Hiking the Appalachian Trail
South to North - Georgia to Maine

Hey, I am checking in on a regular basis now. I guess the first part of the trip I was so concerned with getting home in time for graduation that all I did was hike, eat, and sleep.

But I just thought I would let you know how things were going. I think the last time I talked to you I was in Duncannon, PA. From there I went to Port Clinton and stayed at a shelter in the middle of town. I met a lot of nice people there. Now I am in Palmerton, PA and I stayed in the basement of the police department. It was not because I was in trouble. But they offer the bunkroom to thru hikers. It was pretty nice actually. It had mattresses and hot showers. The town was a pretty happening place. The local establishments had 50-cent drafts. Last night when we came in the back door of the police station, I felt like Otis from the Andy Griffith Show. The cop told us that if we were going to go out at night that we should come to the back door. You know - don't make a big scene of it - no commotion or stuff. I did feel like Otis in a way. If you ever watched that show. He was the town drunk and he would just let himself into the jail cell , but there is no cell - I was hoping - I asked the receptionist when we signed in if we were gonna be behind bars, but she said no. Just a big bunkroom.

I guess I want to touch on my first case of Hikers Blues. They say most hikers get it when they go through Virginia because it is such a long state - but I was so preoccupied with getting home for graduation and doing the really big miles, it never hit me there. From Duncannon on the weather went on a two week rainy, dreary downward spiral. There were no views. That really pumps me up when you get to the top of a mountain and you can chill out there for awhile and catch your breath. But I don't know -- it just got to the point where -- I just didn't know. You know I told you before that when it is hot I like to hike in the mornings and take the afternoons off but when it is cold and rainy you get out of bed late and just try to get to the next shelter. You know right at the point when I said "wow - this sucks. And I could not believe I had gotten to this point. The very next day I was heading up towards Pinnacle, that was the next big site and I was thinking - that’s just great - I will not be able to see anything. Which I did not. I just continued to hike on. The Pinnacle was supposed to be Pennsylvania's best view and I did not get to see it. But then that day I hiked a little bit farther and the clouds started clearing and the sun started breaking through. It was funny because I was hiking with this guy and just to cheer us up and just to make the day fun we played this game with the rocks. The object of the game was don't let your feet touch the ground and we kind of get started cruising and when were passing these people who would be cussing the rocks. Lots of negative talk about these rocks. The rocks are so big – they are great - because you can jump from rock to rock to rock. Hikers have negative words towards Pennsylvania because of the rocks. We talked to some of them about how it was kinda nice to have a change. Then we went across the knife-edge and it was pretty hectic - off one side you are 400 feet up in the air. Then we came across Bear Rocks and we took our packs off and just rock climbed for the afternoon. Man it did me a world of good just to sit in the sun and soak up some rays. OK the weather was going to get better and things were going to start looking up and they were. It was a great day. Then we hiked a little farther and got to Bake Oven Knob. Which is just a beautiful cliff It has this great view of I believe it is Allentown PA We dropped our packs there to hike .6 miles to the shelter. We did not want to feel like we were backtracking so we left our packs there. We had to make a water run so we went to the shelter to get water. Some hikers thought we were crazy to go out of our way to go back and hike over some of these big rocks again, bet we liked it. We got back to Bake Oven Knob and went to the West Side of the mountain and saw the sunset. We camped on the East Side. Sleeping out on the rocks. A couple of locals came up to where we were. Teenagers mostly. I guess it was graduation and in Allentown they put off these huge fireworks. I mean they were miles and miles away. We could not hear them but we got to see them. I woke up and got a beautiful picture of the sunrise. We hung out there for the day then we went on to Palmerton, where I am now.

I talked to my manager at the bank, Tim Pinnel (editors note: not sure of the spelling of Tim’s last name), he told me that my ex manager Toni Gussek, she is going to be in NY City around July 4th and mentioned that she was talking about going to the David Letterman show. If I can't get to a baseball game maybe I can go to the Letterman show.

It is funny this trip, man I am soaking up all it has to offer. It is kinda like college you know with its diverse cultures. It is funny because, this happened before in Pine Grove. The waitresses come up and its like "wadda ya have" and you know - well I guess that I am just an old country boy and southern hospitality just does not exist here. I was like what is up with that. Here in Palmerton they are the same. The other hikers I was hiking with are from the north and they were like - nothing is wrong with that. Then they did not give free refills and I was like what's up with that. No refills on cokes. Usually they give you refills on cokes. The mom and pop stores don't do that. But the big chains do. Amazing how such little things can make a difference.

It is funny that up north I took it as being rude, and they are used to it, where they took it as normal. I guess they are used to a faster pace. I looked at it with open eyes. I did not have blinders on. It is a good exposure to me. I am exposed to everything. Like I said, I am in the jail-house now. Well, actually the basement of the police station. I still think that is really funny. Let's see, where am I heading. I'm gonna do like 16 miles today and go into Wind Gap to pick up my mail drop. I am 40 miles from Delaware Water Gap, which is real close to the end of PA.

Like I said I have had a great time except for the week when it was dreary. The only rocks that got on my nerves were the ones that were the size of softballs because you could easily twist your ankles, but I loved when we went rock climbing. The are not huge cliffs or anything but we climbed up the sides of pretty good-sized cliffs or boulders. Whatever! I'm pretty pumped up about that. I know I am rambling now but I am trying to give you more information now that I can take my time to actually enjoy it. I am only doing 16 miles per day. I guess I am milking it for all it is worth. I know that when I finish, all I have to do is go home and get a job. Join the real world. Anyway, I hope you have a great week. Talk to you soon.

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