Date: 2004-06-18
From: Devils Racecourse Shelter

To: Antietan Shelter, Old Forge Park
Miles today: 12.0

We get up early; we are meeting Paul at PA16 to get a food drop. Blue Ridge Summit. Adam wants to know if Paul could be talked into having lunch in town. I tell him it will be easy. We all set out at each of our paces. Adam first, then me, then TreeFrog. Devils Racecourse is a third of a mile from the trail. It's rocky and slippery from the rain on the rocks, uphill. We look forward to finishing off Maryland today. Cross the Mason-Dixon line. First we have to walk. The air is heavy with moisture. Another day of dripping sweat and bugs flying in our faces, occasionally inhaling one. Midmorning, Penn Mar Park. It's a manicured picnic area. A seating area faces out over a town in the valley. We have midmorning break. I use the bathroom, a flush toilet! And running water. Time to make miles. We start our trudge to the Penn. state line. In the woods is a small sign simply stating, Mason-Dixon line. A second sign five feet away says "welcome to Pennsylvania." Just like that, we're done with Maryland. Cross a railroad track and into the woods again. A south bound section hiker says we'll not have a vista again for many miles. The hills in Pennsylvania aren't high enough.I run into a Boy Scout troop doing their merit badge for backpacking. They are from Pennsylvania. The troop leader assures me the rocks aren't that bad. It can be done in thee days. I feel relief. Finally, PA16. I walk out and wonder where Adam is. Paul says I'm the first one out. I'm surprised since not only Adam but the School teacher (SpiceBag) should be ahead of me. SpiceBag shows up. He tells us that he and Adam got mixed up and went the wrong direction at the railroad crossing. Finally Adam and TreeFrog show up. We load up and drive into Blue Ridge Summit. Paul has scoped out the place and found a diner. We have lunch. It's nice to have a hot lunch and a little more time with Paul. After lunch, Paul opens up the trailer and we get together our food for the next leg. I drink half a gallon of water before we get back into the truck to go back to the trail head. Once there, I say goodbye, step into the woods and watch Paul drive away. I've made my commitment. Time to walk. This leg of our walk is near surreal. The trail is wide enough for Adam and me to walk side by side and talk. This is a young forest. We wonder is there had been a fire some time ago. It's flat too. The cicadas and traffic noise drowns any birds. The first shelter we planned to jump, we take a break. It starts to rain. We decide to wait it out. It last five minutes, so off we go. It's still flat and wide. The forest feels to me like some fairy tale. I keep expecting to see picnic tables and families having a lunch. Tonight's shelter is next to a park. A stream runs by, drowning out the sound of the road near by. But children come running through, young couple holding hands stroll by. I'm suppose to be having a wilderness experience and I feel like some weird alien, sitting at this picnic table, with our food bag strung up from a tree and lightening bugs dancing around. TreeFrog's wife told him to quit this nonsense and come home. He's a bit depressed and grateful that we've made an unspoken commitment to see each of us to Maine. We're tired. From here, this is our job, to get to Maine. We talk about how we have to eat well and get rested and do our zero days. We pump each other up. We get ready for bed. I'm feeling sad to have watched Paul drive off. I will miss him and the dogs. I hope I can stay committed to finish this barring injury. I need to get some sleep. I'm beginning to sound like some weirdo living in the woods. Namaste'