Date: 2003-07-29
From: Pine Knob Shelter

To: Devils Racecourse Shelter
Miles today: 12.7

Had a good night here last night, despite the steady roar of Interstate 70 .6 miles away and the acorns dropping. I¢ll tell you, they fall from as high as 100 feet, and the noise of them hitting the tin roof is enough to wake the dead! Sounds exactly like rifle shots.I¢ve been impressed by these guys¢ hiking. The only difference between us was last night, when we arrived here and I was running around getting water, getting cleaned up and changed before I sat down to relax and eat ¢ they crashed a few minutes first, then got up to do their camp chores. But this morning they seem raring to go.The prediction was rain through this morning, but it¢s a beautiful sunny day.Later . . .Comparatively, Maryland is so easy! At least it was until I said so at lunch . . . should have knocked on wood!I hiked alone much of the morning. We all stayed together at first and stopped at two lookouts: Annapolis Rocks and Black Rock Cliffs, both spots for Steve and Jerry to reminisce! Black Rock overlooks the high school they both attended ¢ Highland View Academy in Hagerstown, MD.After that they stopped at a favorite spring and I went on. It was nice to hike alone a little, and I arrived at Ensign Cowall shelter alone, no one to greet me but an enormous wolf spider with a big egg sack. UGH!Since our day held only 4.5 more miles in it, we took our time dawdling over lunch. Jerry finally left first, Steve finished perusing the register, and I performed my favorite pastime ¢ one I almost never take the time to do, even out here on this trip! ¢ staring at the sky with the trees outlined against it. I love that green and blue together; I¢d like to decorate a room in these colors someday, accented with big fluffy white pillows! Bright white curtains . . .There at the shelter a small patch of sky showed the cumulus clouds morphing across the sky. Even saw them change directions! Today was beautiful; no rain at all, cool temps, low humidity, and lots of sunshine. Thank you, Jesus!Almost immediately after we got started out we came across my favorite Trail treat yet ¢ fresh wild raspberries! Mmmm ¢ handfuls and handfuls of them. I ate as much as my tummy could hold. I love those ¢ much more than the blueberries. And so much more tasty than the ones you buy in the store. My hands got a little sticky and juicy, but I just wiped ¢em in my pockets ¢ ¢cause ¢nobody¢s gonna see it in there¢, right Elizabeth?! We passed several bushes this afternoon and filled up each time.Then, of course, after I¢d boasted of how much easier this Trail¢s been than what I¢ve come over already, we had a big steep climb to conquer before coming to Devils Racecourse Shelter ¢ and the trail to the shelter is of course .3 miles downhill. Oh what¢s a half mile or so more here and there?It was worth it though to see a place Steve¢s told me about coming to since he was in high school. The Devils Racecourse is a mile or more long and a good 50 feet wide stretch of big boulders. Water runs underneath it, making a kind of ¢glug glug¢ sound from deep down. Cool place. It¢s located about a tenth of a mile beyond the shelter here, near a road (seems like almost everywhere I¢ve hiked in MD has been near a road). Steve likes to run over them, hopping from one to the next. He found a Geocache box! Pretty cool. I¢ve heard of that on NPR ¢ it¢s a hobby where people hide ¢treasure¢ and then post the GPS coordinates on www.geocache.com (or something like that). When you find the box you take something from it and leave something else in exchange. So Steve took a Sacagawea dollar and left some matches; I wrote the recipe for Jenn¢s chocolate mouse pie in the little book in there for recipes. That was a fun find.We collected firewood on our way back and found Jerry with a fire already going. I like having a fire, but never go to the trouble to build one myself. Not since Anne and I got one going that one night! It will be nice to go to sleep by. It¢s chilly tonight; I actually broke out my fleece hat and jacket!