Date: 2014-06-07
From: Campsite After PA 443

To: Hertline Campsite
Miles today: 18.2

Another milestone on the trail - we reached the 1000 mile mark for Southbound hikers from Katahdin - we are that much closer to our goal!A cold night last night in the hammock! Woke up to cold feet and a cold butt - a little chillier than expected! It was not all bad though because it woke me up at the right time to see the moon shining through the trees and making a white blaze in the sky! Maybe my next destination is the sky and beyond...The cold woke us up early and got us on the move. We walked towards I-81 and crossed the awesome historic iron bridge and found a trash can to unload our trash - almost like trail magic!After walking under I-81 we had a long climb up to the top of the ridge - turned out to be a tough climb! The trail was very steep and rocky in parts as well as overgrown with vegetation - needs a little trail maintenance! After cresting the ridge we had a lot of flat walking with some rock fields scattered through the ridge. First view of the day was an abandoned powerline sight that looked over the valley - even saw remnants of the original cable for the powerline!From the view we arrived at the William Penn Shelter for a break. Found a homemade marked signifying the 1000 mile mark for SOBO hikers which was neat. I went down to explore the shelter and ran into a group that was from the Blue Mountain Alliance and they were responsible for removing dangerous snakes from the area. Good news - the shelter has been snake-free for a month!Decided to eat at the 501 shelter so we hiked on cautiously - one of the guys in the group told us to be careful in the section with a lot of ferns because he saw copperheads there yesterday. Luckily no copperheads and we made it safe and sound!On the way up to the other viewpoints we ran into Humen and his friend out hiking and doing trail magic - we got a soda and beer from him as well as an apple and Tasty Cakes (a Pennsylvania treat!) We had some good views of the lowlands below the ridge and we crossed over the road to the shelter. This is a great shelter on the trail! Solar shower, fully enclosed, pizza and other food delivery available, water you do not have to pump, and comics in the port-a-john. What more could you need! It was a great place to eat lunch and we talked with two ladies going out for a weekend hike and Chocolate and Cheese arrived a little later. Found out it was Sole Power's birthday today - happy birthday! The G.O.A.T. will become a year older tomorrow - happy early birthday! Also enjoyed rule #4 of the shelter "Do Not Burn Down the Shelter".After leaving the shelter we ran into the weekend warriors - my favorite group was the Amish women hiking in their traditional Amish attire! It was completely unexpected to see in the woods and reminded me of the monks/friars I saw at the Wal-mart near Harpers Ferry - see Day 74 journal. We also startled a turkey while walking! It flapped and gobbled and walked around but hopped off a rock before I could get its picture -chicken turkey!Two more views and a couple of stops later we arrived at the campsite to a Boy Scout Troop in the main camping area - another group prepping for Philmont! We found a little campsite on top of the hill next to the main camp and set up with Chocolate and Cheese. Had a good time at our high camp and I almost hurt myself putting up the bear bag but overall turned out all right. Big Dawg talked to his mom and we both talked to my momma while sitting around the campfire.Town tomorrow and an upcoming zero - let us go to it!