Date: 2014-07-02
From: MD-17, Free States Hostel, Mile 1050.5

To: Rocky Mountain Shelter, Mile 1075.4
Miles today: 24.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Finished off the second half of the pizza for breakfast - urp! But it was good fuel for the rocky trail I hiked all morning up and down and along a ridge. The final descent into Pen Mar Park was really rocky and I realized I had two choices: moan and groan about the wear and tear on my legs or look at it as a fun adventure in bouldering/rock hopping. I chose the latter. The trail goes right through Pen Mar Park on the MD/PA border. I had planned to eat my grilled chicken and cheese sub there for lunch and use the facilities. As I got to the first set of picnic tables - Trail Magic! Two women from a local Methodist Church had homemade deli cuts on hamburger bun sandwiches, big thick brownies, cupcakes, bananas, apples and mineral water. There were a few other hikers there, too. Yum! Thank you Trail Angels! :-)Turned out I was the only other hiker continuing on. One was getting off trail for her knees and then flipping to Katahdin, and the married couple were going into town for resupply. So off I went.The trail was much nicer in the afternoon. Mid-afternoon I stopped in a shelter to take a break from the heat and start on the sub sandwich before it spoiled. There were three young guys there - Tim, James and Guppy. So I shared the sub with them and we chatted for nearly an hour. They each started separately, but met in the first and second day out of Springer and had been together since. They're enjoying the trail, even have their fishing poles with them.In the usual trail conversation format, we asked each other where we were from. Tim was from Philly, so I said we just moved from there. What part? West of Philly in Media. I went to Delaware County Community College. Well, you must know about Williamson, where I was. Certainly, my brother goes to Williamson!Tim's brother was a freshman our last year there. It's a three year program, so he's a rising Senior. (We call them freshmen, juniors, and seniors. That way I didn't have to deal with any sophomoric behavior! :-)) Tim texted his brother who then texted Tim back that I was an astronaut, so we spent some time talking about that, too. I had a good time with them. Tim, Some Old Guy, Guppy and JamesThe guys were spending the night there, so I started to press on. Just then Mountain Momma and her sister Sarah stopped by and took our picture. (See the Photo section.) The three of us then headed off together. Mountain Momma had messed up her back and got off trail for a while. When the doc cleared her to return, Sarah and her husband drove from Kansas to slack pack her for a week just to be sure her back was OK. Pretty cool!When they got to the next park where Sarah's husband was meeting them, I pressed on. I had been soaking wet from sweat all day and was whupped when I got to the shelter. A few other guys were there, but it was late so we didn't talk much and I set up my tent and crawled in.Head Tunes: I forgot to mention yesterday that when I left Harpers Ferry and entered Maryland, the state song "Maryland, my Maryland" started playing in my head. Most folks know the tune as "Oh Christmas Tree" and it's also the tune to the Alma Mater of Williamson. This morning, my last day in Maryland, the tune started playing again. Since I don't know the words to the Maryland song, I used the words to the Williamson Alma Mater. Interesting that I would meet the brother of a Williamson Man later in the day!As I headed off after enjoying the folks and the trail magic at Pen Mar Park, the Mickey Mouse Club song popped started playing in my head! It started with "So come along and have some fun and join our family, M I C K E Y..." I think the words may be off a little, but it fit the occasion. :-)