DWG to Palmerton, PA Weekend Section (Flip-Flop)

[kolokolo]

I hiked the section from Delaware Water Gap to Palmerton, PA last weekend, and ended up doing a sort of flip-flop. I had a bit of trouble arranging a shuttle that would get me to the trail early enough on Saturday, so I decided to park in the middle and shuttle after my first day's hike was over. Wind Gap was conveniently located almost in the middle, so on Saturday I hiked from Wind Gap to Palmerton, where I had arranged for a shuttle to pick me up at 5 PM. After my shuttle to Delaware Water Gap, PA, (Thanks, Janet) I hiked North a bit (just so I could touch New Jersey), then headed South on the trail to just past the top of Mt Minsi. Overall, I think it was about 24 trail miles for the day. It rained quite a bit on Saturday night, and was pretty cold. That was the first time that I have gotten at all wet in my hammock. Since I was only out for one night, I wasn't too worried about it, though. On Sunday, I was up at 5:30 and on the trail by 6. I completed the 13 miles back to Wind Gap around 11:30. I had heard a lot about how rocky this section was, but I must admit that it wasn't as rocky as I expected. Sure, there were sections where I was scrambling over boulders (Wolf Rocks, descent into Lehigh Gap), and there were some sections where the footing was all rocks, but there were also many stretches where there were few or no rocks. I have one more section of PA to do (Port Clinton - Palmerton), maybe that one will have some real rocks!

[mdp9]

I think it's all about your expectations. I thought PA would be full of these TERRIBLE and MISERABLE rocks I'd heard about, and was pleasantly surprised that wasn't the case! I did find the state to be a little boring, but I think that's because PA suffers the misfortune of being just after half way when thru hikers are getting bored anyway.

Glad you had a good time!

[PosterNutbag]

Personally, I love hiking in PA. The rocks change up the terrain and you cant beat the Knifes edge and the Bear Rocks.....PA hiking "ROCKS"

[Skid.]

I thought the section you just did was the worst for rocks, and further south you will get some better views. Different people have different ideas of what to expect here in Pa. I don't mind big rocks so much, it's the smaller, sharp ones that get me, where there's no place to put your foot down between them.