6/13 Goodbye Sweetheart

16.1 hiked today, 1259 miles N, 915 miles left
Leroy A. Smith Shelter

Dana has adapted quite well to trail life. She woke today early with me and on the advice of the inn operator we went down the street to get breakfast at the town diner. Then most of the rest of the morning was spent saying good bye. It was very odd because we spent so much time talking about Tucson that I felt like I was going to see her next week but I know it is going to be another rough three months.
Unfortunately I had fallen behind on my email and journaling so I couldn't ride with her in the shuttle to Reding, finish my in-town business, and make it to the next trail shelter. It was very importat that I make it to the next shelter as I currently have no tarp or tent. When Dana visited I sent my tarp and hammock forward on the trail and Dana brought a tent. Now Dana has taken that tent home and I have to hike about 20 miles to the post office that has my tarp. Until then my only shelter are those on the trail. It is somewhat risky, I know, but it is only for a day.
After Dana and I said our goodbyes I settled in at the library to do my business. I ended up sitting for about three hours typing away before I finally caught up on everything I needed to do. I realized my camera batteries had died so I picked some up at the Corner Store. I put my pack on and was talking to the clerk when I felt something wet on my right hip. My 3L Platapus water bladder had just sprung a leak. That left me in a bit of a bind as there was a long dry streatch coming up on the trail. I bought a 2 liter fruit punch from the store as a tempoary replacement but I will have to figure out what to do to replace the platy. Lucky for me the timing has been great with it happening not only in town but in a store where I could buy a substitute.
Then I wolfed down some pizza left over from last night and got a ride back to the trail. It was dizzeling when I got dropped off at the trail. In another stroke of luck the rain stopped just before my major accent and none of the clouds showed any signs of lightning. This held all day and though the sky was overcast it was cool too. This is real important because the upcomming trail was very exposed. First the inital climb is so steep that at times I had to use my hands and feet to navigate the bare lifeless rock. Then next there was a mostly treeless 4 miles that followed. The reason for this extreme exposure is the Palmerton zinc smelter at the base of the mountain. From what I have heard they realesed so much toxic smoke over the years that they rendered this mountain staril. Now it is a super-fund site where the feds are trying to get things growing by dumping soil, manure, and seeds onto the lifeless eroded rocky ground.
On the upside this portion of rideline has some of the very best views thus far. The trees are generally in small clumps so the view goes nearly 360 degrees around and even in the overcast sky was a sight to behold. The ground was generally a tanish color and was littled with the bleached hulks of barkless truncks and branches long dead. In places it looked like the remeants of a bomb with the trees all blow down in the same direcion like matchsticks. The only things growing were small shrubs, scrubby grasses and flowers, and the occasional stand of small pines. I suspect the plants are not growing more not only from the rocky soild but also from the lack of wind break. While I was up there the brezze was continous and I am sure during storms could blow much of the plant life away as they all proably have shallow root systems.
The trail through this section was generally on a dirt road so I made great time and could spend much time enjoying the view and the sureal alieness of it without fear of triping. Making these miles quickly was important as I bearly made it to shelter before dark. The next portion of trail was several kinds of rocky and slowed me down. I had 16 miles to do in the five and half hours before dark so I had no time to waste.
I made it to shelter just about 8:15PM after leaving town about 3PM so I made great time. I was worried the shelter might be full but it seems most of the people here are tenting so only two people are in the shelter; Caps and some person who was already asleep and that I never met. I made dinner as it got dark and chated with Caps.

In my rush of journaling yesterday I forgot to write about a couple things. Dana spoted a huge black bear while I was catching up with her. She said it was massive, black and 3 1/2 feet tall on all fours. I will let her write about it more.
Together we also spoted a grouse. We think it was trying to defend it's nest because it jumed out of the brush next to the trail and made an enormous amount of noise squaking and keep staying about 30 feet away just ahead of us. From what I heard they do this to distract and lead potential preditors away from their eggs. It was really cool to see but I couldn't get any good photos as the bird always was just outside of camera range and constantly moving to distract us.
Finally last night in Slatington we took a walk along the main street in town were we saw several historical markers and buildings dateing back to the 1800's that we in remarkably good shape. Slatington is proably not a great vacation destination but is certainly a friendly stop with a lot of interesting history. The name of the city come from the slate the city used to make into slates for students and backboards they made for schools.