Date: 2008-06-19
From: Free State Hostel, Wolfsville Rd., Smithsburg, MD

To: .2 miles north of Chimney Rocks, PA
Miles today: 19.7

I'm in Pennsylvania!I woke up at 1am to the hiker named Me who was snoring. I went out and checked my email, then came back into the bunk room and it was quiet.I laid down and he started snoring again. I tried drowning him out listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers on my mp3 player, but that didn't work.I finally went out into the living area of The Free State Hostel at 3am and set down my sleeping mat and slept good till almost 7am.I had two Poptarts for breakfast, then packed up all my stuff and headed back to the Trail. It was 8:35am when I started walking north on the Appalachian Trail.I had only walked about half a mile and came up to Ensign Cowall Shelter. I walked over to it and saw Sunkist, Kyonite, Sunbeam and met another hiker by the name of Shua.I signed the register and used a smiley face sticker, then sat there and talked for a while before I walked on.I have to recommend The Free State Hostel to any hikers going through the AT in MD. It was a great stop!There were nice blue skies this morning....the rain from last night is all gone and nice upper 50 degree temperatures.I just walked slowly and really enjoyed the beautiful morning.I walked over Buzzard Knob, then down to MD 491 before starting the 800 foot climb up Quirauk Mountain.I was still walking slowly. I was really enjoying the cooler temps and the easy walking. I passed by the side trail to Devils Racecourse Shelter without stopping.I did start getting hungry. When I checked my watch, it was almost noon, so I found a nice big rock to sit on and ate the hoagie I packed out, some diced peaches and a Milky Way bar.I was actually getting cool sitting there. How great is that for this time of year? :-)I walked on and in about half a mile, I looked to my left and saw the white tail of a deer that was running away from me.The picture of Kyonite and Sunkist and the 2 crazy dogs is on the rocks where I fell backwards in '06 and did a complete backward somersault and my shin stopped me from going any farther down the mountain, but I had cut a small artery and gashed my leg up and it was doing a lot of bleeding. This is the first time I've walked by this area since it happened....and I STILL haven't fallen on the Trail this year! :-)Kyonite told me Bus Driver had gotten off Trail for a couple weeks to paint a house.I walked on and got to PenMar Park. I talked to Bill and he sold me a couple sodas out of the employees¢ refrigerator, then I walked down and sat on a bench at the overlook in the park. Kyonite and Sunkist were eating lunch on the next bench.I walked back to the water fountain and filled both water bottles. I'm making an effort to drink more water than I have been.I walked on and crossed into Pennsylvania at 2:05pm. It's also the Mason-Dixon Line, so I'm no longer in the south.I keep forgetting to write about all the honeysuckle I've been smelling for the past few weeks. I love the smell of honeysuckle!I was about half a mile south of Old Pa. 16 when I saw a deer take off running about 70 yards away. I really love seeing the animals out here along the Trail. :-)I stopped by Deer Lick Run Shelters at 4pm, signed the register, used another smiley face sticker and walked on.I passed by Antietam Shelter without stopping, but I did stop at Tumbling Run Shelters.It was dinner time, so I sat at the picnic table and ate salami with cheese on a spinach wrap....actually I ate four of those. :-)I talked to Southpaw, Clothesline, Che and also met S.H.O.E. S.H.O.E. stands for Slowest Hiker On Earth.I still wanted to climb the next hill...about a thousand footer and sleep on top of it tonight, so I said goodnight to everyone and walked another 1 1/2 miles till I found a good flat spot.I set up my tent and crawled in for the night.I can't get over how pleasant it was today...beautiful Trail to walk on and cool temperatures....and almost NO BUGS! :-) Another great day on the Appalachian Trail. :-)