Summer 2019 Section Hike- Day 4 - Palmerton to Leroy A. Smith Shelter

Total Miles today: 15.8
Total Miles on Section Hike: 56.1
Total AT miles hiked: over 850 (will calculate soon)

After a delicious breakfast at Bert's, they gave us a free shuttle to the trail. The drop off point was a couple hundred yards from where we got off the trail, so we started the day by backtracking. 

The climb out of Palmerton is quite literally a climb. 

After a particularly difficult rock climb, Sage paused to take a picture. When she got up, one of her trekking poles fell down to the bottom of the climb.

David quickly volunteered to climb down and get it for her.

Over 1k foot climb, much of it on rocks. But it wasn't raining, so it was kinda fun. Smooth, dry, flat trail is also fun. At least I've heard it can be...don't personally remember what it is like 

Not far from this point, I left my smartphone sitting on a rock. 3 downhill miles later, I realized my phone was missing..and realized where I left it. Our 3 mile day just became a 21 mile day. We started climbing the mountain we had just descended.

After 10 minutes, some nobo(northbound) hikers asked: " Did you lose a phone? The guy behind us has it." So we sat down to wait on him and eat lunch.

Reunited with my phone, a back to a 15 mile day, we hiked on through the Misty rainforests of Pennsylvania, periodically getting rained on. Exhausted, we stumbled into the shelter. Full. Looks like we will have to hang the hammocks.

The rain and the rocks continue to make this particularly challenging. Our feet are bruised and blistered, our shoes are torn up, and everything is soaked. At least it isn't cold.