Date: 2011-06-16
From: Eckville Shelter

To: 1.8 miles before George Outerbridge Shelter
Miles today: 22.4
Weather: overcast clouds

(In which I tent by myself for the first time since Virginia)In the afternoon we get some of the first rain I've felt in Pennsylvania, and the small boulders that had been only a minor nuisance before become dangerously slippery to balance on. Since the rocks cover the ground, there is no avoiding them. I slow down as I carefully consider each foot placement, but still find myself slipping and barely catching myself a number of times. By chance the rain occurs right before a section of the trail called the Knife Edge. In good weather the Knife Edge would be an impressive bare rock ridge with a killer view, but with slick rocks it's a particularly hairy scramble and I keep my eyes on my feet. I crouch to keep one hand on a rock at all times, slowly moving forward one foot at a time, and manage to make it over the Knife Edge safely. Until, that is, I have to climb down from it, and finally slip and fall just a few feet from the bottom when I think I'm home free and stop using my hands. I survive the fall without any scrapes or bruises so I consider myself lucky and imagine how miserable the whole state of PA must be on wet years.The first two shelters are 7.4 and 17.4 miles away, so I hike to the second shelter, though I'd prefer one around 12-15 miles in. The second shelter, I find out, is a tiny old structure with a low ceiling and not much sleeping space. There is trash in the fire ring, no privy, and the log contains multiple reports of copperhead snakes in the low shelter rafters. The one small tent site is occupied by Sandy from PA and her family, so I sit down at the picnic table to consider my options. I am visited by Sandy's youngest grandson, perhaps 13 years old, whom I convinced without much effort to finish the last of my marshmallows at Eagles Nest Shelter when I saw him last. He tells me that the first spring is dry, and that the spring that's running well is a full mile and a half down the side trail. I tell him that I'm thinking about hiking on, and he slips off back to the tent area by the shelter. "Don't set up the tent yet, Portrait's going to find a tent site," I overhear him telling Sandy. "And you want to go follow?" Sandy asks him and laughs good naturedly at him. "Well I'm tuckered, so I'm going to stay right here." I feel honored to have a small fan, but decide to keep hiking anyway to find a better spot for the night.I still plan to stay at the Jailhouse Hostel in Palmerton tomorrow night, so I'm not worried about falling off of the slow train. Another advantage of short days, I decide, is that they offer more flexibility for hiking more miles when necessary, and since it's only 5pm when I leave the second shelter I have plenty of time to hike all the way to the third shelter if need be.I meet a young couple, Alora and Mike, who are out on an overnight camping trip, and when they find out that I'm a thru-hiker they are eager to hear all about my trip. I'm the first thru-hiker they've met so the give me a Snickers bar and ply me with questions. I haven't met any inquisitive, interested weekend hikers lately, so I hang around answering their questions and telling them stories of the trail. I tell them the story of the bear destroying Moosehead's tent even though I didn't witness it first hand, because I know how stories of bears and the dangers of the trail capture people's imagination. (Last I heard the WhiteBlaze.net forum topic on the incident had several thousand views and more than a hundred posts.) I chat until I finish the Snickers bar, then wrap up the stories and continue hiking.The landscape changes some time after the second shelter, trees giving way to small shrubs and low blueberry bushes. It's as if I have somehow gone above treeline without gaining elevation, and the result is that the whole ridge gets a view of the city below and a new, more alpine feel. A couple miles before the third shelter I find a small existing campspot with a great view. Even though evening showers look likely I decide to camp so that I can spend the night on the ridge and wake up to the view. I see Mike and Alora again when they pass by on their way to the shelter, and when I learn that I just missed a group of boy scouts headed to the previous shelter I am doubly glad to have skipped it, having heard far too many boy scout horror stories from other hikers.It's the first time since the Virginia / West Virginia border that I've camped by myself, and though I enjoy the company of other hikers at the shelters, it's also nice to get a little solitude every now and again. The rain begins to come down heavily while I write in my tent, but with only three miles to hike tomorrow and a dry bed waiting for me tomorrow night, even the risk of getting wet tonight doesn't sound that terrible.