Date: 2004-10-06
From: Maupin Field Shelter

To: Paul C Wolf shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Wrote my letter last evening to KT, no cell signal however. A day-tripper that I met back on Fish Hatchery road arrived with his dog ¢ on a leash, the first dog that I have seen on the trail on a leash. He camped out near the shelter [and so did his master!]   Slept well and arose early. So early in fact that I had to wait twenty minutes to have sufficient light to see the trail to start off. I am afraid that I will never be able to do any night hiking, because, even with the head-lamp, I can¢t keep my balance in the dark and end up blundering and staggering and even falling down. Same thing happens if I try to leave the shelter to pee in the dark of the night.   Knowing that it was going to be a very long day, I started off at a brisk pace, and was at Reed¢s Gap in no time ¢ I was doing a sparkling 2MPH! Absolute speedfreeking for me.   The trail was indeed rocky ¢ but it was mostly thru rock gardens ¢ and the intervening parts were well maintained and graded so I continued to make excellent time. If Pennsylvania is truly like this I will be flying along. But why do I think that it wont be that easy?   There was a spectacular view from Cedar Cliffs ¢ where there realy are cedar trees growing. You could look out over the entire valley. The red arterial sunrise had turned into a cool but sunny day and the visibility seemed endless. After crossing the BRP again I passed Laurel Spring ¢ on the side of the trail, it was about the size of a washbasin and full of leaves, but it did have water.   Then it was a slow but steady ascent of Humpback Mountain. There is a very sharp and steep ascent of 30-40 feet up a mound of rocks ¢ with a very tempting, but ignored, blue blaze around them. I thought that this was Humpback Rocks ¢ but they are in fact about three miles further north, a fact that I discovered when I met an Austrian couple returning from their hike there, at the blue blaze leading back to the parking lot.      Then it was a steep and sweeping descent off of Humpback, passing several day-hikers. I also met Easy One. He is an 81-year-old hiker and was completing his second thru-hike. He has five 2000-mile patches on his pack. He leaves pre-printed stickers in the shelter journals and I have seen a lot of his entries. He is now ¢filling in the gaps¢ having started from Springer in Jan 04. I wish that I will be as active, both physically and mentally, if I live to be his age.   I realy amazed myself when I discovered that I was at Mill Creek and then here at the shelter. 16 miles in just over eight hours. I would not have believed that I could do it if you had told me! I must admit that I kept pushing it all day long, but I was slow and careful over the rocks and still made great time.   In the shelter is a day-tripper who stayed here last night and has enough food to feed a small army, and a young man SOBO from his start at Harpers Ferry.   This shelter has a covered porch and side windows, and I have laid out my gear near one of the side windows in hopes of seeing the stars while lying in my sleeping bag tonight.   This realy was a great day. It is good to know that if I realy have to put in the miles, that I can ¢ but I must admit that I look forward to the 10-12 mile days in the Shenandoah.   Thought ¢       A good start is half of the work!