Today was full of surprises. But the story starts with last night’s storm. When I arrived at the shelter, I checked the weather and noted that there was a severe storm barreling down on us. It was the end of the day and Palmerton was still another 9 1/2 miles away, so I knew there was no way that I could make it before it got dark. There was nothing to do but set up and ride the storm out.

Now there was a note in the shelter, saying that it was home to yet another porcupine. There was even a stick that was used to ward off the porcupine. I didn’t really want to deal with a porcupine in the middle of the night, so I decided to set up my hammock a little down the slope in the trees.

While I was setting up, a group of about six through-hikers including Dreamsickle and Lucky were at the shelter discussing their options. Being young and daring, they decided to go ahead and hike through to Palmerton. They departed, leaving me alone in the shelter. I got my gear set up and waterproofed as best I could. I then went up to the shelter to eat dinner. About that time Intrepid came in. She was staying at the shelter as well and decided that the storm warranted her risking the porcupine in the shelter.

The weather forecast called for rain all night and 100% chance the next day. Since my plan was already to stay in Palmerton, I contacted a shuttle driver and arranged for her to pick me up at a takeout point 2 1/2 miles away from the shelter. Originally, I told her to pick me up around 10 o’clock, but then I noticed that the next day was Sunday. Since I hadn’t been to Mass in three weeks, I checked for a Catholic church in Palmerton and found Sacred Heart. It had a Mass at 9:30 AM. I contacted my driver and asked her if she could pick me up by 8:30 AM, to which she said yes.

My next order of business was to find a place to stay in Palmerton. I checked the FarOut app and noticed that there was a recommendation for a place called the Sunny Rest Resort. I called them and made a reservation for the next night.

It started raining about 7 PM, but the real storm didn’t come through until about midnight. We found out today that the storm dumped 2 inches of rain in one hour. Surprisingly, my hammock set up worked perfectly, and I stayed dry the whole night.

Now, the trail in this section varied between a tip toe through the tulips and the murderous boulder rocks from hell. I decided to get up at 5 AM assuming that it was not still raining, pack up and get out as fast as I could. This I did. I was able to leave the shelter at 6:15 and I arrived at the extraction point at 8:15. Just as I arrived I heard some clicking behind me. Intrepid had decided that she didn’t want to hike in the rain either, and so she asked if she could ride my shuttle with me. Of course, I said yes and so we both rode into town, about a 15 minute ride. Jo Anne, our shuttle driver dropped me off at the church.

It was still an hour before the start of Mass. Not surprisingly, the priest was already in front of the church praying. I interrupted his prayers and asked if there was someplace that I could put some dry clothes on. He not only directed me to the bathroom but told me where I could put my pack and poles in the sacristy during the mass so that nobody will bother them. I made an offhand remark to him that I had not been to Mass in three weeks because I’d been on the trail. He responded by saying, “We’ll, the confessional is right there.” So I had my second confession in three weeks.

The Mass was a typical one, it being the 15^th Sunday in ordinary time. The gospel reading was the parable of the sower from Matthew. Afterwards, I called the hotel and arranged for them to come and pick me up, which they did. When I got to the check-in, the first thing I noticed was that one of the clerks was a black transgender person with a shaved head, lipstick and low-cut dress. I thought this was somewhat peculiar. Then, while I was paying and signing forms, an elderly gentleman walked up beside me. I know I must’ve done a double take because he was butt-naked with his junk hanging out in front. It was then that I noticed that everyone at the pool was also naked, as well as several people walking up and down the streets. Somehow, I had stumbled upon a nudist colony. It must’ve given them a good laugh to pick up a hiker coming from church to stay with them.

I’ve never been in a nudist colony before. I wouldn’t say that I was scandalized, but perhaps embarrassed. This place was not just a hotel, but essentially an entire colony of small houses and manufactured bungalows. And everyone drives golf carts. It’s very strange to see naked people driving golf carts. After spending a day here, my observation is that anyone who feels the need to takeoff their clothes in public shouldn’t.

I ate some breakfast in the restaurant and met a lovely woman named Jill, who used to be a principal at a public school. (Don’t worry, Allyson, she was fully clothed.) Since I was the only person in the restaurant, we talked for a while. It was a normal interaction, which seemed very out of place in this place. Throughout the day, I was able to wash up, do my laundry, consolidate my gear, plan the next four days, and basically prepare for tomorrow’s hike. In the evening, I went back to the restaurant and had some Chicken Parmesan. It was interesting, because there was a band playing by the pool, and even the members of the band were naked.

Tomorrow, I will start the last leg of my hike. I should arrive in Stroudsburg on Wednesday. But I’ve planned for a layover day just in case the rocks are bad. More to come.

Today’s Mileage: 2.5

Total Trail Miles: 234.9

Today was an interesting day. It started at the St. John’s pavilion where I stayed for a second night. I had arranged for a shuttle driver, Steve, to pick me up at 9 o’clock. So I got up about 6 o’clock, packed my stuff, looked at the clock and still had almost an hour and a half before the pick-up. I called Steve to confirm that he was coming at nine and I asked him if he could pick me up at the 3C café, which is about a 10-minute walk up the hill from the pavilion. He said he could so I started the hike up the hill.

 Now, the 3C restaurant has a reputation for home cooked food and large portions. When I got there, I ordered the 3C special omelette, which is a three-egg omelette with peppers, onions, and ham. It was about the worst omelette I’ve ever eaten. It had white American cheese melted on the top and the eggs were so done that they were brown in places. The orange juice even tasted a little off so overall I was not impressed with the 3C restaurant.

Steve called me at about 8 o’clock and said that he would be up there at about 830, which is 30 minutes earlier than we agreed, but that’s OK because I was ready to go anyway. He said he drove a red Dodge Dart. Now I was thinking of a Dodge Dart like Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers used to talk about, but this was a new Dodge Dart. It didn’t make any difference, because the interior was so bad that it’s hard to describe. Now, when I met Steve yesterday in the barbershop, he had his English bulldog with him who promptly started to lick my leg for five minutes until I finally shewed him away, I guess he liked the salt from the sweat. Well, apparently Steve’s dog lived in the Dodge Dart car because it was covered, ceiling to floor with dog hair and dander. In fact, the front seat looked like it was made out of camel hair, not vinyl. Steve himself is about 83 years old, walks with a gimp, is missing some of his front teeth on the top in the bottom, and smells like Winston cigarettes. Needless to say, it was an interesting shuttle ride up to the ridge. Steve talked about Second Amendment, hunting, girls shooting, and the Second Amendment again. That kind of gives you a taste of where Steve was.

I made it up to the top of the ridge without further incident. This particular portion of the forest was very dense, with much shorter, smaller more numerous trees, but well laid soft path, at least in the first section. It felt almost as if I was inside a room rather than in the forest. As usual, the path started out soft and got progressively rocky as the day went on. After about 2 miles in, there is a section which is called the Knife. It’s literally a diagonal stack of massive rock shelves at the top of the ridge that runs for almost a quarter of a mile. Very difficult to hike over. I was able to get some video and some good shots of the views. Beautiful trail, but very difficult and definitely a four-point climb in some places. At one point I had to sit down and scramble through a narrow defile of rocks and my pack got caught and scraped the fabric off of one of my water bottle holders. I’m definitely going to have to get a new pack next season.

I bumped into Dreamsickle and Lucky somewhere in there. Of course, they were faster than me, but I managed to catch them in about 3 miles at a road where they were sitting with some friends, eating steaks, watermelon, and soda. Definitely trail magic. They invited me to have some of their watermelon, which I eagerly accepted. We chatted for a while, and then I went on.

I was able to make it to Bake Oven Knob Shelter. The water is excellent here, but the shelter is inhabited by yet another porcupine. So I pitched my hammock slightly down the slope toward the spring, and prepared for rain, which is expected tonight around 9 o’clock. It’s supposed to rain most of the night, and I am going to make sure that I am prepared and will not get wet this time.

Tomorrow, I will hike into Palmerton and stay somewhere there. That’s the last town that I’ll hit before I get to Stroudsburg in about four days. The trail is still fairly difficult, but I guess my feet are getting used to it. Overall, this was a great day.

Today’s Mileage: 6.2

Total Trail Miles: 226.8