Everyone had warned us about the rocks - so we thought we were prepared. But we weren't. Finding your way through boulder fields hour after hour in temperatures above 100 degrees F gives a new dimension to hiking. I get addicted to Gatorade, as we try and keep the electrolytes up. Many of the springs listed have dried up. Some trail angels leave gallon containers by the road crossings, but these are often empty when we pass through.
I decided that nobody would actually hike through Pennsylvania for the fun of it. Then we arrive at Lehigh Gap......The climb out of Lehigh Gap - what a trail gem this is. This is a rockclimb, an exhilarating, amazing, absolutely fantastic rockclimb. Walking Sticks go into the pack. I use my hands to get up over the cliffs. On the way up we are caught by Stucco and Scatters and One Life who we follow for the rest of the day. Sourdough also walks in this group. We take an hour to complete the climb to the ridge. Then we enter a 'superfund' site - a restoration of the mountain denuded by zinc smelter air pollution, caused by corporate irresponsibility, and now being fixed with taxpayers funds. The tree growth is amazing.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
The B&B from Hell
We stayed one night in a small B&B, which will be forever remembered as our US Fawlty Towers experience.
I won't go on about it but I do have to record that the owner kept us waiting one hour and 15 minutes before we could access our room, because she was too busy doing other things. We were not allowed to take our packs into our room as there were too many 'valuable antiques' that we might damage, so they had to be left on the ground floor by the back door. The antique junk in the rooms - lanterns, and jug s- covered every available surface - there was even a chamber pot on the floor. The shared bathroom down the hall from our room did not have a shower - if we wanted a shower we had to descend to the basement and shower in a corner on an old concrete slab. I made sure I kept my crocs on my feet.
And for this we paid $84 - an outrageous price. As good Australians we just shut up and paid it. The cook Herman felt sorry for us and poured us cokes from the bar, but they were flat. Four cokes later and there were still no bubbles. We just kept drinking. We had walked 18 miles in temperatures over 100 degrees F, and taken 10 hours to get there, and were very hot, tired and dehydrated. Then he brought us slices of watermelon and we devoured those while we waited, and waited.
The B&B welcome is an important part of the experience, and I won't forget this welcome for some time.
I won't go on about it but I do have to record that the owner kept us waiting one hour and 15 minutes before we could access our room, because she was too busy doing other things. We were not allowed to take our packs into our room as there were too many 'valuable antiques' that we might damage, so they had to be left on the ground floor by the back door. The antique junk in the rooms - lanterns, and jug s- covered every available surface - there was even a chamber pot on the floor. The shared bathroom down the hall from our room did not have a shower - if we wanted a shower we had to descend to the basement and shower in a corner on an old concrete slab. I made sure I kept my crocs on my feet.
And for this we paid $84 - an outrageous price. As good Australians we just shut up and paid it. The cook Herman felt sorry for us and poured us cokes from the bar, but they were flat. Four cokes later and there were still no bubbles. We just kept drinking. We had walked 18 miles in temperatures over 100 degrees F, and taken 10 hours to get there, and were very hot, tired and dehydrated. Then he brought us slices of watermelon and we devoured those while we waited, and waited.
The B&B welcome is an important part of the experience, and I won't forget this welcome for some time.
Today we leave New Jersey
Five days and we have walked through New Jersey and entered New York. Seems a bit weird that it went so quickly - less than 100 miles. What impressions do we take with us? Firstly - the bears in NJ. There are lots and they ain't scared of hikers. Eight hikers meeting at the Steakhouse in Branchville, just off the trail, all have a bear story to tell. Macguyver tells her story of making a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast, looking up to find a bear swipe the sandwich. We see one large bear which takes our tally to 11 for the trip.
The rocks are not as bad as Pennsylvania but they are still memorable, especially as we had relaxed into thinking that we had escaped the rocks, only to find the ridge from hell on the NewYork/NewJersey border.
One of the main memories will be the 'mayor's house', a place to stay for hikers in the little town of Unionsville which is only half a mile from the trail. We walked into town, and the general store gave us the directions - take the street behind the pub and then the first left and the second house on the left. It felt a bit strange to us wandering down the street hoping that we find the right house. Sure enough as we arrive at the second house, there is a white blaze on the lamp post out the front and somebody sees us and waves us in. Twenty hikers stay that night - 8 in a bunk room, and the rest camped on the back lawn. For a donation of $10, Butch and Bill cook us dinner and breakfast. Bill is 81 years old and runs the kitchen - he serves 20 hikers with a cheese omelette, fried potatoes, two chippalata sausages and a muffin, with jam. No fuss, he just keeps cooking and we keep eating.
We are now walking around 17 miles a day - sometimes up to 20 if the country is easy, and we have caught up to new hikers that we haven't met before - Sourdough, a naturalist from Alaska, Masterchief, a retired soldier, Sweet Tea, an older woman from Alabama, and Macguyver, a psychologist. A few times in the last week we have crossed paths with two awesome young women hiking the trail - I think of them as 'warrior princesses' - Stucco and Scatters. They are smart, strong, carry big packs and walk fast. We keep catching them, because they take time off to visit friends in towns along the way, while Digby and I just trundle on.
The rocks are not as bad as Pennsylvania but they are still memorable, especially as we had relaxed into thinking that we had escaped the rocks, only to find the ridge from hell on the NewYork/NewJersey border.
One of the main memories will be the 'mayor's house', a place to stay for hikers in the little town of Unionsville which is only half a mile from the trail. We walked into town, and the general store gave us the directions - take the street behind the pub and then the first left and the second house on the left. It felt a bit strange to us wandering down the street hoping that we find the right house. Sure enough as we arrive at the second house, there is a white blaze on the lamp post out the front and somebody sees us and waves us in. Twenty hikers stay that night - 8 in a bunk room, and the rest camped on the back lawn. For a donation of $10, Butch and Bill cook us dinner and breakfast. Bill is 81 years old and runs the kitchen - he serves 20 hikers with a cheese omelette, fried potatoes, two chippalata sausages and a muffin, with jam. No fuss, he just keeps cooking and we keep eating.
We are now walking around 17 miles a day - sometimes up to 20 if the country is easy, and we have caught up to new hikers that we haven't met before - Sourdough, a naturalist from Alaska, Masterchief, a retired soldier, Sweet Tea, an older woman from Alabama, and Macguyver, a psychologist. A few times in the last week we have crossed paths with two awesome young women hiking the trail - I think of them as 'warrior princesses' - Stucco and Scatters. They are smart, strong, carry big packs and walk fast. We keep catching them, because they take time off to visit friends in towns along the way, while Digby and I just trundle on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)