Date: 2009-08-01
From: Eckville Shelter

To: Bake Oven Knob Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: scattered clouds

I woke unusually early (before 6am), prodded from my slumber by a remarkably bright morning. I was confused; this was now August, the morning should not (could not) be getting brighter any earlier. I crept out into my ¢enchanted dell¢ and it clicked ¢ no tree cover. It must be this bright every morning (cloud cover permitting) but usually I¢m beneath a canopy of leaves, filtering out much of the first light of dawn.I popped across to the shelter to get some water and to find that Dan had made an early start while Firefly was still finishing off her breakfast. I left her to it, expecting to see her again somewhere on up the Trail.Today, Pa. finally delivered some of those much talked about and much dreaded rocks. It¢s only taken 170 miles (out of 230) for then to actually arrive. Sure there were a few before Duncannon and some yesterday (in fact you see some rocks everyday) but then again I saw rocks in the Grayson Highlands and the Shenandoah too. Those who say Pennsylvania is all rocks either haven¢t been here or are talking rubbish. If they said Northern Pennsylvania I¢d accept it. It would still overstate it but I¢d accept it.Anyway, today I walked 17 miles and I would say 10 of them were rocky. Big rocks, small rocks, flat rocks, sharp rocks ¢ pretty much all shapes and sizes. I paused at Dan¢s Pulpit to enjoy the views and at Balanced Rocks I met my first rattlesnakes.At each rock outcrop I had hoped to find some basking in the sun and here they were! Three of them: two brown and one black. They were on a rock off to my left so I could view them from a safe distance and take some photos. No frustrations here, unlike with camera shy bears. The snakes just sat there, wriggled occasionally readjusting slightly but all together most hospitable when it came to bagging that shot for the album.Firefly came and went as I was there and quite chuffed with how the day was turning out I decided to sit down and read.The morning went slowly though. Sometimes the hiker¢s companion is a bit useless when it come to helping you keep a track of progress. Today, it made no mention of either Dan¢s Pulpit or Balanced Rocks (very obvious landmarks) and as a consequence I was disappointed to find I sill had a mile and a half to hike until I reached the shelter when I had been hoping to stumble across it around the last few corners. Oh well, the rocks, the snakes, the snacks, the reading ¢ you can¢t do all that and make miles too. Instead the miles still lay ahead; which was a bit of a bummer.Fortunately the five miles after Allentown Shelter prove an unexpected treat. Wide, smooth track made for easy walking and allowed me to recoup some of the ¢lost time¢. It helped a lot. It eases that looking down the barrel feeling, keeps it fun and stops it becoming work.Refreshed, I could enjoy the Knife Edge, an extended ridge of scoping granite slabs. It went on for some may but in dry conditions it was fun. The blue skies are always welcome but up here with little shade it did make for hot and thirsty work. Being ¢tickled¢ occasionally by a light breeze was, therefore, a joy as indeed were the fine views that the ridge afforded.Heading to Bake Oven Knob Pa once again demonstrated a sorry disregard for the great outdoors. I don¢t know why but once again the Trail Head parking areas were rubbish tips and worse the Trail to the Knob was strewn with trash, broken glass, discarded plastic water bottles. It was sad and sapped any enjoyment that that portion of the Trail may have offered. I trudged on, determined to reach the shelter and to put it out of my mind. Firefly arrived and while I headed off to tent she showed remarkable metal by knowingly sharing the shelter with a resident black snake. We could see it in the rafter. She was confident that snakes did not eat hikers. I hoped she was right.