Miles: 1274.6 | A slow morning after the roadside scare leads to a hard Pennsylvania day marked by failing trekking poles, sharp rocks, and the iconic Lehigh Gap climb. Shaded skies and sweeping views carry us through a 20-mile push, but a dry stretch and a distant water source end the night hungry and thirsty—grateful for familiar faces at the shelter and too exhausted to go on.
We woke up late because of the fiasco by the road the night before. Supersize had left us a nice pile of blueberries on a rock outside our tents. The view from camp was beautiful and a nice breeze blew through as we got up. We packed up slowly and agreed to walk together for a while. My poles had been a problem since Neel Gap in Georgia (a long time ago at this point).
The locks wouldn't stay and the poles kept collapsing. I tried tightening them and loosening them and tightening them again. They wouldn't stay tight anymore. I didn't really have enough money to get new ones and I didn't want my parents to have to pay for them. Unfortunately, My tent couldn't be pitched without trekking poles and I was a mess walking without them. I posted about them on Facebook, not thinking anything would happen but hoping someone might be able to help. I turned off my phone to save battery and walked with Miles.
We had planned on only doing 16 miles that day, but we realized we were pretty close to Wind Gap (our next town stop) and decided to push ourselves. The Pennsylvania terrain was sharp and rocky this day. My feet hurt terribly and my body was tired. Miles and I made up to Lehigh Gap, the most daunting climb of Pennsylvania and the biggest rock scramble we'd seen yet.
We had planned on only doing 16 miles that day, but we realized we were pretty close to Wind Gap (our next town stop) and decided to push ourselves. The Pennsylvania terrain was sharp and rocky this day. My feet hurt terribly and my body was tired. Miles and I made up to Lehigh Gap, the most daunting climb of Pennsylvania and the biggest rock scramble we'd seen yet.
We made it to the base and slowly started climbing over the big rocks. Hand over feet we climbed for almost a mile up out of Lehigh. The climb turned out to be more fun than hard. The clouds provided nice shade for a while as the impending storm rolled overhead. Thankfully it didn't rain while we were climbing. The views from the climb were so cool. We could see further than we'd been able to at any of the views before in Pennsylvania.
After Lehigh we stopped for a snack near the new Superfund site. We powered through the day, taking in some of the views.
We pushed ourselves into the dim evening light. We could be in town the next day if we just keep pushing. We were thirsty and there was no water to be found. If we made it to the next shelter we could find water. In the evening light we made it to the shelter before sunset. 20 miles in 9 hours. A fire burned near the tent sites and we headed toward it with a small "Woo!" We'd caught up to the Woo Crew again!
They told us the water was almost a mile away. Mile and I were far too cooked to get water. We agreed to just share his tent. We split the liter of water I had left and ate some snacks instead of making dinner (which would require water). I went to bed hungry and thirsty.