Knife’s Edge

May 11-12, 2025

Rt. 309 to Breezy Acres hostel, Palmerton PA

Mile 1261.4

Through most of the day and evening, I’d been a little nervous (okay, more than a little) about some of the upcoming terrain—one section about three miles out, Knife’s Edge, in particular. Its name describes the situation: a pointed, bouldery ridge line to walk along, with some hand-and-foot scrambling on the ups and downs. I knew that there were areas coming up, Knife’s Edge among them, that required stowing your poles and using hands and feet to climb or navigate; while I’d gotten a lot more comfortable in these last weeks as a hiker, I still didn’t think of myself as a climber, or even a scrambler. If I’m worried about a thing, I tend to talk it out to anyone nearby, taking my internal monologue external. This meant that Yardsale, Trash Tye, Bob, Lew, Gabby, Amanda and Matt the next day, and anyone who stopped in to the hostel for any reason knew I was a bit anxious about it. 

Trash Tye sent a text after she’d covered the section to tell me it wasn’t too bad. I ended up exchanging contact info with one of my Euchre partners as well, and got encouraging messages once they’d moved on. Yardsale pointed out some pictures on the hostel wall of Knife’s Edge, and reassured me that I’d be fine. I spent a great afternoon with Amanda and Matt; they helped me get to a store to replace some gear and then we found a local food truck with great barbecue for a little outdoor picnic. They, too, reassured me. I went to bed thinking about how much support I’d gotten over the last day or so, in so many different ways.

The goal was to be packed by 7 and out by 8 this morning. Between campers and hostel guests, the kitchen was full, with lots of section hikers and trail talk. I keep surprising myself with how much I know, but I continue to try and be more of a listener than a talker. Far as I could tell, there was only one guy who had started in Georgia within this group—Frankenstein. I conveyed the message his fellow thru hiker from yesterday had left for him, and we talked for a bit. Frankenstein managed to be more of a listener than I was, so that’s me with some improvement still needed, I suppose. 

I’m not sure that I knew this about myself, but I don’t think I’m into heights. I’m finding myself reluctant to go to the edge of a lookout, and I definitely feel anxiety being up on rocks without a truly solid footing.

After all my anxiety, I managed to make it over without too much actual trouble. It was slow going, and one of the section hikers from this morning passed me by, but I eventually made it over with minimal palpitations.

With all my worries about Knife’s Edge. I hadn’t given a ton of thought to Bake Oven Knob, but it was also pretty scrambly, with some places where I actually sat my way down. Between the official scrambles there have been tons of just plain rock walks, so my pace has been a bit slower, even though the day is sunny and dry. 

About halfway to Palmerton, I met the section hiker who had passed me, with some of the other hikers from the hostel this morning. One of them had a car and was supporting the others with supplies and gear, etc. They let me fill my bottles, which saved me a mile of walking to refill on water, and gave me a soda. I was and remain seriously grateful for all of the nice people I’m meeting out here.

Later today I’d meet the lady who runs the BMEC. They’ve done an excellent job with blazing, and they even have volunteers who cache water for hikers in dry areas.

It’s decadent, but I told myself that if I could hit the 13 miles to Palmerton, I’d stay at the hostel there rather than finding a campsite. This is a lot of hostel action, but there’s nothing like a little incentive to motivate yourself to greater heights. So now I’m set up in a nice bunk after a new personal record for miles hiked in a day. I’ve got a similar opportunity to incentivize myself tomorrow, if I can handle even more mileage. But it’s going to rain again, and I don’t know the upcoming terrain, so I’m resolved to promise myself nothing and see what happens.