Date: 2005-06-23
From: Midpoint Marker

To: Harrisburg Pike
Miles today: 27.0

Up and gone this morning by 7:15. A little slow in moving after the big day yesterday. I sure felt the miles. I had a good stretch before I left however, I did not loosen up for quite a few miles.    I ran in to a group of section hikers that were out for a week of training. They worked with children that they took camping as a form of therapy. They were done and leaving the trail that day. If fact they were waiting for their ride so they asked me if I wanted their extra food. I asked the, "what do you got"? question. A question that was developing to be my answer to the question whenever asked if I want any food. They gave me about a half pound of cheese and a heavy bag of Gorp. Just as I was leaving a NOBO named Mello came in to view. They asked him if he wanted any food, his answer? You guessed it, "what do you got". Got to love free food.    At 1 PM I took a break and had a cheese sandwich on a hamburger roll. Rolls were a good bread source, they stack one on top of another and you can squish them down to a small size (easy to carry). My favorite was peanut butter and raisons on a potato bread roll (shaped like a burger roll). The raisons were added to help with my daily constitution. Sounds terrible but it worked and everything came out fine (pardon the pun). My surgery site would swell up pretty bad and the raisons were a nice diuretic.   I met a couple of other hikers (pixi and dragon) and one young ridge runner (Kathy I believe) who was working on the trail picking up broken glass at a local party spot. We talked for a bit and walked with each other till we hit the edge of the valley just before heading in to Boiling Springs and took a break. This was where I left the northern edge of the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains. We talked until the heat of the day was over and left when it was cool enough to get out from under the shade. The weather was so hot earlier it was unbearable. There was hardly any shade from the sun while crossing the open valley (one reason why I waited where I did). I moved on just as it was cooling off and soon came upon the city of Boiling Springs and decided to do another night hike.    I went in to the ATC headquarters there (Mid-Atlantic Regional Office), signed the log book and filled up on water. Water was a serious issue in this valley (as well as "no camping"), a good reason to walk at night. In town there was a pizza place right next to the boiling spring (the spring actually looked like it was boiling, it was gorgeous and I unfortunately had no film left to take a picture). I stopped in at the pizza place to get some supper. I could not decide on a pizza or a hamburger. Then I noticed the pizza toppings offered included hamburger (ah, the best of both worlds, hamburger covered pizza).    I moved on just as the sun was setting. There was a bright moon out and it illuminated the trail so I did not need a flashlight. I figured if I ran in to a South Bounder I would smell him long before I saw him avoiding a face to face collision. The move went well and this was where I found the flock of birds roosting in the trees that I wrote about earlier. I remembered, once again, all those wake ups at "Bird Chirp thirty". It seemed like a nice time to get a little even. I shook them awake and once again said, "there, how do you like it". got to love "life's little victories".   I moved on and went as far as I could physically go. It was 10 PM when I settled in for the night right there along side of the trail. A fox was barking at me from the field to my right and would not "let it up" until I moved my tent. I got out of its line of sight, and it finally settled down. I must have been near it's den for it to be acting that way. I camped near the US 11 (Harrisburg Pike) pedestrian footbridge. A hiker the next day (I think it was Socks) told me that she walked by me during the night. I was so tired I never heard her. I went 27 miles that day and would have done more if it were not for the heat.   Three problems to note for this valley. First of all it must be noted that the valley was beautiful, the fields and the spring was awesome. Problem one, not enough water sources along the trail (even a house hose spigot will do, but none offered). There were water jugs placed here and there by Trail Angels but never enough. Problem two, not enough camping areas available (what a great place for a hostile). I guess there were issues with the locals about camping and the route of the trail. The third problem was it was hard to tell where you were. The roadways that you crossed over were not marked well at all. My suggestion is to put the cross road names directly on the AT signs that tell hikers which way is north and which way is south.