Date: 2005-08-16
From: Velvet Rocks Shelter 

To: Mile 423.3
Miles today: 17.1

Up and gone by 8:30 this morning. A late start due to a late night drinking beers and talking around the fire. It was nice to sleep in a little bit on the trail. Something I normally did not do.       Just north of the shelter I stayed at last night I came across some log bridges or Puncheons as they are called. These bridges are a God send, I could only imagine mucking my way through the trail without them. They also reduced the human impact along the trail immeasurably. Thanks to all the hard working trail crews for doing the hard work. In fact everyone I came in contact with that was working on the trail I made sure I took the time to thank them (if I missed anyone, thanks again you weed whacking, chainsaw operating, boulder rolling, crow bar pushing, trail re-routing, root pulling, garbage picking, busted glass removing bunch of Trail Angels, you are the best).         Trail talk said that the General Store served up some good chow. I walked the .3 miles down to Etna along the Etna-Hanover Center Road and took a chance (food motivated me). It was a little more then .3 miles and if you ask me it was worth it. Nothing fancy however, the breakfast sandwiches were great and the coffee fresh. I carried some lunch out of town and found the burger was made from fresh ground beef (once again, it was well worth the hike). I talked to the owner and gave her my empty bottle of Heet (a gasoline antifreze with Ethyl Alcohol in it, a Denatured Alcohol substitute). This way she could ask her supplier to bring some so she could stock her shelves (what great people were there). On the way out town I stopped into the public Library and used the computer to check my e-mail. I had a few from well wishing friends, some family members and I sent them a quick up-date. I dried out my gear as I ate the breakfast earlier so, after the visit to the library I was ready to get back on the trail.   Along the way I stopped in at Holts Ledge (2100 feet), there was a Peregrine Falcon Rookery. We were asked (as in the thru-hiker hand book) not to disturb the birds if we came upon any. As a practice I always tried to leave the critters alone, I figured life for them is hard enough, they did not need any additional stress. I did not see a single bird there but I did see many birds along the way. The cliffs provided a grand vista and was worth taking a few minutes to quietly look around. The terrain was getting a bit tougher compared to Vermont. I was indeed working my way towards the Whites.   I ended up staying just south before the Smarts Mountain Ranger Trail. I passed up the opportunity to go into Lyme Center a few miles back and check in with the ATC regional office. Normally I would have done so just to check in and sign the register there. Some times you can get good info at the offices like, percentages of who was still on the trail compared to who started, the numbers that are left compared to the years before and so on. In Harpers Ferry WV and In Boiling Springs PA, it seemed people registered voluntarily. Harpers Ferry was a must, the half way point, a goal reached and a number given. Boiling Springs was right along the trail and as long as it was open you could easily register plus, get good water to boot (either inside or outside). Here the office was 1.2 miles off of the trail. At this point, unless it was for food, most hikers wouldn't even go a measly .1 out of the way (especially just to sign a register). To tired to tango and that was no joke. My recommendation, put a register directly on the trail. Something easy to service and collect the data daily during the peek season. Also post any pertinent info on a hiker kiosk and keep it updated, once again, just a suggestion (all trails are cleared with good intentions, pardon the pun, I could not resist).