tails back on the trail

I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but I think I'm getting tired of the D&L! This challenge is tough.

The positives: It's relatively flat, groomed and scenic. The negatives: It's relatively flat, groomed and pretty much the same scene over and over. I should have realized that since I did the one-day hike on a canal path. Today we remembered the Deep Woods Off! so it was a much less buggy hike.

We met at "Trail Master Central" at 7, and arrived at the Allentown Trailhead to hike about 7:30. For kicks and giggles we checked the bathrooms and they were open! Two weeks in a row. Maybe Allentown got my memo? Also, the picnic pavilion was void of goose poop. Thank goodness.

Depending on the map you pick, it's 3.9 miles to Bethlehem, or 4.1 miles to Bethlehem, or Bonnie's watch said 4.9 miles and Dawn's said 5.1.  Clearly, someone needs a new measuring tape.

So lets call it 4 miles. The round trip would be 8. Lydia needed to go to a picnic at noon, so we parked her car in Bethlehem, and mine in Allentown. They were going one-way. Bonnie and I round trip. Most of the hike was in the shade, but it is so humid, you can cut the air with a knife. Bonnie made the executive decision that this was a one-way walk.

Three quarters of the walk was done next to busy railroad tracks. When we reached Bethlehem, we finally dumped the train and heard birds singing. That was nice.

The pixs below were taken at the Bethlehem lock, about 3/4 away from the Hill To Hill Bridge.

Tomorrow, we are headed up to the slate belt to do more of the D&L. This time, 8 miles for sure. Bonnie is picking me up at 6, then we'll get Lyd about 6:30 and start hiking at 7. Hopefully it will be a little cooler. I have no idea what the shade is like up there. The mountains were stripped of vegetation with the zinc mines. We'll see. If we need to cut it short again we will.

But the Biggest Loser Half Marathon is only 6 weeks away. I haven't gotten Lyd up to 10 miles yet. We're running out of time.
We'll have a break from it next week with the Biggest Loser Off-Road Challenge on Saturday. Then Lyd and Dawn need to get their Passport rubbings in Martins Creek and Jacobsburg. That's on tap for Sunday, probably.