Date: 2016-06-02
From: Raven Rock Shelter

To: Pen Mar State Park - Waynesboro, PA
Miles today: 4.7
Weather: light rain

Howdy all! I'm coming to you this evening from a laundromat in Waynesboro, PA! Actually ran into Bombadil and Goldberry here. They are over in the corner blogging and reading newspapers or something. Started the day at my usual leisurely pace in camp. Was a nice hike out of Raven Rock shelter for a couple of miles, then Ed and Lyle caught up with me at High Rock Ledges. What a beautiful place. It's been graffitied pretty good, but that kind of adds to the character. (By NO means do I condone spray painting our natural resources!) I did appreciate the "Bernie Sanders 2016 F*ck Trump tag though.   The view here was amazing. This is an official take off platform (?) for hang gliders. I could just imagine running and leaping of the edge with the valley below you! What a rush that must be! After piddling about on the ledge for a few minutes it started misting a little. We knew we had some touch scrambling ahead of us, and no desire to do so on slippery rocks, so we made our way on. Wow. Just wow.The decent that followed was pretty nasty. Very steep, very rocky. I don't think I even stopped to get any pics of it. I suppose this was good practice for PA (aka, Rocksylvania). A couple of times I used my hands to lower myself down rather than my trekking poles, and at one point I even plopped down on my butt and scooted down the rock! I've decided that the key to dealing with that type of terrain is to go slow, not be too proud to butt slide, and take breaks if you start to fatigue. After that decent there were some scrambles to contend with, but they weren't too bad, then it was smooth sailing into Pen Mar State Park. I decided to drop my pack and continue on to the state line another quarter mile down. I know it might be silly, but we were able to catch a ride into Waynesboro, and I wanted my first time in Pennsylvania to be by foot. So, I hit the state line, hit the Mason Dixion line, then headed back to the park to catch a ride.We were shuttled to the hotel by a guy who has been driving hikers around for decades. He was very loquacious, and the ride came with an unsolicited tour of the town and historical discussion. Once checked in I parted ways with the guys to get cleaned up. Then dressed in our least stinky clothes, we headed out on foot in search of lunch. I finally got my cheeseburger and fries! A Waynesburger to be precise! Definitely hit the spot. Resupply at Dollar General, then back to the hotel. I volunteered to do laundry. No sense in the three of us sitting around a laundromat waiting for what barely amounted to a full load in total. Since starting this post the laundry has been completed and I have made it back to the hotel. Goldberry had half a bottle of permethrin (hardcore bug/tick repellent for fabrics) left over with she dropped off for me, so now my hiking clothes have been treated and are drying. I treated my hammock and sleeping bag before the trip, so I didn't bother with my sleep clothes. I'll get back together with Ed and Lyle in an hour or two for dinner, and that pretty much brings you up to right now. :-)I am planning to start upping my mileage a bit. I am not a terribly fast hiker, and I don't want to push that and hurt myself, so I will likely be doing earlier starts and later days. Stealth camping (camping somewhere other than a designated shelter or campground) is more accepted in PA that's in MD where it isn't allowed at all, so I will have more flexibility with my timing. Should see some longer days in this next leg, if the rocks allow at least!I'd like to dedicate this post to Laura Wilkerson who has apparently been anxiously waiting for an update. :-)