July
6th Monday
I was up at 6:00 and had cereal, a
bagel sandwich and coffee for breakfast. I filled my pot with powdered milk,
water, and cereal. It took two large boxes of cereal every six days to keep me
going for breakfasts. My favorite types were still Cranberry Almond Crunch and
Apple Cinnamon Flakes. I took off for Chimney Rock, five miles away, and
arrived there with L’il Mack and Two Showers. We took pictures. It was another
nice day, even though it would possibly chill a bit later. We stopped at the
next two shelters just to sign the registers.
Too Obtuse caught up to us as we arrived at Caladonia State Park. He had
gone to town for a store visit and we went to the swimming pool in the park. It
was a huge pool with about fifty people in it. For $2.00 I got to swim and then
rested with Mitch, Tony, Skitz and Lightweight. Lightweight showed me what he
did to his toe, the day he attempted the forty miles through four states. The
toe, beside the big one, (the little piggy that stayed home), had an ugly
blister that ran the length of it. It was hard to believe that he could walk. I
rested in the sun and wrote a letter to Barb King, before going for a hotdog
and some ice cream at the concession. After an hour or so, Mt. Roamer and Outta
Chocolate came for a swim. They had hooked up with a cousin who was driving
them around to visit. Tony and I hiked on to Quarry Shelter and met Mother
Bird, a ridge runner for the area. The ridge runners travel back and forth on
their sections to maintain the shelters and the trail. They got paid minimum
wage. Mother Bird had a degree in pharmaceuticals and could command a good wage
but was content to remain a trail maintainer. He had hiked the trail in “96”
and hoped to do it again. His folks must have been proud of him! I made
spaghetti for supper and set up my tent. I was in bed by 10:00 after a
sixteen-mile day.
July
7th Tuesday
I woke up at 6:00, took down the tent,
had my usual breakfast and got away by 8:00. It was seven miles to the Birch
Run Shelter, where I stopped for an hour. I had a snack and then moved on six
miles, to the Tom’s Run Shelter. The trail didn’t have severe ups and downs,
but the rocks caused me much aggravation. The weather was good, not too
hot. It was a leisurely four miles from
there to Pine Grove Furnace State Park. We met a couple groups of kids on our
way down to the store and hostel. By the time I arrived at 3:30, Mitch,
Nite-Eyes, Skitz, Indy and Otis were attempting to eat their half-gallon of ice
cream.
½ gallon club,
L-R around the table-
Mitch’s little
cousin, Mitch, Skitz, Ringbearer, Otis, Nite Eyes, Indy
The store offered anyone that could eat a half-gallon of
ice cream, a tiny wooden spoon that stated you were a member of the “Half
Gallon Club.” Hundreds of idiots, like me, attempted this feat every year. The crew before me had graciously left a tub
of chocolate. I dove in with plenty of
gusto. Mother Bird and another trail maintainer, “All Good,” looked on as I
devoured the first 7/8 of it. The last cup was the hardest, but was put away in
a short time, so I could claim my prize spoon. There was a register for the
people who succeeded and one for the people who didn’t. Of the ten that tried
that day, six attained full-fledged pighood. I sat in the shade rubbing my
belly for an hour after that, and pondered whether or not I should stay at the
hostel next door, for the night.
Canuckelhead near the halfway point
Compliments of Mitch
The hostel was a huge house built in the 1800’s for a man
who owned the local iron furnace. There was a story that George and Martha
Washington stayed there, but the building hadn’t been constructed until they
had passed on. Perhaps their ghosts had
visited. I decided to stay. I walked in
and got a bunk for $12.00 and had a shower. Mt. Roamer and Outta Chocolate
showed up and went to the store, just in time to get their half a gallon of ice
cream. After the shower I went down to cheer them on, but Chocolate never made
it. He was smart enough to stop with over a cup of ice cream left. Roamer on the
other hand slowly spooned it in until she was sick. My ice cream almost landed
beside hers when she vomited. This trooper promptly grabbed her spoon again,
and emptied her bucket to claim her prize. The store had closed already so I
told her that we would come down in the morning to vouch for her. We grabbed a
nearby garden hose and washed the regurgitated vanilla ice cream into the
ground and then went back to the hostel. There was a troop of boy scouts there,
settling in for the night. I wrote a letter to Al Sheremeta and at 9:00 went to
sit in the parlor to listen to a talk on the history of the house. The talk was
very interesting but my eyes were heavy and so when it was over I headed
straight to bed. It had been an 18-mile day.
July
8th Wednesday
It was a dream day, today. I got up
early and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. The boy scouts were around and
I traded some jerky and a Snickers bar for fuel. I met a lawyer from California
who told me that he hated Canada. His story was that while he was crossing the
border to go to Winnipeg, the inspecting guards confiscated his handgun from
the trunk and he never got it back. Now, whenever he could, he would steal all
the brochures from the tourist places just to get back at Canadians. I see why lawyers
are disliked now; they’re spiteful! At 9:00 I was packed and ready to go. Tony
had tented on the veranda. Roamer and
Chocolate were ready also, so we took off for the Tagg Run Shelters, seven
miles away. We passed the iron furnace, the real Appalachian Trail halfway
sign. We stopped for some pictures and then took off again.
Canuckelhead, Mountain Roamer, Outta
Chocolate, Ringbearer
at the middle of the Appalachian Trail
in Pennsylvania
The sky was overcast and it rained on and off lightly. I
walked with Outta Chocolate and he and I discussed the differences of the
Mennonites and Amish sects. I was very surprised to meet two Mennonites on the
trail and I listened intently as to why they came to be out here. Chocolate’s
cousin, Mt. Roamer, had heard of the trail and decided that she wanted to do
it. She got in touch with a group, via the computer, and I believe Warren Doyle
was involved. Well the group met in November of 1997 at a meeting called The
Ruck. Roamer’s dad couldn’t change her mind so he talked his brother into
letting Chocolate come along, so the two could travel as a pair. Chocolate was
27 and raised cattle for a living. He
let his dad look after the farm. Roamer’s dad owned a trucking business. She drove part time, kept the books, and
dispatched the rest of year. She had gone to a secular college, which was rare
for Mennonites, and had excelled there. She even won a special distinction
award for being the best student. It was easy to understand why! She was so
outgoing and warm with everyone she met. Her mother had passed away when she
was young and she had helped to raise her brothers and sisters. If I hadn’t known better, I would have
thought I had met an angel. She was one in a trillion! Chocolate explained
that, his sect of Mennonites, were not so conservative. They didn’t have TV’s
or radios, but were allowed to have computers. They dressed in traditional
garb. Roamer and he were both brought up through the Mennonite school system.
Chocolate and his father did some stock trading also.
We made it to the Alec Kennedy Shelter, sixteen miles
away, in the rain. There, we met Timm and Adam, who we hadn’t seen for at least
a couple weeks. I talked to them for a quarter of an hour and then walked into
the shelter. A tarp had been thrown over the front to keep the light out. We
made a little noise outside and discovered that there were hikers inside. Caretaker, Soul Shaker and Space Wrangler
were inside, trying to sleep. I hadn’t seen Caretaker since the Niday Shelter
in Virginia. We snacked and talked for over an hour and then took off for
Boiling Springs. It was a nice gentle walk downhill to a piece of farmland.
Chocolate and I had a half of a mile lead on Tony and Roamer. We stopped and
checked out a farmhouse area set aside as a thru hiker tent site, but decided
to go into the town for the night. There were lots of berries, similar to
raspberries, hanging on the bushes. We ate our fill and let Roamer and Tony
catch up. We walked into town and met Timm and Adam again. Some fishermen had given
them four or five trout and so they went to the store and got some butter and
fixings for a fish feed. They planned on camping on the trail someplace, so we
parted. The four of us headed to the
ATC regional headquarters to sign the register. From there we went to the
Germanhaus Bed and Breakfast. There was no one home so we left our packs in the
back yard and walked to a pizza place up the street. We shared two large pizzas
with garlic bread and pop. We had a great time talking and didn’t leave until
after 10:00. We walked to the B&B in the dark. Still there was no one home
but we set up our tents anyway. Roamer, for some reason didn’t set up her tent
but slept under the stars. This was strange, for it had been overcast all day.
I was in bed by 11:00, after a twenty-mile day.
July
9th Thursday
I slept soundly through the night and
woke up to the sounds of Roamer singing softly near the tents. I lay there for
a while and listened. My mind wandered and the years melted away. I felt like a
kid again. I got up and sat in a lawn chair to listen to her sing some more. I
asked her to sing one of the hymns over again, and she obliged me. I watched
her and knew that she was singing from her heart. This was one of my trips most
special moments! We swapped addresses during breakfast, as they planned to meet
her dad on highway 944, twelve miles away. Tony and I had planned an even
bigger day. They were going home for the weekend and would be off the trail for
a couple days. We told them that we wouldn’t be traveling very fast and that
they could probably catch up to us in a week or so. I was sad that we had to
part, but such was the life of a thru hiker. Tony and I went to a convenience
store for some breakfast snacks and coffee. We made a stop at the outfitters where
Tony bought a book written by Earl Schaffer, “Walking with Spring”, an account
of the first thru-hike in 1948. Earl was on the trail again this year. We kept hearing about how close behind us he
was. Tony had hopes of getting Earl to autograph his book. If I wrote a book
about the AT, I might have to call it “Walking with Pain.” We headed out of
town by 9:30 and the road went past an old gravesite that had graves from the
early 1800’s. We did some hiking through some farmer’s field again before reaching
the US 11 roadway. From here we walked to a restaurant for dinner. I had
chicken potpie that was more like soup, then a bowl of ice cream for dessert.
Chris of the Massachusetts Honeymooners, had seen us walk in from his motel
across the road, and so he came by to chat. I was very happy to meet him
again. He told us that he and Terri
were going to a wedding of a friend of hers, in Long Island. Her mother came
down to pick them up. He was dreaming of all the nice things that he would eat
when he was at the reception. After dinner Tony and I sat on the grass and took
our boots off, to give our feet a rest. An hour later we packed up and headed
back to the trail.
Black snake, non poisonous
When stopping at a spring for water, we spied a 5-foot
black snake. I teased it for a while much to Tony’s dismay. He was half native
and very much into their customs, along with his Italian Catholic upbringing.
After two hours and some, we made it to Darlington Shelter. The weather had
been sunny and warm all day. No one was at the shelter so we decided to stay,
even though we had only hiked fourteen miles. We sat in the shelter for a while
before I set up my tent. Buzzy, from Connecticut, came in. Then, we proceeded
to make supper. I had spaghetti again and it tasted great, as always. A little
before dusk, Caretaker and Soul Shaker showed up for the night. They were tired
but sat up and talked until 10:00. Soul Shaker, who was from Alabama, did a
great Forrest Gump imitation. I split my gut laughing. Caretaker had worked as
a waiter and was from Troy, Alabama. They both told us stories of how their
southern twang was accepted up north. Caretaker’s real name was Dale Gates and
he was the proverbial southern gentleman, from his drawl to his kind manners.
Before the AT, he had been apprenticing in the glassblowing trade.
July
10th Friday
I was up at 6:30, decided to make it a
town day in Duncannon and had a leisurely breakfast bantering with the
southerners. I made coffee for everyone.
We didn’t get away until 8:00. Tony and I walked to the Earl Schaffer
Shelter and stopped for water and a snack. We walked into Duncannon around 1:30
and I took some pictures of Main Street. We stopped at a convenience store for
ice cream and pop and then walked up to the post office. Tony had a mail drop
and I received my pictures from King Photo, in Waynesboro. I was extremely
pleased with the way they turned out. They were of Damascus Trail Days; areas
between Damascus and Pearisburg. I also mailed some letters home. We walked back to the Doyle hotel, one of
the local watering holes, and found that business was booming at 4:30. Lots of
hikers and locals were there… like Soul Shaker, Caretaker, Space Wrangler,
Cornbread, Lemmondrop and Buzzy.
Standing:
Caretaker, Soul Shaker
Sitting L-R:
Lemmondrop, Cornbread, Halfway, Space Wrangler
Recreation at
the Doyle hotel in Duncannon, Pennsylvania
Order a Jeungling lager!
Later on, Fanny Pack, the trail angel, showed up to take
some pictures. I met Frenchy and his daughter Rene. He had a New Brunswick
ancestry like me but had lived in Duncannon all his life. It was a great
evening with friends, new and old as we sampled the best beer on the trail,
Yeungling lager, brewed in Pennsylvania. At 9:00 Tony and I decided to tear our
selves away. We hiked down the street to an ice cream parlor and I had a large,
death by chocolate, ice cream. We met some locals there, who asked us questions
about the trail and so we spent an hour answering them. It was dark by the time
we headed out of town so we decided to get a room at an all night truck stop.
The rooms were cheap, clean and large. I bought some snacks, took a shower,
watched some TV and was in bed by midnight.
July11th
Saturday
I turned the TV on when I got up at
6:30, and lay around until almost 10:00. Finally I mustered the energy to get
up, put my pack together and head for the restaurant. Tony went to the pay
phone and stayed on it for over an hour. I too sat in a booth that had a phone,
as this was a truck stop. Breakfast was a ham, cheese and mushroom omelet with
pan-fries and toast. It was a very good breakfast with lots of coffee. When I
finished, I put together my grocery list for shopping store next door and
called home to talk to the folks before I left. (1121 miles completed). Everything
was OK at home, so I paid for the meal and headed to the grocery store, to
stock up for the next three days. There was not the selection that I had hoped
for, but it was adequate. After, I went outside to the shade, as the sun was
searing hot, and packed my groceries. I could hardly wait to get to a higher
elevation and walk in the shade of the trail.
The temperature usually dropped by ten degrees or more. Tony and I
headed out around 1:00 and stopped at an outfitter. There were lots of weapons
and army gear but not much for backpackers. I did find some cereal that the
store didn’t have. We met Buzzy, Half Way and Soul Shaker there.
We made our way to the Susquehanna River Bridge so we
could cross to the northern side. Once on the other side, a van went by and
stopped. Four guys piled out. Two of
them introduced themselves as Tree Hugger and Shoe Fly Pie. They had hiked last
year from Maine to Georgia. We talked for a few minutes before Tony and I
started the climb up to Clark’s Ferry Shelter.
We traveled slowly in the heat of the day but arrived there in less than
two hours. Trail Gimp and Lemmondrop were there.
Lemmondrop, Trail Gimp and Leo the pup
We all talked for an hour, while we snacked and filled up
with water. Trail Gimp was having problems with her knee and so had been here
almost a week already. She missed traveling with her friend Hootie. We took off
at 4:00 for the Peter’s Mountain Shelter, seven miles away. We arrived in two
hours and some to an almost full shelter. Storm Cloud, Hansel, Gretal, Easy
Rider and four section hikers were there already, so I went to work setting up
my tent. I made some Kool-Aid to have with the submarine sandwich that I had
carried here for supper. After supper I talked to a couple older women section
hikers who had done part of the Bruce Trail in Ontario. I climbed in my tent at
9:30 after a 10-mile day.
July
12th Sunday
The night air was cool and I woke up
early, around 5:00 but stayed in until 6:15 before getting up to make
breakfast. (Hot dog bun with salami and cheese, coffee and cereal). I talked to
a father and son team of section hikers about hockey. They spoke of a
goaltender, Jason Elliot from Australia, who played for Adirondack. The son was
going to Cornell University. I packed up and got away around 8:00 and walked to
a spring before Clark’s Valley, six miles away. The trail was decent, but
rocky. Then I hiked to Stony Mt. There was not a lot of water to be found in
this section of trail. I took a short break before hiking to the Rauch Gap Shelter
and passed some large mounds of what looked like slate. This area had been
mined for coal at sometime. Ender and Caretaker showed up to share the shelter.
I set up my tent and waxed my boots. Supper was potatoes, gravy, cheese and
Vienna sausage. I had completed
seventeen miles in decent sunny weather.
The trail didn’t have significant elevation gain or loss but was very
rocky. My feet and ankles tired quickly and were tremendously sore at the end
of the day.
Pennsylvania rocks
July 13th Monday
I was up at 6:15 this morning. Last
night was even cooler and I woke up to put on my fleece and socks. I made a
nice breakfast of hotdog buns with tuna and a large pot of coffee, which I
shared with everyone. We broke camp at 8:15, and did the 3.5 miles to
Interstate 81. After stopping for a snack around noon, we headed out for the
501 Shelter. The trail was excessively rocky… not large rocks, but smaller
ones, that made it impossible to step flat on the ground. My ankles felt like
they were on swivels. Just before reaching the 501 Shelter, we came to a
clearing and observed some people carry in their hand-gliders. We decided to
stop and watch for a while. They soon had their gliders put together. The first
person away was a woman. She waited for the wind to blow just right and then
ran down the hill to get lots of lift, but only skimmed the tops of the trees
in her path. When she did take off, she sailed up and out…then turned back into
the hill and glided back and forth once or twice. She then turned out and
sailed away down into the valley to land in a field that looked to be two or
more miles distant. The next person up
was her husband, who we were told was an expert. He certainly knew how to get
the most from his flight. When he took off, he missed the trees by yards and
then promptly caught an up draft that raised him 200 feet above us into the
air. He glided back and forth until we got bored of watching.
Who’s the crazy
one here?
The hand glider
or the thru hiker
We carried on to the 501 Shelter and stopped in the
parking lot. Stormy, Ringbearer and I wanted to go into Pine Grove town for a
meal and to buy some groceries, so we stood on the highway to hitch hike. In a
couple minutes, someone walked over from the parking lot. It was Off Duty. He said that he was off the trail for a
while, until his feet and knees would heal. He had a van so we all piled in and
went to a restaurant in the town. I had turkey and fries with veggies and a
Pepsi. After supper Off Duty took us to a grocery store, where we restocked
with lots of food. On the way out of town, he stopped at a pay phone so I could
call home and order a mail drop. I needed my sleeping bag back, so I wouldn’t
be so cold at night. I firmly believed that because I had lost quite a bit of
fat off my thighs, my legs were getting cold in the night. That lack of
insulation was the reason why I would wake up.
Suppertime at the 501 shelter
Back
at the 501, lots of hikers had arrived. Model T, Crawl Dog, Hippy, Frank’nPops,
Hansel and Gretal and Baker were there. The bunkhouse was full and there were
tents outside. I made coffee for Off Duty, Stormy and I. We also had some banana bread that Baker had
made. I was in bed around 11:00.
July
14th Tuesday
I was up at 7:15. It had been a noisy
night in the shelter and so I didn’t sleep that well. I had breakfast of
pastry, cereal and coffee, packed up, and left by 9:00. I walked with Hansel
and Gretal for a couple miles. Hansel was a futures trader from Virginia, who
now lived In Chicago. Gretal, his wife, was a nurse.
Dietrich Snyder
Memorial
1755
I walked on and caught up to Storm Cloud and we stopped
after eight miles, at the Fort Dietrich Snyder Monument. The markings indicated
that this place was the site of a lookout post in 1755, to warn of the enemy’s
approach, in the French-Indian War. It was said that Ben Franklin probably
drank from the same spring. I had a bagel, a meat and cheese sandwich, cookies
and a bar. We left after an hour and I caught up to a large gentleman, who was
day hiking. I passed him because I was clipping along at a good pace. About
five minutes later, I heard something behind me. It was the same gentleman! I figured that he must have broken
into a run to keep up, so I slowed down to talk to him. His name was Tom Thomas
and he was a Presbyterian minister. We walked and talked for a half-hour and
then Stormy caught up. We left Tom at the junction to the shelter, and said our
good-byes. At Eagle’s Nest Shelter I met Old Fhart from New Hampshire, D&D
Rose from Brainard, Minnesota, and Caretaker. Ringbearer, Crawl Dog, Hansel and
Gretal showed up later. I set up my tent and made spaghetti for supper. It had
been a 15-mile day under partially cloudy skies. I planned to stop in Wind Gap
for a day off, four days hence. Caretaker was having foot problems. He had to
take his boots in for repair, and was now using another much older pair. They
were wrecking his feet. Crawl Dog, Caretaker and Old Fhart kept us in stitches
all evening long. They joked with D&D Rose when she asked how much the bus
to New Hampshire was. Old Fhart spoke up quickly and said that it was
$200,000.00 but if she just wanted a ride, it would be around $40.00. (Another
joke told had to do with the only difference between a bum and a thru hiker is
GoreTex). Because I was tired, bedtime was at 9:00.
July
15th Wednesday
I was up too early again this morning.
I crawled out of the tent at 6:00 and made breakfast. We left camp by 8:00 and
walked all the way to Port Clinton, nine miles, before stopping. It was an
extremely steep and rocky descent into town. We crossed the railroad tracks and
saw some huge chunks of coal, the size of boulders. Port Clinton was a
coal-mining town. There really wasn’t much to the town, not even a grocery
store. I walked down the street and a woman stopped to give me a ride to the
hiker pavilion. Timm was there with his mail drop that he was packing away. He
gave me a fresh peach. He said he would be taking off soon to catch up to Adam
and Mango. Soul Shaker, Half Way and I walked back and went to the hotel that
was located along a busy highway. Storm Cloud, Ringbearer and Caretaker were
there, so we dropped our packs outside and went in to order lunch. I had a hot
beef sandwich and a cheeseburger and fries. It was one of the better hot beef
sandwiches I had had. There was lots of meat. I struggled to fit everything
into my stomach. When lunch was completed, I went outside and lay down on the
lawn next door, for a half of an hour.
Old Fhart,
Halfway, Caretaker
At the Port
Clinton Hotel
A highway runs right by the hotel and Hopwood had his
pack stolen
I took pictures of Caretaker, Halfway and Old Fhart in
front of the hotel. Stormy, Ringbearer and I left around 2:30 for the Windsor
Furnace Shelter, six miles away. We
followed the Schuylkill River for a half of a mile and then climbed up and
across the highway to get out of Port Clinton. It was a steep climb for about
half of an hour and then there was a ridge walk to the shelter. I made
spaghetti for supper and spent the evening talking to D&D Rose and Old
Fhart. D&D’s (Doris), from Minnesota, and her husband built houses for a
living and were hiking the trail in sections. He was tired of it, but she
wanted to keep on. She did as much as she could each year and would probably
complete it by 1999. Old Fhart worked for General Electric for many years and
had retired recently. He worked in their computer department and so he had his
own laptop with him on the trail. He had section hiked the trail before, but
had always wanted to complete a thru hike when he retired. Also, to his credit,
he had climbed Mt. Washington each January 1st, leading a group to
the top. He also had climbed the top 100 peaks in New England, in the summer
and in the winter. He was the 11th person to achieve this
distinction. We talked until dark and then headed for the tents by 9:30. It was another fifteen-mile day completed in
hot and humid air. I needed a “town” day off, badly!
July
16th Thursday
I was up at 4:50 but then went back to sleep until 7:00.
By then, everyone else was up and around. I rolled out, had my breakfast
cereal, packed and was away by 8:00. After six miles, I stopped for a bagel and
meat sandwich. Stormy and I carried on and at a road crossing; we went down to
a shelter. The Appalachian Trail Conference had purchased houses along the
trail and at this house; the caretakers kept a fridge stocked with pop, cookies
and ice cream bars. There was a can inside the fridge, where one could pay on
an honor system. It was such a pretty sight for someone with no snacks left.
There was also a solar shower, which of course meant a cold-water shower. I had
one anyway and enjoyed a treat with the rest of the folks who showed up. An hour later, we took off for the Allentown
Hiking Club Shelter. I hiked with D&D Rose for the first three miles and
then moved ahead.
More Pennsylvania rocks
The rocks on the trail were huge and were used mostly as
steps. It was hard on my feet, as there were rocks for miles. When we stopped
at a spring for water, an older gentleman came up from behind. He had long
white hair and his eyes could pierce through steel, they were so dark. His name
was Nimble Will Nomad. He told me that
he had hiked with Storm Cloud through the Smokies and wanted to surprise him at
the shelter tonight. When we arrived at
the camp at 6:00, I set up my tent and I made spaghetti right away for
supper.
Ender and Walkabout
Walkabout and Ender showed up and set up in the shelter.
Stormy and Nimble Will had a joyous reunion and we all talked into the night.
Nimble Will was quite a character. He was a retired optometrist from Florida,
the place where he had started his hike. He had walked through swamps and such,
to get to Springer Mountain. He planned to carry on from Katahdin into New
Brunswick to Mt. Carleton, and then go north into Quebec to Mt. Jacques
Cartier. His trip would be close to 3000 miles long. He had quite a manner
about him. It was easy to tell that he was a very intelligent person, even if
his appearance didn’t lend to that.
Nimblewill Nomad and Doris
Though I felt much better after my shower, I still needed
a day off. The feet had been taking an awful pounding and I was tired…no…
exhausted. The shelter register indicated that Bump had got on the trail
recently and wouldn’t be too far ahead. He must have yellow blazed, because he
hadn’t passed us. I was in bed by 10:00
July
17th Friday
I got up at 4:30 and wrote a letter to
Barb King and then rousted out of the tent at 6:00 to make breakfast. D&D
gave me extra water to make coffee for every one...so I did. We got away at
7:30 and walked ten miles to the Bake Oven Knob Shelter. It started to get very
warm when we crossed a ridge that was fairly open to the sun. There were lots
of berries on the trail but I would have traded all of them for some water. I
carried on alone to the George Outerbridge Shelter, which had a good cold
spring. Bump had signed the register here also. Stormy, Ringbearer and I took
off, climbed down to the highway and crossed the bridge over the Lehigh River.
When we got to the railroad tracks, we followed them into town. As we were
walking down Main Street, we spied Bump on the other side walking the other
direction. He spied us and came over. He said he was staying at the town hall,
in the jail. Palmerton town hall left the door open for thru-hikers to come in
and stay. We first went to the hotel for refreshments and supper. I ordered the
ribs special… and it was just that! From there I went with Bump and Tony to the
town hall. I got in through the back
door, because it was after 5:00 on a Friday. I went upstairs to have a shower
and then went back down to the basement. The drunks of this town were to be
pitied. The shower was more like a
high-pressure washer. The one stream of water it shot out could probably remove
paint from metal. Bump and I went to the grocery store. I picked up some ice cream and received a
free apple because of my purchase. Back at the hall, I caught up on all of
Bump’s news. I hadn’t seen him since Damascus, 700 or 800 miles back. I had
hiked nineteen miles this day and it was one of the hottest days yet. My body
and mind were begging for a day off. My last zero mile-day was in Harper’s
Ferry when I had hiked around Washington all day. I was asleep on my cot by 11:00.
July
18th Saturday
Happy Birthday Jodie! I was up at 6:00
and packed up right away. Nimble Will had arranged a ride back to the trail
after breakfast. I headed down to the Big S restaurant and found one empty
chair at the counter. I sat down to order a ham and cheese omelet. It came on a
platter, not a plate, and it had home fries to boot. I managed to lick the
platter clean and then waited until Stormy and Nimble Will had finished. The
retired doctor that Nimble Will had arranged our ride with, showed up and made
two trips for us out to the trailhead. Bump, Stormy and I headed up the trail
by 8:30.
Hiking out of Lehigh Gap
The sun was beating down already. There used to be a zinc
smelter here years ago and so the ridge top was barren of trees. There were
small signs that the trees were growing back, but it would be few years before
one could expect some shade. The area was the site of a “super fund clean up,”
financed by the government.
Zinc smelter area Super fund site
We walked hard all day, over rocks, rocks, and more rocks.
Near one of the road crossings, we found some water that someone had left for
hikers. It was a very welcome sight! (Trail magic from Fanny Pack) I stopped to
have a snack in the middle of the trail with Frank’nPops and some new hikers we
had met; Frick and Frack, Spider Legs, 30 Seconds and Dragonfly. Up ahead,
Nimble Will Nomad trapped a timber rattlesnake just off the trail and waited
for us to catch up. The snake could be heard a hundred feet away as he was very
riled and shook his tail nonstop. When Nimble poked him a couple times with his
walking stick, the snake struck back. The snake looked formidable! He was over three feet long and four or five
inches thick. Nimble counted thirteen rattles on his tail. I took some pictures
from a distance before we left the snake safely off the trail. He was still
rattling vehemently, even after we were a couple hundred feet away.
Rattlesnake, over 3 feet long with 13 rattles
Five of us, carried on down into Wind Gap and headed
straight for the motel along the highway. The East Indian owner tried to charge
us $55.00 a room, even though our guidebook stated $45.00 per room. Nimble Will
showed him the guidebook and went up one side of him and down the other. The
owner backed down and we got the rooms for $45.00. Bump, Tony and I shared our
room and had a shower. With the room came a free ride into town to a
restaurant. After we chose an Italian place on the far side of town, the owner
of the motel dropped us off. We went in and I ordered a personal sized, steak and
cheese Stromboli. What I received was huge! It was at least the same as the
family size at Quincy’s in Damascus. I just barely finished it off before going
outside to sit and digest. The motel owner picked us up again and we stopped at
Wendy’s for a chocolate Frosty. Back in
the hotel, I watched some TV before going to bed after midnight. I was very
tired after a 20-mile day.
July
19th Sunday
I slept in until 8:00 and made
breakfast in the hotel room. Bump, Tony and I left around 9:30 to climb towards
Wolf Rocks. The trail was aptly named because it was more rocks, rocks, and
rocks. After two hours we stopped for a snack and then took off again. We met
Fanny Pack and Frick near Fox Gap Road, and once more were partakers in Fanny’s
trail magic; peanut butter and jam sandwiches, pop and donuts! Frack, Spiderlegs and 30 Seconds were there
also. After an hour we started off for Kirkbridge Shelter, where we stopped to
read the register. From there, it was on to Delaware Water Gap. We stopped and
took some pictures of the Delaware River before descending down into town. DWG
was a pretty little tourist town that the trail ran through. We hooked up with
Storm Cloud and Nimble Will, who were talking to Storm Cloud’s sister and his
two nephews. Stormy’s sister, Marilyn had brought a couple beers for each of us
along with some melons, cookies and cheese. We ripped into that and sat beside
her truck so that she could take a picture of our little group. It was a sad moment when it was time to go.
Storm Cloud was taking a day off at Marilyn’s place in the Berkshires. Tony,
Bump and I were going off the trail into Stroudsburg. Nimble Will was going to spend the night at the hostel and then
carry on the next day. As Nimble Will got up to go, he choked on his goodbye
and for once seemed speechless. I got a little choked myself, as I hated to see
the fellow go. He had been a real treat to hike with and it grieved me to see
him saddened by the departure. He attempted to turn and say more, but his eyes
said it all, as the words were stifled in his throat.
The Delaware
Water Gap Gang
L-R: Bump,
Nimblewill Nomad, Canuckelhead, Storm Cloud Rob and Ringbearer
We piled into the truck and Marilyn headed for
Stroudsburg, about three miles away. She drove downtown and let us off in front
of the Best Western. Bump, Tony and I said goodbye to Stormy after making plans
to hook up with him again in a couple days. We got our room, had a shower, and
then checked out the movie and restaurant situation. Bump and I took a cab to
the Burger King on the outskirts of town. After supper we walked to the theatre
and watched Armageddon with Bruce Willis. It was a great action flick from
beginning to end, just what I needed to take my mind off the trail. I almost
felt refreshed when I left the theater, happy to be away from the rigors of the
trail life for a day. It was close to 12:30 AM when we left the theater and
crossed the street to the Dunkin Donuts. I phoned a cab while Bump bought a
6-pack of donuts for a dollar. The cab took a half of an hour to arrive, so we
sat outside and waited. We were back at the hotel and in bed by 1:30.
July
20th Monday
I was up at 7:30 and left to find a
paper and a photo shop. I had no luck in my search downtown for a photo shop,
so I went back to the hotel. We packed up our gear, and got a cab to take us to
a Budget Inn, in East Stroudsburg. We stopped off at Wendy’s on the way, for
some lunch. After checking into a room, we walked down the hill to a huge
Walmart. I dropped off my film and then walked to the Laundromat to wash
clothes. I wrote a couple letters while the clothes were being washed and then
headed back to Walmart. I did my grocery shopping, after picking up the photos.
It had been hot and humid, but when I walked to the hotel it started to rain.
Bump and Tony had rented movies and a VCR. I watched “Air Force 1” with them
and then went over to the hotel restaurant for supper. I ordered a couple pork
chops and the all you can eat salad bar. It was a great meal! Back at the
hotel, I watched a bit of “Seven”, before falling asleep.
July
21st Tuesday
I got up at 8:00 in the morning and watched part of “Soul Food”. It didn’t appeal to me so I
went for a shower. Afterwards, I put my food bag together and phoned John
Hopwood’s sister to find out how he was doing. He had been back on the trail
and had been within four or five days travel behind us, before his pack was
stolen in Port Clinton. He had left his pack outside the diner’s door, just as
we had, but some desperate motorist stopped and ran off with it. He wasn’t home
when I called for he was putting some gear together to get back on the trail. I
let her know where we were and wished him well. Around 11:00 we called a cab
and checked out of the motel. The cabby took us back to Delaware Water Gap and
dropped us off at a restaurant in town. Two Showers was there, so I stopped to
talk a bit. Bump, Tony and I had breakfast and then headed up to the Church
hostel. When we stopped at the post office to mail some letters, we met Hansel
and Gretal, Crawl Dog and Critter in the parking area. We surveyed the hostel
and the register and then started off around 3:00, for the trail.
Hansel and Gretal on Kittatinny Mountain
We crossed the Delaware River Bridge just as it began to
rain. We were now leaving Pennsylvania and its rocks… for the rocks of New
Jersey. We started climbing, almost immediately, and passed Sunfish pond on our
way to Kittatinny Mountain. We stopped on the peak for a snack and Hansel and
Gretal caught up. We talked for almost an hour before taking off down to the
hostel at Mohican Road. It was cool and overcast when we arrived and for $7.50
we got to stay in a bunkroom. Storm Cloud, Frank’nPops, Jefe, Easy Rider and
Puck were there. I got to shower and then went about making supper in the
kitchen provided. Supper was a Lipton
rice packet and some salami. I talked the evening away with Easy Rider, Bump
and Tony. Easy Rider was going to catch up to Nimble Will Nomad and hike with
him to Mt. Jacques Cartier in Quebec. I crawled into bed at 11:00, after an
11-mile day in the rain.
July
22nd Wednesday
I got up at 7:30, had coffee and cold
cereal, and then left with Bump. We had big plans to do a hundred miles in five
days. I wanted to get to Fort Montgomery for my mail drop and sleeping bag. I
also hoped to be able to take a day off but felt good enough to hike.
Nonetheless, the end of my rope was near; my inner being was exhausted. We
stopped after six miles and I had a salami sandwich. I had forgotten my
favorite red alligator cup at the hostel and hoped someone would spy it and
bring it along. When we started hiking again, I came upon a copperhead snake in
the trail. I saw it just in time as to
not step on it. However, when I took a step back, Bump, not expecting me to
stop, ran into me and bounced me forward towards the snake. The copperhead was
startled and lunged towards me quickly, but didn’t get close enough to strike.
It then slithered quickly off the trail and away to safety.
We carried on after this close call and stopped at a park
that had a hand pump for water. We stayed long enough to have a snack and also
meet Dragonfly. Then, we followed an old road and made it to the Brink Road
Shelter by 15:00. After spaghetti
supper, we packed up and hiked down to Culvers Gap. On the way, we saw a bear
that had two white tags, one in each ear. This meant that he had had two
encounters with the public before. We slowed down to give him a chance to get
away but he took his time doing so.
New Jersey bear
At the road, we saw Storm Cloud in the distance, hitching
to a motel. There was a bakery on the trail so we went in for a snack. I spent
the last $2.00 I had. I should have gone to a bank machine in Stroudsburg.
Frick, Frack, 30 Seconds and Spider Legs were here and were going to go swimming.
The traffic was very heavy around the supper hour but we got across the road
and climbed up to the Gren Anderson Shelter. Before getting there we stopped
and talk to the Frank’nPops, who were stopped at a picnic table watching the
sun go down. The Frank’nPops were a
lovely, retired couple from Ouray, Colorado. They always had a pleasant
smile. Frankie, the lady, was a nurse
and Pops was a lawyer. He worked for a utility company in the west, litigating
for right-of ways. We stayed for twenty minutes before carrying on to the
shelter. It was dark by the time we arrived. There was no one in the shelter,
but there were two people in tents. One of them, a south bounder named Cool
Hand Luke, was the only south bounder we had met besides Lucky, who we met in West
Virginia. The other camper was D&D Rose, but we didn’t see her until the
morning. We had done twenty-one miles today in hot and sunny weather. We set up
in the shelter and went to sleep right away.
July
23rd Thursday
We were up at 5:30. The mosquitoes
were bad! Their buzzing woke me early. I had a large bowl of cereal for
breakfast and talked to D&D Rose. She left early. Bump and I struck out around 7:00. We walked for an hour and some
and then stopped for a snack. The trail was still rocky but did not have the
great elevation gain and loss that we had experienced in the south. Bump and I
walked to the visitor’s center at High Point Mt. This was the highest peak in
New Jersey. We had an hour rest before
moving on and Evergreen and D&D were there. We told D&D about the
hostel in Unionville and she said that she would try to make it there. We took
off together and after two and some hours we made it to the road that led to
the hostel. The trail must have followed the border closely because Unionville was
in New York State. When we arrived, D&D lent us $10.00 each, so we rented a
bunk and had a shower. Supper was
spaghetti. Afterwards, we went to the lounge for a beer. Two other people were
staying here but they were not around. We had done twenty miles and it had been
hot and humid.
July
24th Friday
We were up at 7:30. I had slept on the
floor so I wouldn’t have to pay. I had some cereal and then went with Bump to
the post office to try and get some money.
Two other folks were there, Billy the Kid and Belly Button. They were
eighteen and had just celebrated Billy’s birthday the day before. Billy had
received a mail drop that had some cookies sent from his Gram, which he freely
shared. They told us that we could buy
a mail order with a bankcard at the post office and then cash it in. The post
office earned money by selling the mail order.
However, when I tried my bankcard didn’t work. It was the wrong
affiliation, I guess. The post office wouldn’t take Visa so I was penniless.
Bump’s card, on the other hand, did work, so he lent me $20.00. We went to the
store across the street and bought some groceries. I kept enough money to pay D&D back. We went back to the
hostel and packed. It was very hot already and only 8:30 in the morning. We
traveled four miles in two hours and a half. The stretches were flat but we
lacked energy because of the heat. Storm Cloud and Frank’nPops caught up to us
and we talked for a while. They were going to go to a bed and breakfast that
they had reserved a week before.
Boardwalk in New Jersey
Compliments of Lyme Robbie
Bump and I took off again and were stung by wasps near
Pochuk Mountain. We did a long road walk in the heat and went to a vegetable
store, when we hit NJ 94. Here we stopped to get water and had ice cream, a
tomato, a pear, a banana, an apple and three large cookies. It was an enjoyable
stop! Fanny Pack and Puck showed up. It
was two hours before Bump and I got away. We headed back to the trail and did
the climb and ridge walk to the Wawayanda Shelter, six miles distant. Here we
found Mango, Tupac Sumore, Model T and Puck. I set up my tent and then went up
to the shelter to make supper. As I was making my spaghetti at dusk, two bear
came by and started to move slowly up the knoll towards the shelter. I grabbed
a large rock and sent it crashing down the hill so it would strike one of the
boulders below. The desired effect was accomplished when the rock hit a boulder
with a loud crack. The bears changed their minds, ran off into the woods, and I
got to eat my supper. Eighteen miles had been done today in extreme heat.
July
25th Saturday
I didn’t get up
until 8:30 because I was a little more than tired. It had been cool in the
middle of the night, so I had to get up and put some clothes on. Fanny Pack
showed up and we talked to him over breakfast. I couldn’t figure this Fanny guy
out. He did work, I think, but he gave us such a vague description of his job.
He’d been with us since Catawba, Virginia, which was almost 800 miles away. We
had found his trail magic in coolers and hanging from trees, from Pennsylvania
onward. He helped anyone and everyone. Puck, his dog Rumor, Bump and I took off
together at 9:30. When we got to Brady Road, we found some more of Fanny’s
trail magic (bananas, cookies, water and pop in a cooler).
Trail Magic from Fanny Pack
We stopped and filled up with water and had a snack. Two
police cars were on the highway and one of the cops came over to question us.
They were looking for the hikers from the Wolf Pack, who had spray painted “Wolf
Pack Ho” on some billboards and the federal communication buildings. Only two
were ahead of us that we knew of, Japhy and Wayah. We didn’t suspect either, so
we weren’t much help to the police.
Puck, Bump and I carried on and crossed the border between New Jersey
and New York. We stopped to take
pictures.
Puck, Rumor the dog and Bump
at the NY / New Jersey trail border
Puck’s dad owned part of a power plant in Maine. Puck had
worked the last two summers there, and told me a little bit about the place.
The plant was a fluidized bed boiler with a precipitator and it burnt hog fuel.
One of Puck’s relatives had thru hiked years ago. If he had known how Puck was
accomplishing the hike, he would have cringed. I could tell Puck felt bad about
it, but he wasn’t going to change his yellow blazing ways. We made it to the
Wildcat Shelter by 3:30 and stopped for lunch. Model T, D&D, Mango and
Tupac were there, so Bump and I stayed for supper. After the spaghetti was
devoured, we packed and took off at 5:30. Bump and I climbed to Mombasha High
Point, sat on the rocks and viewed the New York City skyline, off in the
distance. A road sign indicated that we were only thirty-five miles away. I thought to myself that though there were
over twenty million people in the city as was evidenced by what was seen on the
horizon but, there was nothing but greenery between here and there. They really
should spread out a bit. Behind us, we could hear someone target practicing, so
after a short rest, we hiked for another hour and then stopped just before
dark. We had just finished setting up our tents when D&D caught up. She
camped with us and we talked into the night. Eighteen miles was completed today
and we were short of water. The road to Arden was only four miles away. We planned on having a restaurant breakfast
in the morning.
July
26th Sunday
We were up at 6 o’clock and had a
sandwich to eat and a mouthful of water to drink. We left at 7:00 and headed
towards Arden Road for breakfast. Bump and I hitched for a half of an hour
before some people stopped to pick us up. They dropped us off at the restaurant
and Bump and I went in and had a feast. When we walked to the trail, we stopped
at a store for some ice cream. We hitched a ride back to the trailhead, which
was the entry gate into Harriman State Park. There we met Tupac and Mango. They
told us that we had just missed D&D Rose, who was getting a ride to New
Hampshire. The trail followed the road for a couple miles and then veered off
into the bush and up over some steep, rocky hills. Bump and I stopped at Island
Pond for a swim and a rest. After an hour we departed for the Lemon Squeezer.
This was a large rock that was split in two pieces. The trail passed through its foot and a half wide crack. We moved
on to the Tiorati Circle, which was a swimming area for the New York City
hordes. We went inside and in the first five minutes we heard at least ten
different languages spoken. We had another swim and then met up with Mango and
Tupac, to cook supper on a picnic table. I had a Lipton rice packet before the
four of us hiked to the William Brian Memorial Shelter. Bump and I carried on
another couple of miles before stopping for the night. We had done sixteen
miles in the heat. There was no food left, except for the cereal I would have
in the morning. Hooray! It will be a
town day tomorrow!
July
27th Monday
I was up at 6:00, had some milk and
cereal for breakfast and got away by 7:10. We climbed to the Bear Mt. Memorial
and stopped for water. We walked down to the Bear Mountain Lodge area, where I
sat and waited on the road while Bump went to pick up his mail drop. As I sat
there, three or four groups of kids, about twenty per group, went by, for they
were going to the zoo. When Bump came back, we walked to Fort Montgomery. No
one was at the local pizzeria, so we walked on to the deli. There was a bank
machine there, so I picked up some cash and then walked over to the post office
for my mail drop. It felt good to be in a town and have some cash for a change.
We went back to the deli and I ordered a BBQ beef sandwich. It was huge! There
was about a pound of beef in it. I bought a 2-liter of Pepsi and while outside,
consumed the whole sandwich, along with some of Gram’s cookies for
dessert. The mail drop from home
contained my long awaited sleeping bag.
We packed up and hiked into town to check out the motel
situation. One place was older and without air conditioning. The other motel
listed in the guidebook didn’t seem to exist. We walked to the police station
to ask where the motel was and the chief informed us that it had been condemned
and torn down, a few months ago. The next motel was checked out but was full,
because there was some construction going on at a nuclear plant near-by. The
owners phoned some motels down the road for us and found one with a vacancy.
The same lady gave us a ride there, as it was two or three miles away. It was a
very nice gesture as the heat was horrific, in the high 90’s and the humidity
was stifling. It was another motel owned by an East Indian, but the rate was
only $39.00 a night. Nimble Will Nomad wasn’t here to help us now. We took our
packs to the room, which had a fridge and microwave, promptly cranked up the
air-conditioning and jumped in the shower. It felt so good to be out of the heat.
We stayed there most of the afternoon and around 6:00, walked into the town of
West Point, a mile away. We ate supper at McDonalds and then hobbled around
town looking for the Laundromat and a grocery store. We found a grocery store
on the way back to the motel and went in to buy some snacks. We got some chips,
ice cream, an apple, orange juice, milk and some microwave popcorn to take back
to the motel. I watched some TV for a while, before phoning home and talking to
Adam. There was 1300 miles of trail completed thus far. I phoned Mom, Dad and
Gram and then Thirsty Boots in Connecticut to arrange a rendezvous with him, so
we could hike Connecticut together. I called Sunburn, who was supposed to be at
home in New York, but he had got back on the trail already, and then I called
Hopwood’s sister to find out about John. He was still putting his gear together
and would be back on the trail in a day or so. Bump and I read the newspapers
we had received from home and watched TV a little, before going to bed.
July
28th Tuesday
Happy Birthday Tara! I was up at 7:30,
had a little breakfast snack, watched TV, went back to sleep and didn’t wake up
until 2:00. We packed up the gear we were mailing home and took it to the post
office in West Point. I sent back my fleece blanket, some pictures and some
letters. We walked over to the West Point Academy museum and toured through.
There were some very interesting exhibits of old uniforms and firearms from the
pre revolutionary days up to the Second World War. We left when it closed and I
went to do my laundry, while Bump went to McDonalds. I got an ice cream cone to
snack on, and wrote a letter to Les and Geri Zotzman, on a brown paper bag
retrieved from the garbage. On the way back to the motel, I stopped at the
grocery store. I picked up a rib-eye steak, carrots, a quart of milk and some
Ben and Jerry’s, New York Super Fudge Chunk. Supper was cooked back at the
motel. I watched some TV and tried to
reach Tara on her birthday but no one was home. I was asleep by midnight.
West Point Schedule
July
29th Wednesday
I was up at 7:00 and watched TV until
8:30. Bump and I had agreed to stay another day. I was still raggedly tired.
Bump went to pay for the room and then we went back to sleep until 2:30. After
waking up, I walked to the grocery store. I ate a Ben and Jerry’s outside the
store before shopping. I picked up the groceries I needed for the trail and
also got some wieners, chips, relish, mustard, milk and some ice cream bars. I
took the goods back to the motel and cooked supper. I watched a little TV
before going back to bed at 10:00. This had to be the lowest point of the whole
trip with regards to strength and the will to hike. Although the trail didn’t
seem difficult, the temperature and humidity sapped the energy that it took to
venture on.
July
30th Thursday
I was up at 4:00 in the morning,
watched a little more TV and then went back to sleep until 9:00. We prepared
our packs and headed out into the heat at 11:00. We tried hitching for twenty
minutes with no luck. So, we went to
the motel and tried phoning a cab. There was no answer! We tried hitching again
and got a ride on the third car. A gentleman named Moose gave us a ride back to
the trail. He was born and raised in Niagara Falls, Canada. We hiked across the
Hudson River on Bear Mt. Bridge at 11:45 and started climbing shortly after.
Bear Mountain Bridge over the Hudson
River
We made it to the Graymoor monastery in two hours. There,
we met the older Nomad, (Hooties’ dad), and Rascal. They were going to stay the
night, but since we were just getting started, Bump and I looked for water and
planned to go on. We got separated when searching for water. I had a snack at the ball field and then
headed back to the trail to look for him. He was no-where to be found so I
started off down the trail. In half of an hour I found him, sitting and waiting
for me. We soon met a father and son hiking southbound, coming up the hill. The
12-year-old was walking along so fast and so close to his dad that it looked
like they were on a tandem bicycle. We also met Kresler, another south bounder.
Bump and I hiked to Dennytown Road, eight miles away, for
we hoped to stop for the night. We found the building marked in the guidebook
as a water source, but the pump that was outside the building had been rigged
to not open. A sign posted said that
the water source had been tested unclean, and so was now unavailable. Bump and
I had gone fifteen miles in the heat of the day and it was getting dark. We sat
on our packs and checked the guidebook for the next water source and discovered
that it was four miles away. For almost a half of an hour, we pondered our
situation and the options available. A few cars went by. One of them turned around and came back. The
young man rolled down his window and asked us if we needed water. He could take
our bottles and fill them up or we could go with him to fill them up ourselves.
We hopped in the truck. He took us to a summer retreat lodge for handicapped
kids. He led us inside to the kitchen and we filled our bottles. While we were
there he offered us some leftover supper (rice, bean salad, fried chicken and
dessert). What a score! He also gave us each some fruit: apricots, oranges, and
a banana. The name of the place was the Taconic Outdoor Center and Paul Kuznia
was the director there. He had run into thru hikers looking for water at the
same spot before. We had gone from near desolation, to full bellies rather
quickly, and were very appreciative. Paul drove us back to the trail and showed
us a field where we could set up our tents.
We thanked him again and went to work setting up camp. It was dark now
and began to rain just as we were getting in. I was in bed by 10:00.
July
31st Friday
It rained all night and the gear got
damp. I got up at 5:00, read the rest of the Financial Post and ate my orange,
apricot, banana and some cereal. I went back to sleep until 9:30. We had had a
good rest before leaving at 10:15. We hiked to Fahnestock State Park and
stopped on the trail to eat. I ate four
boiled wieners and some snacks. We packed up and then walked to the top of
Shenandoah Mt. before stopping for a break. It was open there at the top of the
mountain and there was a good view and lots of sunshine. A hiker named Rob
passed us here. We walked down to a tenting area two miles away, looking for
water and then hiked on another three miles to the RHP Shelter. There, we met
Just Feeblin Along, a section hiker in his 60’s. We checked out the registers,
one at the shelter, and another belonging to Bill Irwin, a blind thru hiker
from the 1990’s. We planned to go on to a shelter nine miles away, but
Breakaway arrived before we got away. We talked to him for a while before
getting offered a ride to Fishkill, NY, to go to an all you can eat Chinese
place. We decided to stay at the RHP and take in the Chinese spot. Just Feeblin
Along drove Bump, Breakaway and myself there and we had a great time eating and
laughing over supper. When we walked into the place we saw a scene painted on
the left wall, which looked similar to the one on the right wall. We argued
back and forth as to whether they were identical or not. We soon discovered
that there was a mirror on the far wall. How silly!
After tanking up on food, we went shopping at the grocery
store next door for a few items and then went back to the shelter. Fletch,
Joliet Joe and Rob were there. It was the first time I had seen them, since the
Smokies, in North Carolina. We talked the evening away and had a great time. I
planned on doing lots of miles the next day and Bump planned on going to
breakfast with Just Feeblin Along and then hitch a ride with him up to Kent,
Connecticut. I hiked eleven miles this day and was in bed by 11:30.
A truck worth hijacking!
Compliments of Shutterbug
August
1st Saturday
I dreamt of snakes in the night. The
dream was so vivid that I bolted upright in my bunk, swinging my arms, to knock
them away. It must have been the Chinese food. I would leave Bump behind today
as he planned on getting a ride north to Connecticut, with Just Feeblin Along.
I had cereal for breakfast, got away at 6:45, and hiked three hours straight to
the Morgan Stewart Shelter. After stopping for water and an hour of
recuperation, I then hiked another seven miles to the Telephone Pioneers
Shelter to rest and eat again. The weather had been nice because the trail was
highly elevated; the temperature was cooler. I stayed at the shelter for a
snack and water. There was a guy there that could hear but didn’t speak. I had
heard that there were two hikers out here that could speak but had taken a vow
of silence for the duration that they were on the trail. I believe that this
was one of them. I moved on six miles
to the Wiley Shelter, just a mile from Connecticut. The Metro station was just a bench to sit and wait at. People
from N.Y. City could travel out for the day and then go back from there. At the
Wiley Shelter I met Chicken Hawk of “94”, a couple of section hikers and some
weekenders. I cooked some rice and pepperoni for supper and talked the night
away with the two college student section hikers. I was my tent at 10:00 after
my biggest mile day yet (25 miles). The weather had been cooperative and the
trail had been gentle and rolling. Of course my feet were sore, but I felt much
better than when I had gone to Bear Mountain.
Thirsty Boots would meet me tomorrow night so we could hike to
Connecticut together.