Astrogirl's Entries by State

Rocky Run Shelter

6/19 ~ Rocky Run Shelter (5.25 miles)

Short day today. I didn't get started until 2:30pm. I stopped at Rocky Run to eat dinner, and I decided to stay after Bristlecone said that he thought Dahlgren would be crowded and loud with boy scouts he saw heading for there. My experiences camping among boy scouts haven't been bad exactly, but their exhuberance tends to result in less sleep for me.

I'll likely cross I40 and I70 tomorrow. So, I finally get to cross that I70 bridge that I've driven under every time I've come through PA. If I get a latish start, I can hit a brunch on 40A. That's pretty tempting, but I really want to get started early tomorrow and the brunch doesn't start until 10:30 and it's only 1.5 miles from here.

We can hear a lot of gunfire here. It must be from the gun club down the mountain. Ah, memories of D.C. At this moment, I am also hearing thumping music in the distance. It must be really loud because there isn't a road within a mile of here, and I can't see backpackers lugging in a boom box.

Posted by nicole at 10:30 AM

Devil's Racecourse Shelter

6/20 ~ Devil's Racecourse Shelter (19.6 miles)

Well, I put in a 20 miler, but not because I wanted to. My original plan was to do 15 to Hemlock Hill Shelter, but didn't work out.

The day started out easy. I saw a Michigan historical marker...in Maryland. I crossed I-70, and the approach to the bridge is surprisingly scenic.

I stopped at 10 miles (Pogo Campsite) to get water and I ran into some characters that gave me the willies. They looked at me like there was something wrong with me, and when I said 'hi', they just glared back at me, again, like there was something wrong with me. After I ate and watered up, I hiked a short distance from the spring, and there they were again, doing what, I couldn't tell. They looked at me like I was intruding. I decided to attempt to put some distance between me and them.

Then I hit the boulder field. Did I mention that it was raining lightly and that I hate wet rocks and that if I slid off the rocks there was poison ivy everywhere waiting to greet me? Yuck. Luckily, Magnolia had warned me about the rocks, so I knew I had 1.5 miles of it ahead and this prevented me from being discouraged about it. It actually wasn't too bad, in my adrenaline fueled state, and the rest of the hike to Hemlock Hill was pretty easy.

I got there, and the shelter was empty. It's also right next to a road, and I figured that the guys I had tried to leave behind were probably heading here, since there really weren't a lot of places to camp (and none legally) between there and here, and, of course, it was raining. It was 5:30 at this point, so that gave them a good 3 hours to get here -- quite possible even at their slow pace. And I knew a few people who were heading for Devil's Racecourse, so I decided to push on the additional 4.5 miles.

These were not a good 4.5 miles to be putting in at the end of a long day, and it was threatening to rain more. At the first power cut, I mistook a jeep road for the trail and hiked up a hill pointlessly. And it was muddy. When I came back down, the trail through the power cut was hard to find because of the lack of blazes. Power cuts tend to have a lot of trails in them -- power company people drive up there and ATV people ride up there and teenagers walk up there and make out or whatever it is they do. At 8:20, I made the last climb up from a road. It was raining harder now. I came to a blue blaze and took it. Unfortunately, It went to a view from Raven Rock, not the shelter. This had invovled a couple of rock scrambles. I'd just expended a good bit of precious, dwindling energy for nothing. I was furious, and I was afraid I'd get stuck somewhere after dark and in pouring rain with no where to put down a tent (this hill was about half rocks and the other half was trees). I decided that if I didn't find the shelter turn off by 8:30, I was turning around, going back down to the road (MD 491), hitching into Smithsburg, MD and going home.

I came to the shelter turn off at 8:28. The guys there (Bristlecone, Peaceful Warrior, Grace's Son, and Russell) made room in the shelter for me, and Bristlecone went out of his way to make me feel safe and secure. Thank goodness I made it in, because as soon as I got under the roof, the skies opened up, and night fell.

The Ridge Runner had tented there last night, and in the morning, he told me that the Hemlock Hill Shelter is a couple hundred feet from a Maryland Ranger's house, and lot of thruhikers don't realize this and pass by the shelter because of the road. Sigh.

Posted by nicole at 10:35 AM

Deer Lick Run Shelters, PA

6/21 ~ Deer Lick Run Shelters (9.7 AT miles, 2.2 mile road walk)

Tenting at this shelter. Baltimore Jack, section hikers Russell and Fred are also here. Russell was also at Devil's Racecourse Shelter with me. Today is his last day out - really nice guy. It's always nice to see young idealists. Being a vegan, he's far more idealistic than I am. He also reminds me of someone I used to know.

Blue Ridge Summit was pretty good. I did laundry, didn't get my maildrop (more on that in a bit) and had a grilled cheese, fries and some great coleslaw at a diner. I also purchased food at Zeek's convenience store since I was out. I forgot to get TP (which was, of course, in that damn maildrop), but Baltimore Jack gave me some, so I should be good on that for a while. The real problem with the maildrop is that it contains stove fuel, and I can't get Esbit fuel any old place. I'll use my remaining fuel and pick up some cheese and bread in South Mountain and find out how not cooking works for me. Hopefully, that box will turn up at Ironmasters. At this point, I am also completely without maps, so each day will be a surprise for a while.

I suppose I caused this by being ahead of my schedule for two days. I'm having some problems: blisters on my big toes, chafing on my thighs, alternating screaming knees, heel pain (but that's absent today) and chafing on my middle fingers from the poles. All this stuff comes and goes but it doesn't seem to be slowing me down any. Yet. It's 9:20 and now dusk on the longest day of the year. I should go to sleep so I can get to US Rt. 30 tomorrow.

It's also nude hiking day, but I didn't see any nude hikers. Either Russell or Fred said they saw one. (I later heard that Caboose, Raindancer and Too Obtuse all hiked nude for at least part of the day).

I did get some mail at BRS, from mom. I took the hemp salve (elbow grease) and the soap for my next shower. They both smell terrific, so thanks mom! I'll compare the hemp salve to the Bag Balm, so we'll see how it does. I'll enjoy the other products at home. You should have seen my face when I opened this big tin with a pot leaf on it right there in an outpost of The Man (USPS, in this case).

Posted by nicole at 10:39 AM

Caledonia State Park

6/22 ~ Caledonia State Park (13.2 AT miles, 2 mile road walk, 1 mile for water)

I'm far too clean to be a backpacker tonight. I've showered and washed my hair. I actually smell good (thanks to the hemp soap). Dr. Bronner's seems to have done a decent but not admirable job on my hair. Now if only this campsite for which I paid $13 were level, life would be perfect. It's as if they aren't expecting people to tent or something.

Today was not a good day. I really need to avoid road walks - they make me hate what I'm doing. I push to get into a town, and then there's a good long walk with traffic zooming by. I have not yet brought myself to hitch, though other thruhikers tell me that anybody with good radar and common sense can do it safely. I have yogied two rides, however(Yogi, as in BooBoo and picnic baskets - it's a widely used hiker term for charming people into giving you something. I yogied a Sam Adams at Gathland State Park.) I'm fine with that because I can check people out before I ask. I also paid for one shuttle.

Anyway, the post mistress in South Mountain made my life a little easier by selling me a postal money order on my ATM card and then cashing it. I wasn't out of money, but buying groceries in a convenience store would have set me back below my safety zone and there ain't no ATM in South Mountain, PA. Some encouragement from Tino and one excellent milkshake later, and I was cheered up enough to get back on the trail. I also had a tasty cheese sandwich at the same lunch counter. The milkshake (at 1.99) was actually more expensive than the sandwich (1.85) which amazed me.

For some stupid reason, the Rocky Mountain Shelters are located half way back down the mountain you just hiked UP from PA233 for 1.8 miles. To add insult to injury, the spring is ALL THE WAY BACK DOWN TO PA233!. God, I was mad about that extra mile. I mean, I had to rest for an hour before I could continue because I had climbed that sucker twice. Here's what I don't understand though -- the climb up on the AT takes 1.8 miles, almost twice what the shelter/spring blue blaze takes. I'm convinced that this trail is not so much a trail as it is a 2,100 mile continuous pile of rocks.

Maybe the gubmint was able to acquire the land simply because no one else wanted it! I decided not to stay at Rocky Mountain Shelters because the bugs were really bad tonight and there was no where nice to tent. Also, I was alone [though I ran into a southbounding thruhiker headed for this shelter when I was on my way to Caledonia. D'oh!, and so there would be no one to commisserate with about the spring and the

bugs. I hiked on to Rt. 30. There were 4 or 5 evil rock scrambles up and down on that 3 mile stretch. Quite a surprise since the profile showed it as flat (I looked at someone else's map). I'm learning that flat on a profile usually means there's something else nasty going on there. I wish there were some system for showing the ruggedness of the terrain. It would make my planning easier.

Right after US30 (the same road I lived near in Illinois for years and years), the terrain became what it was changing to for the 1/2 mile before Rt.30. This park is truly gorgeous. Towering hemlocks, a a babbling brook and where there is understory, it's a lush tangle of rhododendron and laurel. I will be laying over for a day here to recuperate a bit.

I'm tenting next to a really nice thruhiker named Dog Bone. We talked a lot, but I never got the story behind the trail name. I was totally exhausted by the time I got to my campsite, and he bought me a soda and told me about all the mistakes he'd made at the beginning -- this included carrying an 80lb pack for the first 30 miles. He looks sort of like Sean Connery and has the accent to go with it. He's from Scotland, has lived all over the world, and is currently living in Canada.

6/23 ~ Caledonia State Park (0 miles)

I'm resting and babying my feet here today. $13 bucks is about as cheap as a layover with a shower gets, and I figure I've earned it. I went down the hill to switch campsites and make some calls, and I saw Grizzly and No Moss again. They are now ahead of me, but I might catch up with them in Duncannon since people often lay over there.

Also whether I take time off for July 4th makes a difference. If I hike on that weekend, I will gain on some folks because most thruhikers don't hike then. I'm really bummed that this park doesn't sell postcards. I figured that they'd be better pictures than I'd take and might be kitchy to boot. Maybe Pine Grove Furnace will have some.

I've seen two snakes today - the first for me on the trail. Both were tiny infant snakes, and one was black or dark grey with a peach colored belly. The other was a garter snake. I also saw a painted turtle yesterday. I've seen one in the woods in Reston also, but this one was almost twice the size of that one at 10" in length.

Posted by nicole at 11:03 AM

Tom's Brook Shelter

6/24 ~ Tom's Run Shelters (16.5 miles)

I'm closing in on my first hundred miles, but I'm not really having fun yet. I *did* come out here to have fun, after all. Today wasn't a bad day, in fact some things about it were good. My feet are just thankful I didn't push on to Pine Grove Furnace.

When I woke up this morning, something had bitten the hell out of my ankles and feet. My feet were still swollen to the point of non-wrinkleness. Imagine your own toes with no wrinkles. Looks weird, huh? It's not painful, but walking on them is a bit uncomfortable. In addition, my eyes were swollen half shut (no, my head was not lower than my feet). When I was putting in my contacts, I kept trying to get what I thought was morning eye gunk out. Turns out that was actually swollen flesh. I took a Benedryl thinking that would help. It did help, but I hiked part of the day very slowly and dizzily. I even took a 1/2 hour nap under a tree.

I had originally planned to have a break and some lunch at Quarry Gap Shelters. I got there about 10:30, which was really too early for lunch. The shelters were super nice. After a break, I moved on to Birch Run Shelters, where I had intended to stay the night. I found the shelters to be nasty and the tent sites unexceptional. I ate a cheese sandwich, watered up and moved on (at 3:30pm). The hike between those two shelters had been very pretty -- rhododendron tunnels with some in bloom.

The next section had a treat -- blueberries. I munched on them on and off for six miles to this area which has a babbling brook (very relaxing and good for sleeping, not to mention convenient) and many good tent sites. Let's hope nothing bites my ankles tonight (I've already removed an ant, a spider and an earwhig from my tent. I suspect the spider rode with me all day since it was way in a corner right after I set up my tent. The ankle biter perhaps? Well, it's dead now. No trial for suspected biting insects. I have a zero tolerance policy for bugs who can't stay in their place -- outside., for that I could sleep in the shelter.

Posted by nicole at 11:05 AM

Pine Grove Furnace, PA

6/25 ~ Ironmaster's Mansion Hostel (3.7 miles hiked)

For my first experience with a hostel, this was a good choice. Of course, I haven't tried to sleep in this dorm room yet.

People at hostels seem to share some quality with thruhikers, so it's a good match. I think we're all giving up privacy and solitude in seeking adventure. Or maybe we're all just cheap bastards.

I got my best sleep yet at Tom's Run. I fell asleep while it was still light out, and when I woke up after dark, and I just rolled over and left my contacts in. I'm using a polar fleece blanket bag. It has a double zipper and a nylon shell. It seems to be acting as a vapor barrier and making me cold when the temperature hits the dewpoint in the early am hours. In any case, I think it's warmed up now, based on last night. That was the first night I didn't wake up chilled and need to put more clothes on before I could go back to sleep.

For my entertainment today, I sat at the Pine Grove Furnace General Store and watched people attempt to eat a half gallon of ice cream to get their spoon. I do love ice cream, but I thought that was beyond my ability to enjoy it. I saw Bagel and PA Mule eat theirs. I really thought Bagel would lose it -- she looked seriously ill. I watched David get his 'Picture of Failure' Picture. Pace, Chicago, Second Wind and Muledozer managed to get it all down. So did Stretch, but at some point, he had to "go be by himself" with the final pint to finish it off. I didn't see how Court Dog finished up, but I suspect he did it. We all decided that the PGFGS invented the 1/2 gallon challenge to sell ice cream (it's a roughly the half-way point on the trail). They even got a Hershey Ice Cream delivery today. I have to say that it was all pretty fun. Everyone just sat there for the whole afternoon (it got pretty hot today) and BS'd the day away.

Tino will meet me in Boiling Springs tomorrow enabling me to slack 18.3 miles there tomorrow. He will also bring me a maildrop to make sure that I GET THIS ONE.Also, I need to swap out my thermarest and sit pad for my ridge rest. As expected, I still don't like the damn thermarest, no matter how much I try to convince myself that I do like it. I haven't really swapped out any other gear. I'm very happy with the Esbit stove, and I'm going to stick with the aforementioned bag for now. I did send back half my clothes at Harper's Ferry, however, which gave me more room in my backpack. I also need to decide which AT guides I really need. I'm carrying the AT companion and Wingfoot's book from 1998 (I've removed the southern portions to make them lighter), and I use both of them in slightly different ways. If I had maps, I think I'd be better able to figure out what I really need.

I'm swapping out my Esbit for the MSR when I run out of fuel for the Esbit. I think I'll also be swapping a Zippo for the disposable lighter once I change the stoves out. I just found out (from Baltimore Jack) that the Zippo will run just fine on white gas, which is what the MSR runs on. Actually, the MSR will also take unleaded gasoline, as will the Zippo.

Posted by nicole at 11:13 AM

Boiling Springs, PA

June 26 ~ Boiling Springs, PA (19.4 miles slacked)
Cumulative Miles this trip: 117.1
Cumulative AT Miles: 138.1

It was a miserable hike for much of today. I started out at 6am, and the first three hours were pretty good. Then it got hot. The bugs and the heat were relentless, as was my knee pain. I hiked from 6am to 3:30pm with nothing more than two 10 minute breaks. I thought I was going to fall over when I got to the ATC Headquarters. I know I drank plenty of water (I went through 2 liters of Gatorade and 4 liters of water), but the heat really got to me.

There were many, many blazes on rocks today. I'm glad for the blazes because getting lost sucks, but it really annoys me that they can't find any where else to paint a blaze. In short, blazes on rocks are just a confirmation of nasty terrain involving big rocks and scrubby trees, if any trees at all. I know this will continue throughout Pennsylvania.

Tino picked me up, and we drove to Lancaster and wound up in York. Right before that, Squeak (who I'd met at Tom's Run) showed up at the ATC office with a story for me, Danger, Dr. Raggamuffin and Elroy (??). It seems that Baltimore Jack had found a dead body at The Doyle in Duncannon. Baltimore Jack is quite a character, and The Doyle is a legend among hikers (it's a real dump, but you can get a single room for $18. They used to have a bar and restaurant, but they've now lost both of those licenses). One of the long-term boarders at the Doyle had died in his room and B.Jack was assigned a room on that floor. He asked "does it always smell like this? I don't recall it smelling like this last year." Then, he asked if there was anyone on this floor that they "hadn't seen for a while." As it turns out, there was, and they opened the room, and you can imagine the rest if you've read any Stephen King books.

No one was surprised that there was a body at the Doyle. No one is surprised that Baltimore Jack is the one who found it. Oh, and that was a total shock to me -- Tino mentioned something about King and of course I hadn't heard a thing about him being hit by a car. It sounds like a truly random thing that happened to him.

June 27 ~ York, PA (0 miles hiked)

OK, I'm resolved now. I've made the mistake of trying to keep up with the thruhikers around me -- the psychology of being passed up by everyone was a strong pull to push myself beyond my ability. I need to split the hiking up better. I tend to push hard one day, hiking 16-20 miles, and then hike about 20 less that number on the next. Effectively, I'm doing an extra climb and descent on those days instead of spreading them out better, and the long days might be causing my knee distress. There are places where I must do 14-16 miles between camping spots, but no where near as many as I've done. For instance, I never should have left Rocky Mtn. Shelter on June 22. I also should have stayed at Hemlock Hill Shelter on June 20 instead of pushing on to Devil's Racecourse. I was really afraid of it because of the proximity of the road and the guys somewhere behind me that had set off my radar. As it turns out, the Maryland Ranger lives a couple hundred feet from it, so I would have been fine there.

I must take a few days off if I want to keep my own knees. Also, I have more than a dozen blisters on my feet. I know from taking a zero day at Caledonia State Park that one zero day is not going to fix my knees (they are worse than before Caledonia) or my feet (also worse). In addition to all that, I was going to come home for a few days over the 4th because most thruhikers do. The lack of thruhikers on the trail over that holiday means that there won't be many on the trail, which means that the trail is then considerably less safe for me on my own. Thus, I'm going home until after the Independence Day holiday. I will probably return to the trail at Port Clinton after the holiday.

This means that I'm skipping some of Pennsylvania. This is less of a deal for me since I'm a still considered section hiker, no matter whether I do that section of PA now or later. If I had started at Springer, I'd be much less inclined to skip ahead. I'll make up my mind about this during the week, but the fact that this section isn't far from home makes it more likely that I'll skip it for now. If I finish before October 1, I can even do it this year when it's not so damn hot.

Of course, this means that I'll backslide on the trail conditioning that I've gotten, which is bad, but I've learned what not to do now.

Posted by nicole at 11:19 AM

Darlington Shelter

17-May-2000 ~ Scott Farm (10 miles hiked so far)

Got here a good deal later than I'd have liked. I know that's no surprise. I did see some interesting stuff today:

world's tiniest monarch
blue jay so vibrant that even in flight it looked almost purple
sign reading "livestock may approach. do not feed or touch" (none approached)

Also, I had to walk through a field of cows. They were even blocking the stile. Mostly, they got out of my way, but they looked fascinated. I guess it's the big eyes because, theoretically, hikers go through there every day.

As you can see below, it's been dead flat so far. Scott Farm is located at Conodoguin Creek on the profile below. Dinner time, then 4 more miles.

17-May-2000 Darlington Shelter (4.3 miles from Scott Farm)

14.3 miles hiked today. I forgot how hard this is (that last hill is a doozy, as the saying goes). Still, a good day out here is like nothing else.

I'm pleased that I made 14 miles my first day out. While I didn't really have a choice (the whole Cumberland Valley is a no-camp zone), I'd have preferred not to start out with this many miles. The pack is doing really well. The lack of a hipbelt is no big deal. I did feel the need to improvise a sternum strap, and it did help, but it is also a bit restrictive. Part of the benefit of no hip belt or sternum strap is the ability to move the pack around freely to access pockets, sling it over one shoulder, whatever.

I crossed the north terminus of the Tuscarora (Big Blue) Trail right before the shelter. It's my understanding that the Big Blue used to be the AT path for many miles through Northern VA, MD and part of PA. Another part of the trail is in one of my favorite George Washington National Forest areas, Big Schloss.

Posted by nicole at 11:24 AM

Duncannon, PA

18-May-2000 Duncannon, Doyle Hotel (11.3 miles hiked)

Cumulative Miles this Trip: 25.6

Cumulative AT Miles: 163.7

OK, I think I'm done with the AT. I love backpacking, but this trail is brutal. My feet are blistered beyond recognition. I even have blisters on my hands (from the poles) and under my big toe nails. My knees and plantar fascia are fine, however.

It only took me two days to figure it out this time -- plenty of vacation left to salvage. ;)

Note 12-Dec-2000: I'm not really done with the trail. I'm going to attempt to finish up Virginia in the next two years, starting with Shenandoah National Park. Everyone seems to enjoy the hike through that park, so maybe I'll feel better about it then.

Also, I don't miss the hipbelt, and I have had no problems with my back or shoulders. I'm so tired right now I can barely stand up or even sit up. I'm at the Doyle in the non-smoking half of the bar, and another hiker just told me that the truckstop (where I was planning on staying and arranging for a ride) motel is full. This is bad because some southbounders reminded me how run down the Doyle is and said their room sucked and was really noisy. Another hiker (the one who told me the bad news about the truck stop) also reminded me about the condition of this place.

It's going to be a challenge to get home from here. I don't even know where to find a pay phone AND I don't have a house key.

I'm so tired right now, in fact, that even making phone calls sounds exhausting.

Posted by nicole at 11:36 AM

Duncannon to Peter's Mountain

May 13, 2002

11.8 miles hiked, 9:15 - 3:00

Between Peter's Mtn Shelter and Clark's Ferry Shelter, the terrain is quite benign. For about one mile after Clark's Ferry, there are classic PA rocks. The trail was planned quite well around them, but I do hate going up and down and up and down when I'm supposed to be either climbing or descending...dunno. In hindsight, it doesn't seem bad at all and seems maybe a little fun. At least this club managed to blaze the rocks well enough for southbounders.

If I had hit those rocks walking out of Duncannon, my attitude would have been worse, so I'm glad I did this SOBO. In all, the whole trip worked out really well for me, and I can't complain overall...except about the blazing.

Once I got across the Clark's Ferry Bridge and on to PA849, the blazes disappeared again. I walked down Market Street in Duncannon instead of High Street, but hey, they are only a block away, and it wasn't my fault I missed the turn -- the northbounder blazing isn't visible from that point and there is NO BLAZE for the southbounder to know to turn...well, you see what I mean. In any case, it's the AT corridor, so I'm counting it. I didn't know I went wrong until I got to my car at High St and saw all the northbound blazes continuing down the street.

I may not do the Swatart to Port Clinton walk this coming weekend. I may do the south section of SNP instead. I hate to tempt fate since in all, I think things went quite well in PA. For once.

Posted by nicole at 11:40 AM

Peter's Mountain Shelter

May 12, 2002
17.5 miles hiked today, 9-5:45

I guess I did 17.5 miles today, but id didn't seem like quite that much. The climbs here are mercifully short. I did stumble over many a rock today, bruising myself and abrading my shin at one point, but I will have no problems getting into Duncannon tomorrow afternoon. Can one drink in PA on Sunday?

The registers are claiming bear sightings left and right. Oh. And rattlesnakes, but I haven't seen either. I did run into Lightfoot who said that he'd just seen a mama bear with three cubs, and that the cubs may still be up the trees. He was quite excited about it. I know I didn't want to find myself between a mother bear and her cubs, but since he'd had a good experience, he didn't seem to see any danger.

There have already been mouse sightings in this shelter, and a bird is nesting in here. I don't think the bird will be any trouble, based on my experiences with the bird at home. The dog is also now between me and the mice, which might be worth something.

I'm here with Tiger Paw and Blue Water and BW's new dog Nakita. She's a great dog, and he got very lucky on a stray, IMHO. There are more coincidences with these two as I met both of them in and around Pearisburg also. I even met Tiger Paw's wife and sister while lunching at Laurel Creek Shelter.

Posted by nicole at 11:40 AM

Rausch Gap Shelter

5/10/2002 ~ Sharp Mtn, Lunch
about 5 miles hiked 9-11:30am

I completely forgot about something in my earlier entry: there was helicopter traffic for hours at the shelter. It is near a Military Reservation, and I also heard one jet take off. It didn't seem to bother anyone else, as I heard no fidgeting but me. There were some other weird noises I could not identify. They sounded like big bugs hitting a zapper outside the shelter, but quite near by.

Rausch Gap Shelter
4.6 official miles hiked, 5:45-7:45

I hiked in from Swatara Gap, and within 5 minutes on the trail, my feet were soaked due to a bad judgement call. There was a stream with a missing bridge and a rock path across. The rocks had water running over them, but I thought it was only an inch or so deep. Did I take off my shoes? No. NO. I did not. I suppose I should be grateful I didn't fall in, but in short, the water was high enough to come in over my boot laces. Damn it.

Two hours later, I missed the turn off for the shelter. That's never happened before but, but I was SOBO and it seems that, default direction or not (it's supposed to be ME to GA, not vice-versa), trail associations hate southbounders. When I say I missed it, I mean I missed it by a mile, literally, and had to go back and look for it. It is clearly marked for Northbounders, of course.

I also slept in the shelter, which I almost never do. I got here, and it was quite dark, and the only good tent pad was taken by a family that brought a sledge to pound stakes, if that tells you anything. And pound they did.

The shelter people were already in bed at 8:30pm, but by coincidence, I KNEW one of them from War Spur Shelter, Candy, a German guy who's been living in rural Georgia for two years before this. As always, 'packers made room for the lone girl. They always do, but I only rarely ask.

(a.m.)
No MICE! I can't believe it. Candy proved his trail name by eating PopTarts and a Mars bar for breakfast. I grossed him out by eating ramen noodles. :)

Posted by nicole at 11:44 AM

Windsor Furnace Shelter

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.

Posted by nicole at 11:48 AM

Eckville Shelter

7/7/1999 ~ Eckville Shelter (9.5 miles hiked)

Eckville Shelter is behind Lazee's house and has a shower and a flush toilet! I believe he's a former thruhiker, judging by that name. He also keeps sodas and ice cream sandwiches in the fridge on the porch for donations. The attractiveness of all this helped me quit here today even though it was only 1pm. I'm sure my knees will thank me in the morning.

Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler than today, which means that I'm going to make it a longer day tomorrow. It was decent today until about 2pm when the sun got wicked hot until about 7pm. I started at 7am this morning, so I had pretty enjoyable temps today after I climbed up from Windsor Furnace.

The views today were great. The first climb was to Pulpit Rock and the second view was The Pinnacle. Somewhere in the 1.5 miles between the two, I fell down. I really thought I had caught myself, but there I was on the ground with an infamous PA rock poking my knee (I have a bruise there) and my hip. I now need new sport tights.

I'd like to have slept in the shelter, but it's got fleas and the flying bugs here are very bad, so I'm tented in the field across the street. By The Numbers, Courtdog and Woodpacker stopped here, but moved on. Too Obtuse, Slugger and Bronco pulled in really late. Bristlecone left the trail at Port Clinton and surprised a lot of people. Everyone thought he'd finish. I heard he was bored. Too bad -- I was looking forward to seeing him at some point in the future.

Posted by nicole at 11:51 AM

PA Route 309, Blue Mtn B&B

7/8/1999 ~ Blue Mountain B&B (12 miles hiked)

For 12 crummy miles, it sure opened a can of whoopass on me.

The 1000 foot climb that started my day was much easier than what followed. The rocks may be 'flat', but the care that must be taken hiking on them is very tiring. Also, the section from Dan's Pulpit to Dan's Spring is poorly blazed and Dan's Spring was dry. It might be nice if they'd put up a notice about that at the TOP of the blue blaze. Right before or after the spring, I can't recall, I came to an unblazed pile of rocks with no path around them. Um.... I climbed over, and there was a trail. Yay.

I'm tenting here on the back lawn. There seem to be fewer bugs than last night. It would be hard for there to be more, certainly. Speaking of last night, the temps were in the low 60's which made for nice sleeping weather. today was great -- sunny, low 80's.

Oh man, I almost forgot! I saw a naked guy today. As I was leaving Allentown Shelter (which is a palace, even if the water source is very far) where I'd had lunch, there he was naked but for boots and a pack. It took me a minute to realize that I was seeing a penis instead of shorts. It was totally unexpected on July 8 many days past nude hiking day, June 21. No other hikers are here at the B&B, and I find that amazing. I had the best salad I've had since before June 15. The pasta was also good. I've so far resisted dessert.

I'm heading 13 miles into Palmerton tomorrow. It's supposed to be a real bitch of a hike. More rocks, and something the map calls a 'knife edge', then more rocks with the legend 'exposed, very rocky, unmaintained'. I can hardly wait. In spite of PA309's proximity, I'm looking forward to sleeping here. It's at 1300 feet, so it will be cool and breezy tonight. They have a watch dog, and the chef lives here.

Everybody is really pushing to get out of PA, so lots of people are passing me. I'm feeling better about that, as there seems to be an endless supply of cool people behind me as well as in front. I saw PA Mule sans Bagel. She went home to MI for 10 days, then she's flipping up to ME and hiking south. She got fed up with the heat here. I also met Stiches. She was with PA Mule, as were four others whom I can't recall right now.

Posted by nicole at 11:56 AM

Lehigh Gap, PA

7/9/1999 ~ Palmerton, PA (13.3 miles hiked)

Today was a really tough 13 miles for me. PA really pushes the term 'trail' to it's limit. When I saw the knife edge, I laughed out loud at the absurdity of what I was about to do. I did it though (though I had to climb down a tree to get off the knife edge), so I guess it's not so bad. In short, many rocks, many boulders, very little dirt for 13 miles.

Bake Oven Knob was pretty hard too, and the shelter there is not nice. The spring is .5 miles down the mountain, and there's no privy. Outerbridge Shelter is also beat up, but the spring is convenient and running.

It got up to 98' here today. I'm glad I started early. My room at the Palmerton Hotel is laughable. One twin bed, no TV, shared bathroom and worst of all, no A/C. I couldn't get a room anywhere else in Palmerton or Slatington, and I couldn't get a shuttle to Wind Gap where there were better rooms. Overall, I'm really disgusted with PA and, get this, I can't wait to get to NJ.

Posted by nicole at 12:03 PM

Wind Gap, PA

7/10/1999 ~ Wind Gap, PA

My fortunes have improved a bit. Mule, Whittler, Trotter, Walking Home and Stitches were also unable to get a shuttle to Wind Gap, so they rented a car this morning. I crammed into a Dodge Neon with Mule, Whittler and 7 packs, but I'm now here doing laundry. I also got Carl a shuttle back here for tomorrow night, so all should be well. I'll stay at the hostel in DWG and hit the PO there on Monday morning where I will be reunited with my POLES!

The aforementioned crew have slacked virtually all of PA. I tried slacking (from Pine Grove to Boiling Springs) but I didn't particularly like it. I may try it again in a hike-to-my-pack situation instead of a hike-to-a-ride thing. I hated having a schedule and not having the freedom to just stop when I got tired. I did 20 miles in 9.5 hours, and it was very difficult. I should have taken 11 or 12 hours to do that section.)

I really hope Carl has fun out here. It will be great to have some company. I have plenty of company, actually, but no one who really knows me, and that's what's missing. I'm taking it pretty easy this weekend. It's only 15.8 miles to DWG and we've got until 6pm Sunday to make it there. Such luxury.

7/10/1999 ~ Random Campsite above Wind Gap, PA (2 miles hiked)

It's pretty late, so I'll just say that we started up the hill at 7pm and went until we found a good site.

It's perfect sleeping weather, so I think I'll do that now.

Posted by nicole at 12:08 PM

Delaware Water Gap, PA

7/11/1999 ~ Delaware Water Gap (13.8 miles hiked)
Cumulative Miles this leg: 76.5
Cumulative AT Miles: 240.2

Whew! Hard day of rocks, but it was nice to have a partner in crime to commisserate with.

We were both pretty wiped out from the rocks today. There was a road walk of 2-2.5 miles (woods road, no traffic), and the rest was infamous PA rocks. There was one boulder scramble, but that was actually fun. Unfortunately, it was about .25m. The climb down Mt. Minsi was a real knee grinder though it doesn't look that bad on the profile.
I'm currently tented behind the church hostel because the hostel is full. Well, I'd probably tent anyway. The weather is good, the lawn is flat (it's always nice to tent on grass) and according to Bronco, it smells like hikers in there.

11pm and time for bed.

7/12/1999 ~ Delaware Water Gap (0 miles)

Took a zero and hung out in Stroudsberg and Delaware Water Gap. DWG has an excellent bakery and Stroudsberg had a good deli and a decent supermarket. Many chores were done today: laundry, sort through mail drop and bounce box, two post office trips, phone calls to the former employer and Cascade Designs (my platys are leaking. They will replace them in NY). I also responded to mail and planned my week. I've met too many thru hikers to name here.

It's just going on 9pm, but I think I'll try and get some sleep. About 2/3 of the hikers have gone to the bar, but I just don't feel like walking down and up that hill again. If beer doesn't sound worth the walk, I guess I just don't want it.

Posted by nicole at 12:13 PM