On Friday, July 18, at 6 a.m., the scent of frying bacon filled the Northbound Lot of the Appalachian Trail at Lehigh Gap. This marked the start of the third annual Appalachian Long Distance Hiker Association Hiker Feed, a tradition for hikers on the 2,200-mile journey from Georgia to Maine.

The event was led by Beth Ritter-Guth, a former ALDHA board member known as “Squeak” on the trail. She organized volunteers and community donations to support the “bubble” of northbound thru-hikers moving through Pennsylvania.

Donations included fresh cookies, a large salad, orange juice and candy. Dawn Remiszewski of Palmerton provided a portable tent for shelter. Linda Backensto of Orefield donated cases of Herr’s chips and protein bars. Taylor Knight of Palmerton provided farm-fresh eggs, cooked to order as hikers arrived.

An anonymous donor supplied Country Harvest gift cards, used for hiker favorites like bacon, chocolate milk and watermelon.

Marci Lesko and Deb Amico, both from Palmerton, and other volunteers, organized donations and cut watermelon. Palmerton resident Phyllis Moyer-Kreiss even earned her official trail name, “Baconater,” for frying eggs, potatoes and bacon on the spot.

Ten hikers emerged from the woods for breakfast. While the feed was listed on the “Far Out” app and ALDHA posts, many hikers are unaware of such “Trail Magic” because they are busy hiking and not looking at their phones. They pop out of the woods and are surprised by the large gathering of volunteers who are eager to meet them and hear about their adventures.

Among them was 22-year-old Carson Hill from Tallahassee, Florida, known as “7s” for his ultralight base pack weight of 7 pounds, 7 ounces.

Hill had “vortexed” — taken an extended break — at Ritter-Guth’s home after a foot injury led to a two-day stay at St. Luke’s Carbon Hospital. He enjoyed “seeing a hiker feed from both sides” and reuniting with hikers who were behind him.

Other hikers, known only by their trail names, came from Minnesota, Maine, Missouri and California.

The number of hikers varies by year.

Numbers unpredictable

Ritter-Guth said, “One year we had 30. Last year, we had three. There is just no way to predict the best day to host the feed because so many factors are in play for when the bubble arrives.”

Bernadette “Yardsale” and Glen “Crazy Hair” Leibensperger, owners of the Lookout Hostel in New Tripoli, dropped off YouTube hiker “Big Sexy” (@BuildingRootsOnTheRiver), his hiking partner, and local ridge runner “Lil John.”

The ridge runner is employed by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy to maintain the trail between Ashfield Road and Delaware Water Gap. Conversely, ALDHA is a volunteer organization supporting the well-being of long distance hikers.

The Leibenspergers, who are also members of ALDHA, volunteer with “Hike for Mental Health” — a volunteer effort to help people use hiking to promote mental wellness. They work with Ritter-Guth to identify local needs and share information about hikers on the trail.

Ritter-Guth said, “The trail community is really close-knit. There is a true sense of community and justice on the trail, and we take care of our own. If someone behaves badly down south, they will be hard-pressed to find open doors up north.”

Rules of the yard

Since opening her yard as a trail angel in 2019, she has hosted about 750 hikers, noting that “only five can’t come back.”

She has a notorious set of five rules which every hiker must repeat back to her to stay in the yard explaining, “we only used to have one rule … don’t poop in the yard. The other four were added because of the bad behavior of one hiker.”

These include not doing hard drugs, not getting arrested, a two-night maximum stay, and not letting her cats out.

Ritter-Guth does not charge hikers to stay in her yard, do laundry or take showers. She encourages them to use Palmerton’s resources for food and resupply.

“I encourage hikers to stay at the Bert’s bunkhouse before staying in the yard,” she said. “Tracey Downing has been offering affordable bunks for many years, and I want hikers to have the option of a bed. In my yard, they stay in their tents.”

Ritter-Guth also doesn’t provide food, wanting hikers to “spend their money in our amazing small town. We have the best eateries and shops for resupply.”

Country Harvest, for example, gives free fruit to each thru-hiker.

Ritter-Guth keeps menus for all local eateries and promotes them equally.

Her place, “Aunt Squeak’s Home for Wayward Hikers,” is known only by word-of-mouth. It isn’t published anywhere, and she doesn’t advertise.

“It’s a best kept secret. You only know if you know, and we like it that way,” she said.

Unfortunately, due to the legal rules surrounding squatting, she can “only allow hikers to stay” in the yard. She asks them a series of questions only a long distance hiker would know as proof to stay in her yard.

When in doubt, she reaches out to the vast network of trail angels operating along the trail to confirm identity. If she can’t confirm their identity as a long distance hiker, they can’t stay.

Since her arrival in 2019, the Palmerton community recognizes Ritter-Guth as the local trail contact.

Finding their way

Over the years, she has received calls from people like Palmerton Mayor Don Herrmann to rescue a grandpa and his grandsons who were stranded after dark with no place to go.

Earlier this week, former Fire Chief Dennis Behler contacted her because hikers were setting up camp in Palmerton Park, which is not allowed due to past issues.

Ritter-Guth went to the park, found the hikers, and brought them back to her yard, adding them to the group already setting up camp. In total, there were 14 hikers in her small Lehigh Avenue yard.

She stated, “Our current record is 16 hikers in the yard, but they can only fit if they cowboy camp” (camp without tents). She added, “we like to keep our numbers smaller because we have neighbors, and we don’t want our hospitality to be stressful for them, but this was an emergency.”

The “bubble season” is drawing to a close as larger groups are coming through the gap. ALDHA tries to plan the annual feed in time to meet the largest number of hikers passing through the area.

This year, due to heavy rain and terrain changes in Virginia caused by recent hurricanes, there are several “dirty bubbles” — the last groups of hikers who departed the Trail Days festival in Damascus, Virginia, the weekend after Mother’s Day. They usually arrive in Lehigh Gap in mid-July but are a little later this year.

Among those in the 2025 “dirty bubble” was Todd “Buckler” VanLandingham of Tennessee, who also stayed at Ritter-Guth’s Palmerton home in 2020. He and his “Outlaw Class of 2020” “tramily” (trail family) were featured in a previous Times News story for their perseverance during the pandemic when resources were limited.

Northbound hikers will continue passing through the Gap but must reach Katahdin by the first week of October.

Mount Katahdin closes when the weather becomes impassable. Southbound hikers, fewer in number, will arrive in Palmerton around October. Ritter-Guth has hosted Southbounders as late as Thanksgiving.

Ritter-Guth said that she is happy that the event grows each year and plans to host next year’s ALDHA hiker feed in July “depending on trail conditions and weather.”

To learn more about when the next hiker event will take place, check the Palmerton Here and Now Facebook page.

Ritter-Guth says, “Truly, I can’t do this work without the support of the Palmerton community.

“We are known as one of the friendliest towns on the Appalachian Trail, but that reputation takes a lot of hands to build. I appreciate everyone who has come out to volunteer or made donations.”