Date: 2019-06-11
From: Port Clinton

To: Eckville Shelter
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: overcast clouds

My leg felt a bit better in the morning so I packed up, had breakfast, and called Steve the shuttle guy to pick me up at 7:30.  Jabez and Getaway shared the shuttle back to the trail with me. Trail Magic - - Getaway paid the shuttle driver for all three of us.The two of them got dropped off first, close to Hamburg.  I was driven back to Port Clinton and hiked back to Hamburg.  It was cool and windy but I knew I¢d work up a sweat so I started in my short sleeves.  It was a long steep uphill climb out of town 1000 feet of elevation change in about 2 miles with wind gusts up to 28 mph. It was mostly tailwind so it helped propel me up the hill.  I saw another deer in the woods right off the trail this morning.When I got to the top, there were crosswinds and I was sweaty and cold so I got out my rain jacket to use as a windbreaker.  Pop and Peabody passed me while I was digging thru my pack.  I passed Peabody as soon as I started hiking again.  I caught up to Pop and Getaway at the next water source.  Pop left first.  Getaway and I passed him again in Windsor Furnace Park about 11:00. He was going to wait for Peabody so they could lunch there together.  Getaway and I decided to keep hiking uphill to the junction with the Blue Rocks Campground trail and have lunch there.  I got there first and finished lunch but Getaway never arrived.  Either he got lost or decided to stay down at the Windsor Furnace Shelter.On the uphill climb I passed a couple out dayhiking fiddling with their camelback.  I offered to trade packs with them but they didn¢t take me up on my offer.  When I stopped at the trail junction to eat, they caught up with me and complimented me for how fast I was powering uphill with my loaded pack.  They have a friend thruhiking now who is already up in New York. After lunch I hiked up to Pulpit Rock.¢Astronomical Park, or as it is locally called, 'The Rock,' this 4.3-acre mountaintop site sits 1,600 feet above sea level on the Appalachian Trail. The installations and equipment at Pulpit Rock offer the serious amateur or the novice an opportunity to contribute meaningful scientific information to the astronomical community or to simply view the splendors of the heavens from our several acres of landscaped grounds.As the LVAAS became involved in Kawecki's efforts, a more usable road was built and the site soon blossomed into a small campus of observatories. The dark skies on Blue Mountain were a welcome getaway from the light-polluted cities.In the mid 1990's, a renaissance was under way at The Rock. A new three-story building was under construction for a 40" cassegrain, the other observatories were cleaned up and repainted, and the grounds got a major overhaul. Trees were cut back, weeds and overgrowth were completely eliminated, piles of debris were trucked out, the road and a new loop were freshly graveled, the whole landscape was graded, and a magnificent new lawn was sown. Through these incredible efforts of the members, LVAAS's Pulpit Rock Astronomical Park is the highest and finest amateur observing site east of the Mississippi.¢(Copied from Lehigh Valley Amateur Astronomical Society website)The rocks at the top of Pulpit Rock were tricky.  It was hard to follow the trail through the rocky maze.  I met Google and Mary Poppins from Facebook¢s AT women¢s  group.  As I clambered in the rocks, both of my water bottles fell out of my pack¢s side pockets at different times. Thankfully I was able to retrieve them. I fell twice when my poles gave way through the dirt between rocks.  One of my poles bent.  It was an adventure for sure, but I survived and succeeded.  When I finally got out into the clearing at the end of the rocks, I had a hard time finding a blaze.  Peabody came out of the woods on a different trail than I had used. He couldn¢t find the next blaze either.  We decided to go to the rock overlook to see the view and once there, we found our elusive blaze and knew which way to go.  Going down the north side of Pulpit Rock was just as tricky as coming up from the south side.  At least I didn¢t fall or drop my water bottles on the north side.  A uple coming toward me told me to watch out for a big rattlesnake they had just seen.  As they walked past me, they hollered, " it¢s just past that big rock."  I literally laughed out loud; everywhere I looked there were big rocks!! I never did the the rattlesnake.Eventually the rocks tapered off and then I started looking for a place to get off the trail, into the woods, to use the facilities. I finally picked my spot and started digging a hole.  I lucked out; I dug up a 6 inch long oblong rock which left a perfect hole for me to use.  After picking through rocks for two hours, I was pleased and surprised to see the trail turn onto an actual gravel roadbed.  I followed it a couple miles to Panther Creek where I stopped to chat with Pop who was waiting there for Peabody.  Black Forest, a 40something from Germany, caught us there.  He had been at Microtel also.  He wasn¢t stopping so I fell in step with him and chatted for the next two miles to Hawk Mountain Road.  He slowed his pace a bit but I still had to quicken mine some to keep up with him.  I would¢ve lollygagged those last two miles if I hadn¢t been trying to keep up with him so it was good.  When we came to Hawk Mountain Road, Iceman was waiting there with a cooler of soda and Powerade.  More trail magic!  Black Forest and I each took one and chatted a few minutes with Iceman as we guzzled our cold drinks. Iceman has section hiked the whole trail over the course of seven years. We had a simple .1 mile walk down the busy road to Eckville Shelter which had three bunkbeds in an outbuilding in the backyard of a house on the road. There was a separate building with a flush toilet and a shower.  There was a picnic table and a spigot with potable water and a charging station on the caretaker¢s porch.  Such luxuries!Susan was waiting there with my resupply box that we had mailed to Buzz.  My leg and knee were both feeling okay. Susan and I had bottom bunks in the bunkhouse with Mountain Goat, a young man from TN and Physics, another young guy from UT.  Probably 10-12 others were tenting on the grounds.  About supper time, Getaway strolled in too.