| June 11 Upper Carboniferous As I was surfing the tv from my couch tonight during a refreshing thunderstorm, the phone rang right as I landed on a PBS show about the Carnegies and Mellons. Sure enough, Paul was calling from Hamburg, Pennsylvania. He is doing well, which seems to be the status quo for him. The coal bearing rocks of Pennsylvania are now taking a toll on Paul's boots, which are deteriorating rapidly, but he has a pre-worn new pair waiting for him when he returns home for the second time for another wedding in a about 10 days. Paul has been hiking with Sleeper. Two pair of other thru-hikers who have been trekking together in the last few days consist of Blacksheep and Kimball, both from PA, and a father son team Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, from a world far far away. Tonight they will all be sleeping under a pavillion in Port Clinton, PA. When the sixsome hiked into town today, they were happy to see Skeletor waiting for them. She just returned back to the AT after a six day trip back to her home on the Maine coast. Paul was calling from Hamburg because there was a grocery store and payphone, both of which Port Clinton does not have. After hanging up with me, they had the task of hitching a ride back to Port Clinton, which Paul thought may be a challenge, as there were no cars in the grocery store lot, and it was now 10:30pm. Paul had a good time in Duncannon, he and Sleeper split a room in the Doyle Hotel last Thursday. This is an old hotel, the structure being over 100 years old, and has a bar which was recently renovated. The hiking that Paul has described in PA is a little boring, bringing him through valley farmland and long stretches of ridge tops with less than impressive views. There are many roads along this stretch of the AT as well, and the water sources have had a orange rusty color from the mines, but the Haul is still enjoying his adventure, and is expecting to be in New Jersey next week. He should call again from Delaware Water Gap, about 80 miles away. The Pennsylvanian Period was a time in geologic history between 320 and 295 million years ago. Try to imagine that. Todd |
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