Date: 2013-06-14
From: Port Clinton, PA- Pavillion

To: Powerline near New Tripoli Campsite, mi 1,241.6
Miles today: 28.2
Weather: clear sky

At some ugly hour in the dark of the morning at the Pavillion, was the familiar sound of someone hurling over the peripheral walls. The hurling became dry heaving after a good 30 minutes, before finally ceasing. I was thankful that whoever it was, had made it to the side of the Pavillion and had not hurled on someone's sleeping bag¢¦like mine. When I woke at about 5:30am, I noticed that BP was sleeping on one of the benches not more than 10-feet away. I quietly packed my gear, with plans to walk in the opposite direction of the trailhead across town, to grab breakfast at the CCC's diner on Hwy 61. BP stirred and then woke around 6am. I asked if he had heard the hiker hurling a few hours earlier, and he proclaimed that it was him. I asked directly if he had too much to drink¢¦a common question to ask a college student. He said that he had nothing to drink and thought it was the candy. Funny thing is that I probably consumed an equal amount of sugar the day before, but felt fine. He did look like death warmed over. I felt badly for him, but hoped that he'd learn from this not mix sugar with alcohol. I began my long walk down Penn St., which passed a couple residents nestled in the dense forest. It was a longer distance than I thought. A broad bend in the frontage road and dense forest, gave it an endless appearance. At the intersection with Hwy 61, over a mile from the Pavillion, CCC's appeared, quite literally on the edge of 61. If you had wandered a few feet the wrong direction from the entrance, you would be on someone's hood. I was surprised that the building had not been set back more or buffered by the protection of K-rail. I sat down at the bar counter and ordered breakfast number 1, an omelet with potatoes and toast, orange juice, and coffee. I must have inhaled this delicious food in under 10 minutes, and decided to fuel up with a second breakfast of pancakes. An hour later, I was heading back down Penn St. I passed the Pavillion around 7:30am, and it appeared that no one had even risen yet. After crossing the river, then hiking parallel to it, the AT climbed once again onto a ridge. The terrain was a mix of short smooth sections followed by extensive angular boulder fields, which passed by numerous historic sites along the way related the Civil War era. Of particular interest, were the furnaces which varied in architecture, but seemed abundant in numbers since leaving Harper's Ferry some 200 miles south. By late afternoon, I had traversed about 28 miles of rocky ridge line, reaching another prominent transmission tower, which marked the blue blaze trail to the New Tripoli Campsite. I hiked the steep 0.2 miles down the ridge into an opening that was darkened by the forest canopy. It was dark and cold. The site was also quite muddy. I decided to fill up water, and head back up the slope to a site just off the trail and next the the power lines. I figured one night of Electromagnetic Radiation would not be detrimental to my health, and the views from the top of the ridge and sunset were far more interesting than camping in the dark forest below. I set up the tent on a thick patch of grass and attempted to hang a line for hanging food in the adjacent tree. I managed to get the rock stuck some 30-feet above the ground between two limbs. I was forced to cut the line and leave a portion hanging in the tree. I leaned a 6-ft long log against the trunk and carefully climbed it to give me the highest reach possible. I recovered everything except about 10 ft, still dangling in the tree. As I cooked dinner, I watched the setting sun over the distant ridges.