Date: 2016-06-26
From: Dick's Dome Shelter

To: Rod Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: few clouds

What a beautiful morning. I awoke to the musical call of the wood thrush. Looking at my watch I saw it was only 6 am, so I rested in my hammock enjoying the birds' songs. Today was going to be a short mileage day (8.0 mi.) so I took my time packing up. After making my tea and oatmeal on the covered porch of the new unfinished shelter, I sunk into one of the camp chairs again. ahh, the delights of eating breakfast in a comfy chair while everyone else is packing up! Soon the crowd left and a blissful silence fell over the area. It was very difficult to leave, but I finally hiked out at 9:15 am.It was a very steep climb of 0.2 mi. out of the shelter area, but I still made good time as the trail was well maintained. Looking up, I see a man running towards me. It's 46'er! Now I have to tell you, even though that is his real trail name, I call him "the Running Gnome". That is what he looks like, and that is what he does. He is in his 70's! Our paths have been crossing since northern Tennesee, and I didn't expect to ever see him again as I have been off the trail for about 3 weeks and he should have been further ahead. We always stop to say hello, and catch up, and I learned that he and his wife had also gotten off the trail for family obligations and had just returned. Now, the interesting part of this story is this: his 70 yr old wife is thru hiking the trail, and he is slackpacking her. They have a vehicle. He drops her off at the trailhead in the morning, then he drives north to the next appropriate trailhead. He parks the car, and he RUNS south to meet her along the way, then he keeps her company hiking back to the car!This is why I keep seeing him running south as I move north. Isn't that the greatest! He also gives me a trail report and tells me that there is good trail to come.Sure enough as I approach the Sky Meadows State Park area, the rocks in the trail disappear and grass takes it's place. Coming out of the woods, the trail crosses large meadow areas, travels down an old dirt road and in general, is such enjoyable hiking. There are lots of water crossings, so I don't have to carry much water weight. With the trail conducive to fast hiking, I found myself at my destination shelter by 2 pm and Deny, from Canada, was already there, flaked out in the shelter. Yesterday at Dick¢s Dome shelter he and I discussed the wisdom of hiking early, resting during the hottest hours and hiking again in the late afternoon. So, true to his word, here he was. I spread out my sleeping pad, took off my boots and socks to dry out, and lay back to enjoy the shade and coolness of the shelter. We starting discussing the merits of continuing on, but we¢re both wary of the upcoming terrain, as it was the start of the area known as the ¢Roller Coaster¢, 13 miles of rocky, short, but steep, ascents and descents. There was a camping area listed in the guide book, but we were uncertain as to how large it was, given the number of hikers headed there today. While I ate my lunch, I scouted around the shelter area. There were tent platforms, a good flowing piped spring and uphill from the shelter was a wonderful wooded clearing with perfect hammock trees. Decision made, I am staying here. Returning to the shelter, I was finishing off my lunch when up walked two hikers, Nature (a man in his 60¢s), Hash Brown (a 20-something) and Hash¢s dog. Hash Brown hollers out ¢Don¢t pet the dog, he¢s been in poison ivy¢. Great, here we go again! I pull my legs up into the shelter and Dog passes me by and goes off searching out great smells in the bushes. Hash Brown comes to the shelter and throws his pack down on the floor between Deny and me. We chat a bit, then looking at his pack I notice animal furs hanging off of it, smelling really bad! I asked him what the heck he had hanging off his pack, and he replied ¢oh, those are a raccoon and a woodchuck pelts¢. Ugh! Yuck! In a dubious voice I asked ¢so, are you like hunting as you hike?¢ He said ¢no, my dog killed them, so I skinned them out and me and Nature ate ¢em and I¢m keepin¢ the pelts¢. Ohhhhh, wow. He must have noticed the horrified look on my face as I inched away from his pack, because he picked it up and walked it away. But here¢s the kicker: he took it over to the cooking pavilion and set it down on the picnic table. Yes, the very one where we all prepare our food!! I had seen enough, so I grabbed my pack and walked up the hill a bit and set up my hammock for the night. I have a beautiful area, lots of trees, and no bushes to harbor bugs. There is a wonderful breeze coming through and it is cool. By now it is getting to be dinner time according to my stomach, even though it was only 4 pm. I dreaded returning to the cooking pavilion and the discussion I might have to have about nasty animal pelts on a cooking surface, but I was spared! Deny informed me that they had left after they had a snack. Whew! Well, you can bet this fastidious Frances got out her wet wipes and gave the table a good scrub!While I had been setting up, more hikers rolled in and I was soon joined at the table by a young woman from Texas who was section hiking SOBO and a nice couple who had gotten on at Harper¢s Ferry and were hiking SOBO, as far as they could in the one week they had. We had a wonderful time discussing the trail, what food we had, and what we had to look forward to as we travelled in our various directions. They had all just about completed the Roller Coaster, and I was about to get into the nitty-gritty of it. It is 6:30 pm and I am going to climb into my hammock to read for a bit. The barometer is rising, the humidity is disappearing and the sky is clear. It is a beautiful night and I am going to sleep with my tarp off for the first time! I am aiming to get up early and head through the Roller Coaster before it gets too hot. The Bear¢s Den Hostel is my next stop, and if it is nice, I may even zero!