7/6/1999 ~ Windsor Furnace Shelter (6.2m hiked)

It was incredibly hot today. I hiked from 8:30-12:30 and stopped right here. Tomorrow I have no ambitions beyond Eckville Shelter 9.3 miles away. The predictions for today were 102' with a heat index of 115'. I know at least 2 hikers that passed by here heading for Eckville. That's 15 miles in this heat!  The weather report was also calling for a thunderstorm tonight, and I sure don't see that happenning. It is *supposed* to be cooler tomorrow. I'd love to believe that. I'm glad that I already knew how miserable PA was in the summer. The humidity, alas, was not a surprise.

There's one other hiker here - somebody who I thought was ahead of me based on register enteries - By The Numbers. He's using the canned heat stuff caterers use as his stove. It's slow, but it gets the job done. It's not sterno, and it's in a closed can with a wick. I'm betting it's some kind of gel alcohol. It strikes me that a stronger-that-I-have kind of hand sanitizer (I'm using Purell right now) might make a good fire paste substitute. It sure makes a nice foot rub.

Since I left my poles at home, Tino improvised some PVC pipe for me to use as tent poles and walking sticks. I will get my Lekis back at Delaware Water Gap. The PVC pipes make better walking sticks than Tino or I thought they would. Now that I know I don't need the duct tape to rig the tent, I can use it to make grips. The poles are slipperier than the duct tape, so it should be an improvement.