Date: 2011-05-04
From: Camp Ken-Etiwa-Pec, NJ

To: Gren Anderson Shelter, NJ
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: moderate rain

We awoke about 2 a.m. to discover the wind had blown some of the rain under the end of our tarp and dampened one side at the top of our nylon hammock. Our sleeping bag was dry, except for some condensation on top. We went back to sleep after lifting our tarp and verifying our Ursack was still hanging on the tree.We arose about 8:30 a.m. to continued rain. We skipped breakfast, but retrieved our Ursack as we were about an hour or so from established shelter. We then broke camp carefully following our rainy day procedures developed back at home in Arkansas. Basically, stay under the tarp and carefully disassemble and pack each item.We departed our stealth camp about nine and moments later made a sharp left turn on the trail. Just after the turn we discovered the blue blaze trail to Buttermilk Falls. Just past the trail intersection, we found three large well established campsites ideal for both tents and hammocks. We had once again been very close to our goal, only to have stopped just short!We arrived at the Brinks Road shelter about eleven in the morning. The shelter is about 2/10ths of a mile down a gravel road. Just before the shelter the blue blaze trail passes a shallow pond, which is the water source cited in guidebooks. The shelter floor was nearly at ground level, a first for us since in MD and PA the shelter floors were at waist height making donning and doffing packs very easy. We dropped our pack and immediately went to get two liters of water. We dropped iodine in one and used the second for a hot breakfast.We sat on the floor of the shelter and lit our Supercat alcohol stove and brought as much water to a boil as our cup would hold. We made a large bowl of hot Ramen soup, hot chocolate, and even tossed a tea bag into the remaining hot water in the Esbit cup.We repacked out mess kit and stove, packed the days food baggie in the top pocket of our pack for accessibility, and resecured everything else inside the main pack in a plastic trash bag.About 1 p.m., just as we were departing the shelter and walking back up the gravel road, we met a lone backpacker dressed in red. Our new friend indentified himself as 3Stoves. No way! I had read 3Stoves' blog just before departing and hoped to meet him and his trail posse. 3Stoves was one of the few hikers this year who completed the 24-hour challenge of hiking from the Virginia border across West Virginia and Maryland and setting foot in Pennsylvania within 24 hours - a distance of over 51 miles! I briefed 3Stoves on the shelter and water situation. 3Stoves alerted me to three other NOBO hikers behind him.We continued hiking back up the blue blaze to the AT elated to have met 3Stoves. In fact, we were so elated we hiked past the AT and began to descend on the other side for about 100 yards before we realized our error. Sore knee. Rain. Overshot the trail. Big sigh.We no sooner regained the AT and resumed our northbound hike when we met an older couple hiking south. We exchanged trail info with Eyeore and Orchid; and was entertained by Peanut the dog who was barking from inside Orchid's jacket which was tucked tightly under her waist belt to make a pouch for Peanut.The trail continued its rocky course back up to the ridge line where the wind was blowing strongly. Sometime about three o'clock we found ourselves looking down on RT206, aka Culver Gap. It took us about forty-five minutes to wind ourselves down a long diagonal trail to the west. Just as we were about to exit the woods onto RT206, we noted a man in shorts and short-sleeves hitchhiking just beyond the woods. We grabbed a granola bar from our pocket and offered it to him. He declined and almost seemed offended. C'est la vie.We booted our phone and took photos of the deli, Kevin's Steakhouse, and the gas station. The deli was closed so we were unable to gather any information to report, we asked the station attendant if they sold HEET. "What's that?" was the reply. Don't plan on buying alcohol fuel at Culver's gapIt was about ten to four when we started back across Kevin's parking lot. The sign said they opened at four. We tried the front door, found it unlocked and entered. "Hello?" No answer. Ummm... warm. We stood in the doorway with our pack on enjoying the warm air and feeling ourself drying out. Eventually a delightful woman appeared and put us at ease. "Of course hikers are welcome, have a seat. What can I get you?" "A coke without ice and a wedge of lemon." While enjoying the sugary, salty Coke we read their menu. While the soup of the day was a lobster bisque, we wanted the French onion soup. Kerrie explained that the kitchen doesn't start until four so it would be a while until the soup was hot. (They actually arrive, unlock and start cooking at four!)Shannon a waitress arrived shortly after and was excited to see their first hiker of the season. Me? First? Surely not! Shannon retrieved their hikers log book and asked me to make the first entry of 2011. Reluctantly I wrote a short entry feeling the honor of first post should have been given to a 2011 thru-hiker. Our soup arrived and we dug into a dark salty beef broth with sweet onions, bread, and lots of melted cheese. Delicious and just the thing for a cold wet day. As much as we would have liked to have stayed we were still four miles south of Gren Anderson shelter with an estimated hiking time of more than two hours. It was nearly five! We asked Kerrie for a liter of her best tap water for our water bottle and quickly departed.Mercifully, the trail re-entered the woods just across the street and was mostly flat and smooth for the first mile. Then we resumed up. Up a rocky trail to Culver tower. About a half hour later we spotted a communication tower off to our right bristling with antennae. Hmm... We thought Culver tower was another fire tower, not a comm tower. We were proven wrong further up the trail we we looked up and suddenly another fire tower was framed by the trees. We past under the tower at about six. Two miles down and two more to hike.About seven we arrived at Gren Anderson to find 3Stoves and two of his posse along with two SOBO section hikers having dinner. We quickly found two suitable trees and hung our hammock. Not being hungry from the recent soup we ate a light dinner of tuna in oil and hot chocolate. We also briefed the assembled hikers on the TV weather report we had watched while at Kevin's. Cool and windy for the next two days then warmer and sunnier. Evening lows would be in the 50s in a few days.The temperature began dropping fast so we tucked into our sleeping bag around eight. Our bag was damp, but not soaked - likely from being packed while still damp with condensation. We remained in our rain suit and wore our old quilted field jacket liner underneath to ensure a warm nights rest. Damp, tired and still remembering the French onion soup we drifted off to sleep in our hammock.Thus ended the third day.