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Appalachian Trail 8/29/08...

Joined
Aug 23, 2007
Messages
17,569
Points
0
Date(s) Hiked: Friday August 29th 2008

Trails(s) Hiked: Appalachian trail west of the little Gap

Total Distance: 7 miles

Difficulty: moderate

Conditions: cloudy, misty, rainy..a little slick in spots..

Special Required Equipment: a lighter in case of emergency

Trip Report: Hey All, I'm back from a fun late afternoon hike on the Appalachian Trail. I arrived at the parking area near the entrance to Blue mountain ski area at 4:16PM and www.paskiandride.com own Atomic Jeff was there. There was only one car in the parking lot and we immediately hit the trail. The temperature was 73 degrees under Overcast skys with a bit of fog.

We took the Switchback route up to the ridge west of the Little Gap. This trail climbs about 500 vertical feet in the length of about 1 mile. Once we got up to the powerline we traversed over to the wider Main Trail which has less rock scrambling. It's smooth enough in lots of areas to Mountain Bike. On this section of trail I've seen Bears(not barking Bears..lol), Turkeys, snakes and Deer. Today the only wildlife I saw was a pigeon and a frog. As we continued west along the ridge it began to rain intermittently and I was actually a little chilly. I can see how hikers can get hypothermia in 50 degree temperatures since it was about 65 degrees with the rain but the realfeel was much cooler. We continued along the ridge and had a really nice view of Palmerton which used to be the hot spot for Zinc and Uranium. This section of trail is void of trees due to a century of mining.

After about 3.5-4 miles of hiking..we decided to stop and have a safety meeting where the trail gets really rocky above the Lehigh River/Lehigh Gap..this section it's alot of rock scrambling which was semi-dangerous due to the rain..the perfect place for a safety meeting..because you can never be too safe. At this point it was around 6PM so we decided to head back before darkness set in. The way back is all flat and downhill so it's much quicker. We dropped from an oxygen deprieving 1400 feet down to 900 feet and dusk was just starting to set in when we got back to the parking area around 7:30PM. All in all it was a nice hike. Next time I want to go East on the Appalachian trail by Blue mountain ski area which requires more rock scrambling on the initial ascent.

On the way home I stopped off at Sheetz for ghetto nachos and Sugar Free Red Bull..Atomic Jeff snapped a few pictures on his IPhone which I'll post in this thread when he uploads them..
 

drjeff

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Messages
19,178
Points
113
Location
Brooklyn, CT
Date(s) Hiked: Friday August 29th 2008

Trails(s) Hiked: Appalachian trail west of the little Gap

Total Distance: 7 miles

Difficulty: moderate

Conditions: cloudy, misty, rainy..a little slick in spots..

Special Required Equipment: a lighter in case of emergency

Trip Report: Hey All, I'm back from a fun late afternoon hike on the Appalachian Trail. I arrived at the parking area near the entrance to Blue mountain ski area at 4:16PM and www.paskiandride.com own Atomic Jeff was there. There was only one car in the parking lot and we immediately hit the trail. The temperature was 73 degrees under Overcast skys with a bit of fog.

We took the Switchback route up to the ridge west of the Little Gap. This trail climbs about 500 vertical feet in the length of about 1 mile. Once we got up to the powerline we traversed over to the wider Main Trail which has less rock scrambling. It's smooth enough in lots of areas to Mountain Bike. On this section of trail I've seen Bears(not barking Bears..lol), Turkeys, snakes and Deer. Today the only wildlife I saw was a pigeon and a frog. As we continued west along the ridge it began to rain intermittently and I was actually a little chilly. I can see how hikers can get hypothermia in 50 degree temperatures since it was about 65 degrees with the rain but the realfeel was much cooler. We continued along the ridge and had a really nice view of Palmerton which used to be the hot spot for Zinc and Uranium. This section of trail is void of trees due to a century of mining.

After about 3.5-4 miles of hiking..we decided to stop and have a safety meeting where the trail gets really rocky above the Lehigh River/Lehigh Gap..this section it's alot of rock scrambling which was semi-dangerous due to the rain..the perfect place for a safety meeting..because you can never be too safe. At this point it was around 6PM so we decided to head back before darkness set in. The way back is all flat and downhill so it's much quicker. We dropped from an oxygen deprieving 1400 feet down to 900 feet and dusk was just starting to set in when we got back to the parking area around 7:30PM. All in all it was a nice hike. Next time I want to go East on the Appalachian trail by Blue mountain ski area which requires more rock scrambling on the initial ascent.

On the way home I stopped off at Sheetz for ghetto nachos and Sugar Free Red Bull..Atomic Jeff snapped a few pictures on his IPhone which I'll post in this thread when he uploads them..


So where are the pics of the ghetto nachos there GSS?? ;)
 
Joined
Aug 23, 2007
Messages
17,569
Points
0
So where are the pics of the ghetto nachos there GSS?? ;)

Sorry no pictures...Sheetz is a mid-Atlantic staple like Wawa..They have touch screens where you can order hot dogs, hamburger, hoagies(grinders/Submarines), breakfast sandwichs and other things. They have regular nachos which is just chips and steeze and they have deluxe nachos which are like $3.99...It has the round tortilla chips with nacho cheese whiz..chili...and salsa..I also like onions in it. On friday afternoons when I get out of work early..I love to hit up Sheetz on the way to Blue mountain for some ghetto nachos and Sugar Free Red Bull..It's hard to drive and eat nachos at the same so I do some parking lot pimping at Sheetz..when the ladies see me earing nachos..they know IMA Baller..Holla:spread:
 

Trekchick

Active member
Joined
Oct 19, 2007
Messages
3,131
Points
36
Location
Reno - North Lake Tahoe
Sounds like a nice stroll, but its kinda..................
worthless.gif


Had to be said ;)
 
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