Day 112
Start: Campsite near Ashfield Road
End: Leroy Smith Hideout
Miles hiked: 22.0
Miles on AT: 1277.3
The problem with the AT is that once clothes are soaking wet, they rarely dry. It takes a day of high temperatures and direct sunlight, so hanging wet clothes overnight isn’t enough. So today I woke up with damp, cold clothes and put them on to start the day. Refreshing!
We were all heading to roughly the same place today, hoping to find a hidden spot about a mile past a water supply we would reach later in the day. Each of us started our day at our own pace.
The first few miles of the day brought me to a beautiful section of trail that skirted the side of a ridge, looking down on the town below. It’s so rare to have an unobstructed view of the valley below for any length of time. I stopped so many times to just take in the view and enjoy the breeze.
Looking up at the rock face in front of me
I stopped for a morning snack and called my aunt to chat a bit before continuing on. Ahead of me was a climb I had heard a lot about, but I really had no idea what to expect. It was the climb out of Lehigh Gap. I had heard it was quite a scramble, but after the scaremongering about Knife’s Edge, I figured it wouldn’t be as bad as people said.
When I got there, the rocks were big but doable. But then the climb began. And let me tell you, this was much more than just hiking, this was a quick crash course in rock climbing. I had to find handholds, get a good grip on the rock, and pull myself up the vertical climb. I wasn’t mentally prepared for this, so I had to take a few deep breaths and remind myself not to look down. Overall, it was definitely a fun challenge, but I was grateful to have solid ground beneath my feet when I got to the top.
For the climb, I was rewarded with a relatively new trail that offered great views of the surrounding valleys. I met a man who had worked on this piece of land for a long time and he told me his story. Apparently there was a metal processing plant here that polluted the area so badly that everything died and it became a Superfund site. Decades of dedicated restoration work brought back the trees and wildlife and made it a suitable place for day and long-distance hikers. It was pretty cool to see real, meaningful environmental work in the real world.
Soon it was lunchtime and I knew exactly where I wanted to go. A ski resort was just 0.2 miles off the trail, so I took the unofficial blue marker and enjoyed a hearty lunch of hamburgers, fries and ice cream – yum! I spent a lot of time there drying out a few things (including my tent) from yesterday and last night.
When I got back on the trail, it was a little later than I had planned, but I decided to go as long as I could today. The trail was actually pretty good on this section, so I made good time. I reached the water reservoir, which served as my “1 mile to go” marker, and headed for Stretch. Since we had the same idea of camping right after the water reservoir, we looked for a spot that would work for both of us.
Unfortunately, there were no good hiding places on this section; the ground was too rocky. Instead of 1.5 km, we had to walk 5 km to the next shelter. By the time we got there, it was already dark and the time I had planned to stop was long past. Plus, there were sooooo many people in the area. There were people in the shelter, at least 5 tents and hammocks near the shelter trail, and a few more tents in the shelter campsite.
The house was packed and I had a hard time finding the ideal spot to set up, especially since it was dark outside. But Stretch and I eventually found a spot. I wolfed down some snacks in the dark since I hadn’t gotten around to eating dinner and called it a day.
And this is day 112.
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