Day 12 - .9 mile - Slatington, PA - Fine Lodging Hotel



Fine Lodging Hotel

You never know what to expect on the trail.  We left camp at 7:10 am and by 7:40 am were being whisked to Statlington for a Nero day (day with some trail time and some in town).  As I got to the road and was looking at my map, a car pulled in and the driver said he had just dropped off a hiker called The Professor (I met him two weeks ago) to start the climb out of Lehigh and offered a lift to town in Slatington.  We landed up at Fine Lodging Hotel, an old hotel that serves as mostly a modest apartment complex.  The few vacant rooms are rented to the hikers.  Simple with common bathrooms, but clean and plenty of hot water.

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Took a walk around town.  Sad to see all the vacant little store fronts on Main Street.  I can image how nice the town once was during its heyday.  Seems that the town is the historic center for the production of blackboards!  And we all know where that story ends.  Wandered into the local hardware store and could have stayed for  hours. It was the old fashioned type with a little bit of everything tucked away in various nooks and corners.  The owner said that the only thing that kept them in existence was that they sold ammo and guns on the second floor.  WalMart has put the hurt on small stores in this town.  What a shame.  The town folk are very friendly (unlike in Port Clinton) toward hikers.  I am at the library right now and they immediately welcomed me in and asked how they could help.  I like small towns.

Well time to get some rest and plenty of food.  We are debating on taking on a 20 mile slack pack tomorrow.  It will be the one sunny day in ages and could be a tough hike if it gets to the high 80's.