Date: 2005-07-17
From: Duncannon

To: Pine Grove, PA/ 501 Shelter
Miles today: 42.0
Weather: moderate rain

14 JulyAnother black snake visited the shelter at breakfast. I used to be terrified of snakes. It¢s amazing how many fears we are taught that are completely unnatural to us, or that don't really matter in the civilized world! Needless to say, how many fears stay, even though they¢ve never been proved necessary! I don¢t bother the snake, it doesn¢t bother me, but because of me (and other hikers) there¢s a shelter where mice like to congregate, and the snake snacks on them and keeps the mice from eating our food, so a great symbiotic relationship is established, and fear has no part in it. I used to be queasy over all sorts of bugs, namely earwicks and centipedes/millipedes, and now I can¢t think of a bug that I wouldn¢t be curious to examine up close! I'm not going to touch it, but I'll look at it without queasiness. There are all kinds of insects around ¢ huge black beetles, some with peculiar noses or ¢antlers¢, iridescent bright green and bright blue beetle bugs, arrays of moths and butterflies, weird crawly things, halgamites, and they¢re all so busy, making their living, buzzing around ¢ there¢s no time for fear, there¢s only time to be in curious awe!Hiking thru a misty morning, enjoying blackberries and a leisurely pace. I was lucky to find full gallon water jugs at Peter¢s Mtn shelter (I¢ve been hearing about the 290 rock steps in addition to a horrendous descent to the water source). I am breaking in new shoes (something recommended to do before the trail, not on the trail), and the sharp rocks ¢ the teeth of PA ¢ are not helping my feet feel any better. The rest of the way to Rte PA325 I prayed for some trail angel (maybe Yahtzee) to facilitate spending some time off the trail, but near the trail ¢ I feel mentally and emotionally (and probably physically) drained. The Universe is a curious thing. We often broadcast our desires, but they aren¢t concise or sincere, and are not fulfilled. Yet, when our entire being knows what it wants, whether consciously or not, the desire is manifested. Four trees before PA325 was a note: ¢If you¢d like to take a day off the trail¢¦ we provide a room, laundry, shower, meals¢¦¢ Thank you, Universe! I hitched a ride with a man that tried to convince me to go to his house instead (well, I think he was just letting me know that if the note I found was bogus, the Universe is still answering my prayer), and wound up in a kind of backroads paradise belonging to the very kind and entertaining Al & Eloise. The first words out of Al¢s mouth were, ¢Here¢s a towel for your shower, here¢s your bed, put your dirty laundry here, dinner will be in about an hour. By the way, have you ever had golden raspberries? Why don¢t you go and pick some in our garden. Oh, and in case you¢re interested, here¢s some info on the woods that you¢re walking thru.¢ So, squeaky clean and refreshed, I lounged in their garden, munching on golden raspberries (you know me and berries) and reading, followed by Al¢s exquisitely delicious cuisine (with fresh veggies from their garden), and home-made chocolate bread pudding with ice cream¢¦ Heaven? Yes, it exists here on Earth; I¢ve gone there many times on this trip already, and it is truly inhabited by angels!15 JulySleeping in a bed is great! This is the first time I¢m sleeping in an actual bed since June 17th, when I went home for a weekend! Breakfast and dessert with fresh berries that Eloise and I picked last night in their garden with Arlo ¢ their one-eyed wonder dog that eats ripe raspberries right off the bush! Al took me to the trailhead, and I swear, the world was so much more beautiful after a good night¢s sleep! It¢s a pleasure being back on the trail. Taking it easy, enjoying the misty woods, the uphill, the feeling of something good to come. I only did 12 miles to the shelter, but about 1 mi before the shelter i laid on the soft earth and looked at the clouds for about 3 hours ¢ life is good. Met Peter Pan, who is a girl. It still shocks me to find out how many girls are thru-hiking this year. You just can¢t tell from their trail names that they¢re girls. Well, I¢m no better ¢ ever since Harper¢s Ferry I¢ve been ¢cucumber boy¢! OFC, Bulldog, History, and Umble Taogh also came to the shelter, but the best surprise of all was seeing Paul and Crazy Horse roll up right before dawn!! There was an intense thunderstorm at night, but Paul and I watched it like on big-screen TV again, staying dry, and feeling each thunder reverberate through the whole shelter, only a brief instant after the lightning.16 JulyThis shelter has the flattest approach trail I¢ve ever seen. The trick is that is runs directly into the privy, which is a john on a 4-ft box. So you sit on it feeling like the king of the world, and everyone on the trail can see you!16 JulyHiking with Paul and Crazy Horse today. Crazy Horse is so fun ¢ taking his time in the morning, always cooking his meals (most of us only cook once a day), playing music on Stella Red morning, day, and evening, so we were out of camp late, but walking fast and enjoying the reunion. Then, it just started pouring! Hiking in calf-deep river of a trail, rocks and mud, and not a blister in my new boots! Lots of berries, but I¢m not picking them today ¢ we¢re hauling butt ¢ trying to get into town tonight so that we can go to church tomorrow. Stopped in a shelter for a break, and on the way out, Crazy Horse was in front of our ¢train¢, and then, all of the sudden, he gives a loud yalp and starts backing away. Sure enough, there¢s a fat, 5ft black rat snake on the path, but the way Crazy Horse jumped you would have thought it was an anaconda! Of course, Paul walked over to the snake and started poking it with his trekking poles until it charged a foot up in the air! Not 20 feet farther down the trail I sneezed, and Crazy Horse thought it was the rattle of a rattle snake, so he jumped again. We made it to a road, hitched into the nearest town, and walked around in search of a place to spend the night. After about an hour, our options were (a) a tank (yes, army tank) in the town park, (b) a tomb-like cavity between some houses on ¢Main St.¢, (c) the Laundromat, or (d) on the pavement, under the awning of the church we¢ll be going to tomorrow. We chose the latter, after meeting the preacher, who was more than weary of us. Oh, and we ate 4 pizzas between the 3 of us, and did laundry, but while we washed our dirty clothes, I was the only one that had any clean clothes left to wear, so the boys split my fleece jacket and fleece pants, and wondered about the Laundromat more than half-naked! (I need to mention here that the Laundromat has a large glass wall facing ¢Main St¢, and some girls ran by it yelling ¢Freak!¢ to the prettiest of us ¢ Crazy Horse wrapped in a Batman blanket.) We fell asleep on the most comfortable bedding in a while (yes, pavement) to the lulling sound of drag racing 100 yards from us.17 JulyHad the world¢s best zucchini bread for breakfast, courtesy of the preacher¢s wife. Sunday school and the service itself were actually quite entertaining. I went because I felt a need to go for Packstock. I know he didn¢t care squat about organized religion, but something inside moved me to go, so I went. Needless to say, I silently asked the Universe to give me this opportunity to go, and the opportunity rolled into the shelter in Paul¢s image the night before. After the service, Crazy Horse played us some drums and piano ¢ he is quite a musician!! And, the preacher invited us three over for lunch, which was entertaining and delicious, spiced with veggies from their garden and a loaf of that precious zucchini bread to-go. Paul ¢ the mileage assassin for that day ¢ convinced us to ¢zero¢ at the 501 shelter, which had a shower, a bucket full of cold sodas, pizza delivery service, and a skylight the size of a Jacuzzi (the shape of a Jacuzzi, too). Hiking all day every day, you get in this tizzy of putting in miles, sometimes rushing thru the day just to be able to give a decent number to the first person that asks. But that¢s not why we¢re out there! Crazy Horse and I fought the ¢zero¢ for a long time, but it did do us some good, and relieved the ¢chubby toes¢ I was accused of having this morning in church (they're swollen). Needless to say, another one of those famous night-time thunderstorms rolled in, and I was glad we hadn¢t followed my idea of walking 10 miles and squeezing 3 people in under a one-person tarp on a camping platform near the trail. The boys learned very early on that I shouldn¢t be listened to, and since then all of our lives have been much easier.