Date: 2012-07-12
From: Port Clinton, PA; PA 61

To: Eckville Shelter; Hawk Mtn Rd
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: scattered clouds

7/12We woke up in the morning and had our continental breakfast. As it turned out, Slowfoot and Keystone had spent the night there too. After breakfast, we walked over to Cabela's to check this place out. It is a mammoth store, almost amusement park sized. It is more of an attraction than a store. They have an aquarium, a fishing stream to test and demo equipment. They have giant landscape pieces with all kinds of dead and stuffed animals, including bears, wolves, coyotes, muskoxen, lynxes, groundhogs, beavers, etc. They also have a separate room filled with almost 200 dead trophy deer. I learned all about how deer are scored and the difference between typical and non-typical racks. Seriously, if you're in the Hamburg, PA area, stop and give this store 45 min of your time.After that it was elevensies at Dunkin Donuts and an early lunch at Subway. We are definitely not in the South anymore as a 12oz smoothie at DD cost $8. Who needs DD anyways as Krispy Kreme is way better. Slowfoot had arranged for a trail angel, Can Do Will Do, to give us a ride back to the trail. CDWD lives in KY and thru-hiked previously. Now, every year he drives 10ish hours to different parts of the trail to shuttle and such and refuses to take any money. Keystone didn't come as he was going to zero at the motel that day. Once up on the ridge, we saw a black rat snake that acted just like a rattler. He wiggled his tail against the leaves to make it sound like a rattle. We tried to encourage him away from the trail by poking him with our poles and such. He started to take the hint, then said, "Screw that," and slithered right back towards us and the trail.We took a break at the shelter 5 miles in. There was a SOBO section hiker there who gave us a rundown of which springs were running and which were dry, which was incredibly helpful. We did the same for him of course. Slowfoot, Nooga, and Bandana all stopped there for the day as Nooga was having some foot and shoulder pain, and the trail was more of this PA flat, rocky BS. With 5 hours of sunlight left, I pushed on to the next shelter ten miles further. Along the way, a leader of a group of kids with a Search & Rescure Camp stopped and gave me there leftover snacks. More trail magic! Also, when I sat down to take a quick snack break, the skin on the inside of my calf muscles felt like they were on fire briefly. It went away so I didn't investigate.The shelter was another enclosed building on a guy's property. There was a solar shower and even a flush toilet! The bunks were comfortable as there was some extra thick padding under the carpet, rather than just a piece of ply wood to sleep on. Also, the two Germans from Day 2, Daniel and Michael (now Bad Penny and Pain) were there. Upon getting ready for bed, I discovered that the burning skin sensation was a giant rash. I hiked the entire day with my pant legs on, and tucked into my socks, so nothing could have gotten to it. And if it was my pants causing the rash, why just the inside of my calf on both legs? I doubt it was the laundry detergent used as I've never had an alergy to any detergent before, and it'd be on my feet and torso as well. I doubt it was heat rash as I get that on my ankles where the elastic of the socks compresses the skin. Heat rash looks different and doesn't burn. If it was the permethrin I sprayed, why only in that spot and not until after laundering the clothes? It couldn't have been the cold medicine as I've taken it before with no problem. Maybe some weird interaction between several factors? Between the rash, the sore throat, and some wicked crotch/bum chafing, I felt like my body was falling apart. How can I go so far without any body problems and then it all get me at once?