Date: 2013-07-11
From: Hertline Campsite

To: Hamburg, Pa.
Miles today: 18.6

At 5:45 the next morning, I arose, took down my tent, packed it and went to the stream for water. On my menu for this morning is oatmeal, a Zone bar and a hot mixture of Swiss Miss with marshmellows, Folgers instant coffee and Visalis vanilla protein powder. The breakfast of champions or, in this case, hikers. As usual,I was the first one up. As I was having breakfast, one of the men who arrived last night came out of his tent and approached me. I introduced myself and he introduced himself as Sticks. I asked him where he was from and he said Deeetroit. He asked me where I was from and I said Myrtle Beach, SC. Sticks said, "no kidding, that's where I spend my winters". "Really, where do you stay?" Sticks said, "at Market Common". I said, "my company has an office at Market Common". "What is your company?" "Century 21 Boling & Associates, I'm a real estate broker"."Do you know Mike Starn?""Do I know him? His office is two doors down from mine" I said."Well, Mike is my son-in-law.""You've got to be kidding," I said.Sticks said, "he and my daughter and MY two sons are at my home right now on vacation"."That is amazing, Sticks!"Sticks agreed, "it is amazing".A few minutes later, Sticks' hiking partner came out of the tent. His name was Four Trees and he, too, was amazed at the serendipity of our meeting. Both of these gentlemen impress me as being first class guys and I am happy to have met them. Sticks is about 500 miles from home and I'm about 560 miles from home. Now, I ask you, what is the probability of our meeting on the Appalachian Trail? I would guesstimate about one in four million!! We had another thing in common, too. We had both served in the Marine Corps at about the same time and we had both served in Viet Nam.Steel Matt and I said our goodbyes to Sticks and Four Trees and wished them well. We were headed for Port Clinton and Hamburg, Pa, today. It was a much tougher hike than the past week or so. Not only did we have lots of rocks, but we had a few fairly challenging climbs and, perhaps, the steepest descent we had experienced on the AT thus far. We were descending into Port Clinton, a pretty big railroad center, and I was hiking up front. We were on the steepest part, just before we leveled off at the railroad yard, and I tripped and fell. I slid about 30 feet down the mountain. I stood up and my pack threw me off balance and I nearly fell again. Steel Matt was higher up behind me and he couldn't help me because I was falling down the mountain below him. When I gathered myself up, I looked up at Steel Matt and said, "number 31". I had just logged my 31st fall since beginning the AT. It very well could've been a catastrophic, hike ending fall. But, although I was shaken, I only had a few scratches. I would live to hike again and, hopefully, finish this thing we call the Appalachian Trail.A few hundred yards later, Steel Matt wanted to stop and take a swim in the Schuylkill River. There would be no shower for him today. We bid each other farewell and expressed our appreciation to each other for hiking together.Today was to be my last day on the AT for a while. I had to return home for one more medical appointment. Then, I WILL RETURN AND FINISH THIS THING!!!! I PROMISE!!Sandman69 signing off for now.