Date: 2014-07-11
From: Nowhere

To: Deer Lick Shelters
Miles today: 23.3
Weather: few clouds

Woke up at 5:00 am at the Payton Hostel. It's not really a hostel on the AT it's my brother-in-laws house but it would make a nice hostel with all of the AYCE buffets in town. Todd, Vicki, Cory, and Belle all made me feel at home for a couple of days and I'm ready to get back on the trail. Thanks a lot to the Maryland crew! We left about 5:30 for our hour drive back to the trail. We stopped at a McDonald's in Mt. Airy Md. for a quick breakfast. It might be my last filling breakfast for awhile. We got to the trail about 7:00, Todd walked with me back to the footbridge. He took my picture then he left to go to work, while I headed north. I stopped at Annapolis Rocks and Black Rock Cliffs to enjoy the views but my camera was not working. I think the constant humidity has finally taken its toll on the poor thing. I just used my phone to take p[ictures and while I had it on I talked to Paige to let her know I was back on the trail. There was a large group of kids and I only saw one person that looked old enough to be a chaperone. It reminded me of the young person killed at a Summer Camp in Maryland this week. They couldn't get the kids to a shelter in time and a tree fell and killed her, injuring some other kids. I am seeing trees on the trail that have blown down in the past three days of storms while I was off the trail. I met Tall Frog hiking south and doing a section until he had to go home. He had fallen on the rocks the day before while carrying water back to the shelter. I stopped at Cowall Shelter for my lunch break, there was nobody home at the time. My next break was at Raven Rock Shelter, it was a new 2 story shelter and I wanted to check it out. While walking the trail back to the shelter something grabbed my leg and I thought a snake had me. It was just some clinging vine growing across the trail so I jumped for no reason. I got to Penn Mar park where I stopped for water, I haven't had to filter much water with all of these state parks. I talked to a Ridge Runner named Cookie Monster who through hiked in 2012 and was from Montana. He was in charghe of the Maryland section and gave me some tips when I get to the White Mountains and Maine. I took a picture of the sign showing the Mason-Dixon line, it was a survey that laid boundaries between the north and south. It was also the end of my hiking in Maryland so I can cross one more state off of my to-do list. I got to my first shelter in Pennsylvania and realized I was now in Penn's Woods which is how the state got it's name. The shelter was actually twin shelters that both held 5 hikers. Some people say one is for hikers that snore and one isn't. I'm not sure how factual that really is but it sounds like a great idea. One hiker was from New Hampshire and the other one was from Maryland. He has through hiked and hikes part of the trail every year. His name is Paul With Bunions. I heard later that he is missing several toes, I'm not sure if that is really true. He knows a lot about several hostels on the AT, he has stayed at plenty of them for extended visits. I think he could of talked all night about them and the people that run them. It lights out in the tent about 9:30 after writing some notes in my journal.