Rockin

June 26

Miles: 17

Location: George Outerbridge Shelter, near Palmerton, PA

Weather: Perfect, once again.

Complaint of the Day: Rocks, of course.

The trail got REALLY rocky for big stretches today

Today was supposed to be fairly easy. Seventeen miles over flat terrain with good weather… No sweat. Normally I could finish a day like that by 4:00. But today was probably the rockiest day yet and my pace suffered. The trail alternated between the little rocks that constantly tried to trip me or twist my ankles and the big rocks that I had to scramble up and over. I could barely ever get into a good hiking rhythm. The day was slow and frustrating and I didn’t get to the shelter until almost 5:00.

There was two instances of trail magic today. The first was a big setup in a parking lot next to the trail where a couple of former hikers were making sandwiches and passing out fruit, homemade cookies, sodas, and candy bars. Luckily I passed by right around noon when I was starting to think about a lunch. I got a good meal and snacks to go. The second trail magic was here at this shelter when a couple of day hikers from town walked by as I was cooking dinner and they just handed me a bottle of soda and a candy bar they had carried up the side of the mountain just for any thru hikers they might meet. Pretty awesome.

Tomorrow will be similar to today, possibly harder. A couple of steep sections and a lot more rocks. And very limited water sources. Thankfully I only have to go 17 miles again.