AT Trip Report (PA) w/ Pics

“Today I did a 9 mile dayhike on the AT heading west/south from the Lehigh Gap. It was warm and sunny, with increasing humidity from the day before. I planned on hiking the AT, and two side trails, the North and South Trails, to hike a figure 8 loop.

On the drive in I saw many hikers heading to Palmerton, the closest town. A few were thruhikers. From the parking area, the trail climbs fairly steeply with rocks to a spring and Outerbridge Shelter. From there the grade was more gradual to the top of the ridge with many nice views from meadows. There were tons of ripe blueberries along the trail that were tasty. I turned on the South Trail, which follows a rugged ridgeline with lots of rockslopes and talus; the views were awesome and continuous. Some of the best views along the AT in PA, and unlike the Pinnacle or Bake Oven Knob, I had it all to myself, except for two vultures who kept perch near an overhang. All the scrambling was ton of fun.

I returned to the AT and proceeded back to the North Trail. I was minding my merry business when I saw a man, buck naked, right on the trail, 15 feet ahead of me. His girlfriend had her shorts around her ankles and her top off. She exclaimed, "People are coming." So I waited and looked away as they got dressed The guy struggled to get his shorts on and said "Sorry about that." The girl was wasn't bad looking, either, for the brief seconds I saw her. I felt bad for disturbing them and the girl was embarassed, but they were right on the most popular trail in the world, on a summer weekend, with many other hikers, what did they expect? So here are some rules when it comes to trail sex: (1) consider going 15 feet off the trail, or more (2) don't completely disrobe so when you are caught you're not dancing around trying to get your shorts on.

After they got dressed, I followed them along the trail a short ways. I wanted to pass them, but they soon took an access road.

The North Trail was also awesome with many views from meadows. Here I saw a deer and her fawn, many baby wild turkeys, and a fox hunting them. I descended steeply to Devils Pulpit, and alright view of the Lehigh Gap that isn't quite worth the steep hike. I returned to the AT and back to my car.

http://community.webshots.com/album/559608424BaNqSx?vhost=community”

“Good story Jmitch. One would think that anyone on the AT knows that odds are they are not alone. LOL! All that space, and they couldn't manage to get out of sight...
Sounds like a good hike though. I am thinking about putting together a weekender in pa or va on the AT. Where exactly is this figure 8 that you did?”

“34 photos and not a single nekkid girl.

Sounds like a good campfire story though!”

“only thing I'd do different is the looking away part.

=)”

“Awesome views and awkward moments, but no pics of the naked guy?? :) Enjoyable reading--thanks.”

“LOL good story. But i am sure they are laughing about it now. you were a good guy for giving them a few mins to get it together. someone else might have gone by sreaming that a rabid bear was coming....teeheee”

“Nice report and pictures. I had a similar thing happen to me about 10 years ago. Hiking down a local trail to go fishing, two people were naked on a beach towel a few yards off the trail and having sex. They didn't bother to get dressed and just stayed there. When I hiked back out a few hours later they were still there but in a different position. LOL...”

“Did you at least say "thanks for the pix!"? ;)”

“I think june 21st is hike naked day on the AT”

“It is. But they weren't hiking. Or even practicing LNT guidelines, ew.”

“When scouting for the new MST that we were working on last week, I found a mattress next to the future trail with a bright purple condom next to it. I propose Rule 3) Bring a Ziploc and use it! ;} (Wouldn't help with the mattress, obviously this was right next to a not-very-heavily traveled road...)”

“Hey jmitch!!
Nice report and thanx for the pics. The same thing happened to me once, but I was squirrel hunting at the time and had a gun with me! They were sure surprised!! The girl had her pants down to her ankles and just stood there!! Oh man, the look on her face was priceless!! I just walked on by and told em to take it off the trial!
See ya later.
Randall”

“Nice report and pics jmitch.”

“Sweet! Zowy, jmitch taking pics? What's next, cooking meals on the trail? ;o)

Jeff, you were in Crazypace country. He lives about 1 mile from Lehigh Gap. We prefer to rappel down to the Devil's Pulpit. Easier and mucho fun.”