Highest Point in Lehigh County PA. Climb #39 of 67 trees on 67 mountains in 67 counties.

Climb #39
Lehigh County
40.678169, -75.889321
Elev 1674’
April 1, 2024
This was a good one! I parked on top of the Blue Mountain in a game lands parking lot and hiked on the Appalachian Trail for about 3 miles West. The spine of this mountain separates Schuylkill and Lehigh counties. In fact, there were cement markers every few hundred feet marking the boundary (I’ve never seen this before). Along the trail I came upon a doughnut shaped mound of earth which I recognized to be the remains of a colliers hut. Nearby were the tell-tale circular flats; charcoal pits. I reached out to my friend Ben Carter to ask what iron furnace this area was associated with. He said “Lehigh furnace and East Penn furnace (and forge). Owned by the Balliets.” I only passed 1 fellow hiker on the trail. He was headed the opposite direction and told me he was “fed up with rocks”. It was indeed rocky and was about to get rockier. Once I neared the high point I had to leave the trail and scramble up a few hundred yards of boulders. With my 40-50 lb pack of gear on it was extremely difficult. The morning rain had made the lichens on the rocks slippery. The top is known as “Pulpit rock”. What a view! Even on a cloudy day! Thick white clouds rolled in from my North so I could not see Schuylkill County but the south view was fantastic and I could see 10-20 miles. There were very few trees on top. Some fascinating clusters of American Plum trees and some Sweetbirch. I free climbed the highest Birch tree and called it a day.