Date: 2004-06-30
From: Annapolis Rocks Campground

To: Devil's Race Course Shelter
Miles today: 11.1

Start Annapolis Rocks CampgroundDestination Devil's Race Course Shelter The sounds of the interstate woke me early. I lay there trying to go back to sleep without success. I finally got up and fixed breakfast. I hardly noticed the salt less oatmeal today. For most of the morning I could hear the interstate traffic, which seemed loud and invasive as I walked through the forest. My lunchtime destination rewarded me with water too silty to filter. According to my book, the next two streams were undrinkable. It was going to be a long dry day. I caught up with Calamity and for the next mile or so; we hiked along talking about our families. Calamity is a young high school graduate, taking some time off before college. Pretty soon the trail narrowed back to little more than a pig trail. A pig trail strewn with rocks and boulders I might add. Mid afternoon found me near desperate for water. How could such a pretty stream be undrinkable? I checked my book again. "Do not drink the water out of Antietam Creek!" Well, if I can't drink it, then I will wash in it. Using my bandana, I washed my face and neck relishing the coldness against my hot, sweaty skin. It was almost as good as drinking it! If I climbed the second steepest climb in Maryland the other day, today I believe I found the first. It was only a mile to the cut off trail to the shelter, but I am ashamed to tell you how long it took me to hike that mile. So I won't. Just know I hiked a looooooong time and took a lot of breaks! Then to add insult to it, it was .3 miles to the shelter, with intermittent water according to the book. I prayed really hard for that water source to be more than, well what ever the opposite of intermittent is the whole way, which was totally downhill. Geez...I refuse to climb out of this hole tomorrow morning. I'm not sure what I will do, but I will think of something. There is not a level place anywhere to pitch a tent. The shelter looks like a dark hole pushed back into the side of a mountain. I wonder if anyone has ever come out alive from in there. There is a boulder field with a view in front of the shelter according to the book .1 miles. No thanks! I have seen all the boulders I care to see for one day. Besides, my feet refuse to move from the spring. I have sat here and drank water until I feel like a sponge. I will probably have to get up a dozen times tonight, but I don't care. At least at this particular time I don't care. I finally drag myself back up the trail a ways and set up my tent. My clothes I lay all over the rocks hoping what sun is left will dry them. I sit down and take out the bag of Cheese It¢s I got for trail magic yesterday. I read the label. 200 calories, 110 fat calories, and a whopping 340 mg of sodium. I eat them one by delicious one, enjoying every fat calorie, every gram of sodium and anything else that is in them, that is unhealthy. Calamity finally makes it in, fussing about the climb out of here in the morning. Even though I have slathered myself in bug repellant, they are driving me crazy, whispering in my ears and buzzing around my face trying to fly up my nose and in my mouth. Don't these bugs know what repellant means?? I hastily fix my supper and eat then head for the safety of my tent. Then I remember I need to hang my food bag. My first throw goes high over a nice limb, and I pull on it to test the weight. The limb comes crashing down! I am impressed I can still move that fast as I step out of the way. Hmmmm, I don't need any fire wood tonight. Shucks! I try another tree and again get a limb on the first throw. My food bag hangs perilously in the air swinging to and fro. Any self respecting bear would take one look at that bear bag job and roll over laughing. I hope for a young inexperienced bear tonight, if I have to have a bear at all. Again, I can hear the traffic from a nearby road. How can it be so close when I walked so far in the woods today? Well, at least it is not an interstate going by. I am thinking about hitching into town tomorrow with Calamity for a real meal, then back on the trail. I will not hitch hike alone, period! That thought might just be the encouragement I need to hike out of the hole. I only hope the black ants don't carry me off, or any of my stuff. But if they do I hope they carry it uphill. I checked my book and tomorrow I will hike into Pennsylvania. Land of the AT boot grave yard. Lots of rocks. Big rocks, little rocks, all sizes in between rocks. Do I really want to hike out of here?Total miles 11.1