tunnel and cell phone tower forest there.

New Tripoli Campsite
Day: 9-2010
Daily Mileage: 13.5
Mileage: 1236.5

Miles from Springer	Features	Elevation
1232	Hawk Mountain Road (600') Eckville Shelter?9.3mS; 7.6mN	600
1233.7	Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Trail (1,330')	1330
1234.8	Dans Pulpit (1,600')?trail register, view	1600
1238.1	Tri-County Corner (1,560')	1560
1239.4	Allentown Hiking Club Shelter (1,350') ?7.6mS; 10mN	1350
1241.3	Fort Franklin Road (1,350')?gravel	1350
1243.5	Pa. 309, Blue Mountain Summit (1,360')	1360
1245.3	New Tripoli Campsite (1,400')?powerline	1400

06/21/10 7:45 pm
My Location: N 40°43'28.46", W 75°47'05.79"
376 m
map it

I was about to cook dinner at the last shelter when 2 guys came and announced "Happy Nude Hiking Day!" and they sort of were except they made a breechclout out of their shirts. (Yes every year the summer solstice has been declared nude hiking day -- and NO I have never participated).

One more thru hiker stopped in to cook dinner while I packed up. It was about 4:15pm when I left. As the nude hikers told me, the trail was easy and almost free of rocks. Set up camp, cleaned off and jumped into the tent due to bugs. Feel good, legs and feet doing ok.

Bake Oven Knob Shelter
Day: 10-2010
Mileage: 4.1 so far today
06/22/10 11:37 pm

That was THE HARDEST hiking I have ever done. Some great views but you pay for every second.

I do have to note that the locals do not respect what they have at all. The road crossing looks like a dump (trash is purposely piled right under a no littering sign). They have also trashed the knob area as well. It is bad when visitors, in this case hikers, care more than the locals do...SHAME ON YOU!!!

Still debating on going to get water here or not. They say it is as bad as Allentown shelter's water hike.

George W Outerbridge Shelter
Day: 10-2010
Daily Mileage: 10.1
Mileage: 1247.4

Miles from Springer	Features	Elevation
1245.3	New Tripoli Campsite (1,400')?powerline	1400
1246.3	Knife Edge "The Cliffs" (1,525')	1525
1247	Bear Rocks (1,604')	1604
1248.4	Bake Oven Knob Road (1,450')?dirt	1450
1248.8	Bake Oven Knob (1,560')	1560
1249.4	Bake Oven Knob Shelter (1,380') ?10mS; 6.8mN	1380
1251.8	Ashfield Road, Lehigh Furnace Gap, Ashfield, Pa. (1,320')?radio tower	1320
1252.9	South Trail (southern jct.)
1254	South Trail (northern jct.)
1254.6	North Trail (southern jct.) (1,570') ?Lehigh Valley Tunnel of Pa. Turnpike is underneath A.T.	1570
1256.1	North Trail (1,550')	1550
1256.2	George W. Outerbridge Shelter (1,000') ?6.8mS; 16.8mN	1000

06/22/10 6:15 pm

Two things from the last shelter: I didn't get water at the last shelter, and there is someone else who wears woodbadge beads when he hikes.

Thank god it was overcast, or I would have died with only one qt of water. It was all low scrub with little shade between there and here. Did see a deer on the way, and felt a few drops of rain. Water source here is a good one, so I guzzled about 2qts since my arrival.

Feet hamburger again. Had to pop 2 more blisters on my left foot (at the ball of the foot - my biggest problem area this hole hike. Also my knees got pounded on the rock scrambles earlier in the day...finished off by the downhill to the shelter. Nap after watering up helped.

Plan to get to town tomorrow, clean up, shop (a little short on food, will not make it to Delaware Water Gap with my present supply), eat eat eat and rest.

Danielsville, PA
Day: 11-2010
Daily Mileage: 6.0
Mileage: 1253.4

Miles from Springer	Features	Elevation
1256.8	Pa. 873, Lehigh Gap (380') Slatington, Pa. 18080	380
1256.9	Pa. 873, Lehigh River Bridge (east end) (380')	380
1257.1	Pa. 145 (380') Walnutport, Pa. 18088	380
1257.1	Pa. 248 (380')?blue blaze to Palmerton Palmerton, Pa. 18071	380
1262.1	Little Gap, Blue Mountain Road (1,100')Danielsville, Pa. 18038	1100

06/23/10 12:45 pm
My Location: N 40°47'29.14", W 75°30'48.94"
202 m
map it

Not the day I planned, but here I am. The simple fact is I GOOFED. I wanted to hike into Palmerton, and the book said follow the blue blaze trail into town....BULL SH*T! The blue blaze is a wintertime alternate route up from Lehigh Gap. By the time I figured that out, I was way up the hill. So much for staying in Palmerton. Hiked on (good thing I still took 2qts of water with me for the 2 mile hike into to town). Hike was all on barren hilltop in the sun (the hike is actually though a Superfund Site that was killed off by Zinc processing in Palmerton.

Got to the next road crossing at Little Gap and called the number for the Filbert Bed & Breakfast and they came and picked me up. Bathed, brushed my teeth, drank, drank some more and pigged out on Mama's Pizza.

It is almost magical. Went from, what some hikers have described as "Frodo in Mordor" to being clean, hydrated and stuffed with pizza! On top of that, this place is amazing. It was an old time general store until 1985 and the store is pretty much the way it was when it closed. It is really too good of a place for a hiker, but I am glad I am here!

Wind Gap - Gateway Motel
Day: 12-2010
Daily Mileage: 15.4
Mileage: 1268.8

Miles from Springer	Features	Elevation
1266.9	Delps Trail (1,580')?unreliable spring	1580
1268.7	Stempa Spring (1,510')	1510
1269.4	Smith Gap Road (1,540')?paved	1540
1272.9	Leroy A. Smith Shelter (1,410') ?16.8mS; 13.8mN	1410
1276.5	Hahns Lookout (1,450')	1450
1277.5	Pa. 33 (980')Wind Gap, Pa. 18091	980

06/24/10 4:20 pm
My Location: N 40°51'46.22", W 75°17'51.69"
284 m
map it

Today I woke up to a multi-course breakfast. It started with coffee, cranberry juice, fresh fruite then a 4 egg ham and cheese omlette, hash browns, bacon and toast. I was about to explode with all that great food! Got dropped off at the trail and found the hiking fairly easy. Mostly "drunken rocks". Those are rocks that are loose, oddly angled or just piled in such a way that it makes a hiker walk as if they are drunk. The day was filled with them! Hot but partly cloudy and a good breeze from time to time. Made good time to Leroy A. Smith shelter and took a short break there. The first two springs were dry and the third was about 0.9 miles down hill (1.8 round trip) I had 3/4 of a qt left, so I had a small lunch and 3 Ibuprofen and decided to leave without getting water. Still got to Wind Gap ok and still had a sip left. Hotel not as nice as the B&B last night, but a bed, shower and A/C is all I really need.

Need to decide what to do for dinner....so more latter.

6:19

Walked into town and found "The Scorecard - sports bar and grill" ordered a beer and steak dinner....boy trail life has been hard the last few days ;-).

Post Hike Comment:

FYI - as you know hikers have pretty bad feet....but when a hiker says "I felt I had to keep my shoes on in the hotel because the carpet was so gross" you know it is bad. Also the new owners do not trust hikers. They were constantly accusing hikers of sneaking extra people into rooms! It is a shame since it is so close to the trail, but I would not stay there again!

Kirkridge Shelter
Day: 13-2010
Mileage: 9.2 so far today
06/25/10 12:45 pm

Well after eating, I went to the Turkey Hill and got some Ice cream, ice tea and two breakfast sandwiches and went back to the motel and slept way the night (after eating the ice cream of course).

This morning I really did not want to leave, I felt like I had no energy. I forced myself to pack up and get going. The trail, once it was finished going up, was all "drunk rocks" and really got me down. At one point I took a break, and for the first time I can recall, fell asleep on the trail. It did me some good and, after the climb at Wolf Rock, the trail got easier.

Just ate lunch here at the shelter. I plan to go on to Delaware Water Gap after filling up on water.

2:30pm

BEAR! Just a few minutes ago, right before Totts Gap. I came out to a little clearing and there he was eating blueberries. I must have watched him for 5 minutes or more. He even posed for photos. He made no aggressive moves, not even when I walked passed to move on. What a great experience!

So far today that makes a deer, 2 snakes (a black and a garter) and the bear!

Delaware Water GAP - Church of the Mountain Hostel
Day: 13+14-2010
Daily Mileage: 15.6
Mileage: 1284.4

Miles from Springer	Features	Elevation
1277.5	Pa. 33 (980')Wind Gap, Pa. 18091	980
1283.9	Wolf Rocks Bypass Trail (south end) (1,550')?signed spring	1550
1284.4	Wolf Rocks (1,620')	1620
1284.7	Wolf Rocks Bypass Trail (north end) (1,510')	1510
1286	Pa. 191, Fox Gap (1,400')	1400
1286.6	Kirkridge Shelter (1,500') ?13.8mS; 31.4mN	1500
1288.5	Totts Gap (1,300')?gravel road	1300
1290.5	Mt. Minsi (1,461')	1461
1291.5	Lookout Rock (800')	800
1292.3	Council Rock (600')	600
1293	Pa. 611 (400') Delaware Water Gap, Pa. 18327	400