Date: 2014-07-17
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: Hawk Mountain Road Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: broken clouds

Trail Angel "Can-Do-Will-Do" is spending this week shuttling hikers who stop at the pavilion in Port Clinton. He brought my loaded backpack over to Eckville Shelter today so I could hike today's 17 miles carrying only food and water for today. I didn't get any extra miles done but the miles I covered caused less wear and tear on my body. I got here sooner also so I have had more time to relax, plan, eat and still have enough time and energy to do the trail journal for today.Paradoxically, I had more time to slow down and pay attention to the lush green wilderness while I have been passing through "Penn's Woods." (I always thought it was named for the founder of the state but actually found out it was a land grant to his father, Admiral William Penn.)I don't see a lot of large trees but there are enough hardwood trees to provide a canopy of green most of the time. I usually cannot see farther than 50 feet into the undergrowth. I have to guess what might be making the sounds just beyond my vision. I think the huffing sounds are deer and the rocks flipping or trees crashing are maybe bears.Sometimes the undergrowth is various bushes, sometimes weeds and grass but most beautiful to me are the fern gardens. The symmetry of the leaves and the shades of green are healing for the soul.Today I noticed the birds twittering and calling back and forth to each other or responding to my presence with warning cries. One kind of bird doesn't seem to mind my passing and says "tweeet." I roused a pair of pileated woodpeckers who really raised a ruckus--maybe I was close to their nest.I listened to the rustling of the leaves in the oaks as a cools breeze blew through the woods. I could hear the not too distant locomotive whistle of the Reading Railroad in Port Clinton.The details of the sun dappled path way (like sunbathing copperheads for example) are hard to see sometimes because of adjusting to the extreme light and dark patches. I am thankful for the sun that breaks through. It adds a cheeriness and also orients me to the direction I'm traveling.Although most of what I passed today are hardwoods, I noticed an especially fragrant section of pine.There were a few musty smelling ponds along the way but each had bullfrogs croaking in them.There were two major climbs with a descent in between. The rewards of the climbs were overlooks giving a glimpse of life in the valley from my birds-eye-view and also of nearby ridges of mostly green mountains but also with clearly distinguishable boulder fields.The valley brought me by a cheery brook with a bridge to cross over it. This made a delightful place to eat my sandwich but not until the pregnant lady with her dogs Lilly and Emma passed. They, the dogs that is, were sniffing my lunch bag to check it out.The dreaded Pennsylvania rocks were said to begin in part of my section today, but did not turn out to be that annoying. Without the burden of the pack they made the day more interesting. Either I'm adjusted to the rocky parts from my experience with prior sections of rocks or I am yet to reach the rough part.But there was an issue of finding my way through some of the rock fields. A number of times my route turned into a dead end and I had to back track to last white blaze I had seen and try finding the marked route. The white blazes were usually there but were pretty dim and sometimes I just could not spot them. I sent an email to the mountaineering club responsible for that section stating my dilemma. I appreciated not having a heavy pack while bounding back and forth over the boulders.As I will mention in some previous posts when I get them written, I have been reading Cindy Ross's JOURNEY ON THE CREST about her hike of the Pacific Crest Trail in 1982. She has been my favorite hiking and backpacking writer for years as I have read her books and articles in Backpacker Magazine. She lives in Pennsylvania, probably no more than ten miles from where I sit this evening. I have been channeling some of the her love for the AT trail in this area. She even mentions Hawk Mountain, where I am today in the book. I have been able to get a renewed vision for the beauty of the woods here through her eyes. Also, to appreciate a little more the hot and humid weather I went through earlier this week.In the Mojave Desert she states you don't notice so much that you are sweating because it drys so quickly. Well, this week here I knew I was sweating and counteracted it by guzzling tons of water.