Date: 2013-07-05
From: Port Clinton

To: Eckville shelter
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: light rain

Before anyone else was up, I walked the half mile to the 3Cs Restaurant: "Best breakfast on the AT" -- it was a good omelet, but not THAT much better than others. I got back to the pavilion to pack just as some of the others were heading up to eat. I tried briefly to get a Shuttle to Cabelas, to get some things I didn't think of Wednesday [including AT maps], but that didn't work out; so I hit the Trail at 8:30. The climb up the Mtn was not as bad as coming down yesterday. There were a fair number of rocks, but also a lot of smooth spots.I saw a different kind of Day flowers: same intense colors as Spiderwort, but smaller, with wider, shorter leaves (not as spidery-looking). Of course, I forgot to take a picture of them.   I hadn't seen any rhododendrons for a while, but today I did see one in full bloom (last one??). I walked for a while with Packman. It felt good to able to keep up with what he said was 2.5 mph, with conversation. He has lots of ideas about nutrition in hiking, something I've been thinking about lately. I probably should be eating more, but he says it's important to know which nutrients the body needs at specific levels of activity. It got to be a lot to digest; so we switched to talking about the Battle of Gettysburg, which was still fresh in my mind & a particular interest of his. We also talked about how to reduce my pack weight. We agreed that most of my stuff is light enough--the primary problem is food, which I'm working on. We crossed a number of rocky areas, including Pulpit Rock & Dan's pulpit. At the former, the hiker who took my picture on top of the rocks said, "I hope I'm that agile when I'm your age!" From there, we could see thru the trees someone mowing a lawn. I thought, "More encroachment on the Trail." Packman spoke with the man on the mower & found out it was a cleared site for amateur astronomers. Lots of day hikers & section hikers out for a holiday weekend. Many were headed for "the Pinnacle". There were signs along the way: "6 miles to the Pinnacle", "4 miles to the Pinnacle". But when you finally got there, nothing but a sign pointing toward a pile of rocks: "Lookout, 250 feet". Thinking I had climbed enough rock piles to look out over PA farmland, I passed by. Others told me later that that WAS the Pinnacle, but I hadn't missed much. I did some trail-clearing in a couple of places along the road coming down the mtn & even heard a tree fall somewhere behind me. There were only a couple of new-looking blazes in several miles, but the Trail did follow the old road almost all the way down. I stopped to cut out a Tulip Tree that had fallen across the Trail. Also on the way down, swarms of bugs appeared. Most of them were non-biting gnats, but with them buzzing around my face I found it hard to see where I was going at times. And of course they gave cover for a few biting insects to get me too: mosquitos & little black bugs (which often had trouble getting thru the sweat-laden hairs on my arms).The bugs seemed to follow each hiker down to the shelter & then dissipated as they got to the shelter. Eckville shelter is kind of like a garage with bunks, behind a house, with good water & even a primitive shower. That felt good, but it was still pretty warm out. There were six of us sleeping in the shelter (including Turtle & the Czechs) & a bunch camped across the road.