Northern PA section

[Pastor Bryon]

Headed up next week. Current plan is to hike SB from DWG to Pt. Clinton.

How is the water of late? If dry, where are the places to tank up or look for water caches?

I've read that doing Lehigh SOBO can be challenging...any tips?

Is the reroute in the Palmerton area done?

Anything else I should know?

Thanks, y'all!

[Gambit McCrae]

I cant speak on water but I did this stretch in late October and had zero water issues. Its been a wet season so I would just take water concerns off the table.

Climbing down Lehigh is really only about 10 steps of difficulty, the rest just happens to be an open view.

[Slo-go'en]

That's a really dry section of trail at the best of times. The water for Kirkridge shelter might be turned off for the season (outside tap at near-by retreat building) so there would be no water from the DWG until you get to Leroy A Smith shelter and a 0.5 mile side trip to a reliable spring. The retreat has road access, so you could possibly cache water there.

You'll probably want to take the winter trail off the ridge to Palmerton instead of doing the rock scramble down the face of the cliff, although it's only a little sketchy near the top, the rest has been switchbacked, so not nearly as bad as it was when I first did it years ago when it went straight up. Took all the fun out it in my opinion.

This is also the section with all the small, loose, ankle twisting rocks for a trail.

[LittleRock]

I did that section NOBO mid-October last year. Fall colors were right about at peak then but probably well past now.

It's been wet up there this year so I imagine all of the water sources will be flowing. The worst part water-wise was the 20 miles between DWG and Leroy Smith Shelter. At this time of year the water cache I used at Wind Gap will likely be gone and the water tap at Kirkridge Shelter may be turned off, so it could be a long water carry.

Going down to Lehigh Gap shouldn't be too bad if it's dry. Just take it slow and you'll be fine. If it's raining or wet I'd recommend taking the Winter Trail.

[Toolshed]

I'm about 30 minutes from there.We've had a lot of rain as of late, so all water sources should be good. Having gone up and down the gap many times, I always preferred climbing up via the AT and back down via the winter route. I simply don't care for the exposure going down as I've gotten older. Also there is a reroute S of the Lehigh River - back to the old AT, which winds around the south side of the gap. IIRC, they just opened it 2 weeks ago.

[Teacher & Snacktime]

Since this is a Straight Forward post, let me contribute what I can....I've hiked SOBO from DWG to Smith Gap so far and found the trail easy, flat, and not too rocky. I was day-hiking so water was not a concern.

Now, since I share with the OP an interest in the answers here, I hope he doesn't mind if I hijack just a little for details.
I've been petrified of Lehigh since day one because of the exposure, the height, and the scramble, so have avoided continuing my southerly PA hiking.

Recently I had a very frightening crawl across the Bear Rocks Knife Edge south of Bake Oven Rd, and have concluded that balance issues are going to make Lehigh all but impossible.

Are you guys saying there's an alternate path? A safe one?

[Slo-go'en]

Recently I had a very frightening crawl across the Bear Rocks Knife Edge south of Bake Oven Rd, and have concluded that balance issues are going to make Lehigh all but impossible.
Are you guys saying there's an alternate path? A safe one?

I did the knife edge in the rain, that was a bit intimating. It's certainty easier to go up from Lehigh Valley then down. There is just one little tricky move near the very top.

But, yes, there is an easier way down via the blue blaze winter trail. It goes up along the north side of the ridge on an old road.

[Toolshed]

Yes - The Winter Or Blue Route -As you leave the parking lot on the East side of the river, and head down the flat old road (former rail line?), instead of turning Right to head up the trail, continue another half mile or so and you'll see the intersection of the blue route/winter route on the right . If you google Blue Route AT Palmerton, don't get confused by any of the new articles on the recent AT reroute of the old blue route "Northside Trail" located on the west side of the river - This has been occuring over the past few months. This is exactly on the opposite side of the Lehigh River of where you want to be.

Here is a link to the same question about 5-6 years ago.
https://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/sho...PA-(Palmerton)