Date: 2017-07-08
From: Clarks Valley, PA 325

To: Swatara Gap, PA 443
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Mileage note: The distance we hiked from Clarks Valley to Swatara Gap is 16 miles.  I'm recording this as 11.1 miles in order to remedy the incorrect mileage in the journal total.  I had a wonderful six days off, but I'm very happy to be back on the trail.  I missed hiking.  My sister Diane drove here from Wisconsin and took me all over the place shopping for bigger shoes, smaller shorts, camp shoes, groceries, etc.  She also shuttled me to the trail for a day of hiking and to the orthopedist to get my wrist checked.  It was wonderful to spend time with her. She's my closest friend, and I've really missed her this summer.  We didn't get any real rest time, but my body got a break from hiking.  Today's hike: We now have only one vehicle, so shuttling the van has taken more time than usual.  We didn't get on the trail till about 7 o'clock.  Bill, Arlene, Terri, and I started out together and stayed together most of the day.  After a long initial climb we stayed up on a ridge all day. There were no views.  The temperature was about 70, and occasionally there would be a light breeze - perfect hiking weather.  Some of the trail was rocky; some was muddy; but mostly it was not very difficult.  We hiked 16 miles at about two miles an hour.  Toward the end of the hike we passed through a very pretty meadow that had lots of butterfly weed.  There was a stream right near the end that had a place to wade.  We stopped to soak our feet in the cold water.  A large fallen tree served as a bridge over the stream.  It was slick when Rennie crossed in the morning, but by the time we got there it was dry and easily passable.  We ended the day in Swatara State Park, which does not allow camping.  We found some good camping spots up the trail and set our tents up.  We hoped to get them dried out from last night's rain.  We were just settling in when a ranger came and rousted us.  We called Rennie, and he drove us to a nearby Days Inn.  The Expedition camps at a lot of places that are borderline illegal or outright illegal.  We try to be discreet.  But this is only the second time we've been thrown out of a place.  It's not a good feeling.Group news: Terri McClure, who left the group about three and a half weeks into the hike, is back.  She left because of a knee injury, which turned out to be bursitis.  While off, she hiked the 118 miles between Bland, Virginia and Catawba, Virginia to rehab her knee and get prepared to come back.  I used to tease her about wearing lipstick on the trail.  She's now wearing mascara as well.  I've given her the new trail name Lipstick.  Lizzie is not bringing her car back.  Her friend Patti is bringing her to hike today.  Lizzie texted to say she wouldn't be finishing till late.  Belated Terri McClure (HYLO, or Hike Your Legs Off, or Lipstick) profile, about age 60, is from Salem, Virginia (near Roanoke).  She is newly retired from a big railroad company, where she did something related to taxes.  She has a degree in accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant.  Like Bill and Arlene, she is a U.S. Navy veteran.  She's been hiking since college, when she took a course in hiking and backpacking, and is a fast and proficient hiker.  She and her husband have climbed quite a few of the over 14,000-foot mountains in Colorado.  She has a good eye for spotting birds and small mammals and frequently notices insects.  Quite a few times she has stopped to watch insects at work or play (i.e., mating) and caused us to notice them, too.  About a month after she started dating her husband she bought herself a wedding dress, having figured out that they would be getting married, even though the groom didn't yet know!  She is generous and often buys salty treats for the group in the form of various types of chips.  She's stubborn and determined to finish: she came back to the Expedition even though she knew she would have to make up 500 missed miles after reaching Katahdin.  She's at a transition point in her life.Wildflower report: The summer wildflowers are here!  We saw butterfly weed aswarm with butterflies and bumblebees, masses of purple coneflowers also covered with butterflies and bees, and day lilies near every road crossing.  We also saw some white-blooming rhododendron - very pretty.Bear sighting: We drove to a campground not far away to a restaurant for dinner.  On the way back to the trailhead a large black bear ran across the road in front of us.  This bear is mine to name, something beginning with I.  I'm calling it Irene.What we smell on the trail: - wet earth after rain, - mushrooms after rain, - honeysuckle, - multiflora rose, - many light floral fragrances whose source is hard to identify, - sycamore trees (unpleasant) - pine trees and other conifers, - vague manure-like smell under large thickets of rhododendron, - skunk (occasionally), and - day hikers' deodorant, shampoo, soap, and other products.  We can usually smell them from about five feet away.  Tomorrow we will cross the 1,200-mile mark.  This means we'll have less than 1,000 miles left to hike.  Amazing!  The hike is racing by.