N side of Lehigh Gap
J: Stayed last night at the 'jailhouse' shelter. Descended down into Lehigh Gap, past the train track and the turnpike, and roadwalked into Palmerton with Indy and Sherbear.
I don't think we were in town five minutes before a deputy driving by stopped abruptly, rolled down the passenger side window and started berating Sherbear about being in town. I said I thought he had the wrong person. He lashed out, 'I'm not talkin' to you! Are you interferring here?' I just put my hands up and stepped back to watch what he did next. I'm pretty pro-LEO. It not a job where one is constantly involved with the happiest, sanest or most pleasant people and most cops I know are regular folk, but some get off on the whole authority/bully mindset. I wasn't interested in getting busted on some cheap trump charge. He seemed to realize his mistaken i.d., but didn't apologize, curtly addressing Sheri and abruptly drove off. Welcome to Palmerton, the only armpit of Pennsylvania I've ever visited.
Ironically, we were going to stay in the jailhouse shelter, the basement of the borough hall for the night. The ladies went ot check it out. I headed over to the Palmerton 'Towne Laundry', a converted store. Perhaps a former shoe store or clothing shoppe in another incarnation; pop music intermingles with the squeal of belts and pulleys as a dozen machines labor with wash loads local and transient. I think it's Elton John - the music, not the squeal.
Once the laundry was done, met up with Yeti in town. We ducked into the Palmerton Hotel for a beer during the heat of the afternoon.
This morning, toured nearly all of Palmerton looking for a way across the stream to bushwack up Blue Mountain through the EPA zone. I really didn't want to walk back to the turnpike. No luck. Went to the zinc plant - they wouldn't let me through. So road-walked back to the trailhead and up the N side of Lehigh Gap. Man, even when I want to cheat, I can't. The accidental purist again!
In the photo, it's hard to see, but there are at least three blazes on the rocks defining the trail through this dead land. The climb up from the valley is as much a rock talis scramble as anything else, over the same terrain. And yes, that's the A.T. coming down the far ridge on the right edge.