Date: 2010-06-22
From: Port Clinton

To: Allentown Shelter
Miles today: 22.6

Set the alarm for 5am for a run to 3C¢s dinner for coffee. Slept wonderfully by the river with thousands of fireflies playing in the cool night air. I can tell a difference in the Yankee Townies already since crossing the Mason-Dixon line. People seem more friendly and have less silly questions?! Assents are different and personalities are changing. These PA¢ers remind me of my former PA native manger, Paul Novak.I¢m so acclimated to fear these elevation changes but these aren¢t even over 2000ft. Staring at the profile map leaving town, I¢m dreading the work it will take. It¢s also a safe bet that leaving town will always be difficult on the AT. They make you pay for the conveniences. I was running along the ridge-line before I knew it. Saw Animal for the first time since the Shannies at Windsor Furnace creek.Didn¢t want to stop until the Pinnacle for lunch. So excited to see the place that inspired my desire to hike the AT. The Pinnacle was in a picture book of the AT, at a former coworkers house party. I remember looking at that book and dreaming of the day I¢d have the guts to do this. Here I am, about to see my dream come true!!! There was a large pile of rocks that looked like someone had been cleaning up all these PA rocks and organizing them. Either that or they just got a shipment of more rocks to scatter! Wished they¢d started cleaning up these rocks sooner because there¢s a lot of them today! The Pinnacle was kind of a let down compared to McAfee¢s knob. I thought it would rival McAfee¢s but it¢s no match at all. Oh, well.Looooong road walk down to Eckville Shelter. I walked with my eyes shut for a while and pondered the joys of flat ground and dirt under my feet. I really wished PA could spare some more white paint though. Felt lost a couple of times at road curves and decision points. I guess I¢m just insecure and need reassurance. I never got lost, but I felt lost and that was hard to deal with. Thunderstorms are predicted today so I looked up at the clouds as I stood by the road leading to Eckville shelter. They have showers there, but I think showers mean possible problems with chaffing now. Greasy is better than fire between my thighs. I passed up the possibility of a dry night at the shelter and kept walking. Sure enough, it starts sprinkling. Passed over a creek and thought I¢d make it to the next water source. I made that decision, without referring to my guidebook. I probably walked 0.4 miles North of the creek and remembered that day when my ass felt blistered in the rain and I had to keep moving because I didn¢t have any water. Not this time! I turned around to the creek.I was filling up my water jug and it stopped raining. Got 2L and took off. Long walk with huge rocks. Thunder in the distance but no rain. The trail banked off to the left from a nice flat road and I crossed the longest boulder field yet. Fun, really! At my last aspirin and Tylenol and didn¢t even feel those rocks. They must be proud of their creation here. There was a sign that stated, ¢Welcome to Rocksylvania!¢.Water at the shelter tonight is said to be 0.5 miles away. So glad I carried those 2L of water all this way! Haha! Threw up my tent before the second rain storm. Pelting rain. Hard, fat drops but I was under the roof of the shelter I was staying at for the night! Haha! I actually gathered some water from the gutter drain, but it looked like it might have bird crap in it. I counted up my food supply and I¢m not sure if I can make it to Delaware Water Gap. My intention was to re-supply in Palmerton, but it¢d be nice to save some time and get out of town without stopping.Wondering when I¢ll be going back home. Noticed today that Spring Kat signed in at Dan¢s Pulpit on the 22nd! I might run into him again before leaving the trail!