Kevin's AT Thru Hike

Day 95, Sunday, 6/19 – It was kind of a sad morning. Genie and Splitzy didn’t hike out because Splitzy has a rash that needed attention. Dog Fish didn’t hike out because of her knee injury. So, at least temporarily, the group is splitting up.

Half Time, Birthday, and I hiked out together. We had our eyes set on a 20+ mile day. We’ve all had low motivation to hike the past week, so we figured planning a biggish day of hiking would get our motivation back. The strategy worked. We got an early start, and the miles came easy.

We stopped at the Lookout Hostel for lunch. It was a house type building that had been converted into a hiker hostel. It was bizarre that the hostel didn’t have any onsite staff. We essentially walked into an empty house, bought snacks and a pizza from the honor fridge, hung out outside, and went about our day.

What a great day of hiking. There was a lot of fun rock scrambling today. There were also a lot of great views along the way, which has not been the case for much of Pennsylvania. I had to pay close attention to the trail though. I saw three snakes directly on trail, and I almost stepped on one of them.

We planned on camping at George W. Outerbridge shelter tonight. I was the first to arrive, but it wasn’t long until Half Time and Birthday showed up. They had spent part of their day with Zen and Sonar, who were planning on stealth camping under a bridge in town. Half Time and Birthday also thought this was a good idea. It wouldn’t have been my first choice for a campsite location, but I went along with it.

I hiked 25 miles to the Lehigh River (mile 1260). Birthday, Half Time and I are stealth camping near the PA Route 873 bridge over the Lehigh River. I found some trees next to a road leading to a boat launch. There aren’t signs telling me I can’t camp here, but I’m guessing I can’t camp here. A few cars drove by and a few people walked by. So far, no one’s given me any trouble.