I woke to the sound of rain hitting the tent. Such a pleasant sound. I decided to sleep in until the rain stopped which was around 7:00. I had breakfast and packed up. Then I visited with Bandit and Free Ball who had arrived after I had turned in for the night. Always good to see them. 🙂
I got on the trail around 8:00. It started to rain a little as I made my way through the first couple of boulder fields. At the George W. Outerbridge, shelter I cameled up and loaded up on water because there would be no drinkable water for 20 miles. Water is heavy!
The climb out of Lehigh Valley is listed as the 6th hardest climb on the AT. Think of it as a mile high pile of boulders. Lots of hand over hand climbing. Pretty intense at times. After the climb, the trail goes through the Palmerton Superfund site. So sad but the plants are starting to grow back now.
I saw my first rattlesnake there. The last 8 miles of the day were awesome single track, no boulder fields. Yay! I’m in my tent now in an unofficial campsite. Bandit and Free Ball just walked by and said, “Hi” through my tent wall. Haha. Fun day!