Date: 2018-06-24
From: Windsor Furnace Shelter

To: Allentown Hiking Club Shelter 
Miles today: 16.5

DAY 110The plan was to get up early and get going because we knew we had a lot of rocks coming up. That didn't happen for a couple of reasons. First, it rained last night so we weren't very motivated to pick up a wet tent. Second we had slugs all over the tent, so it took us quite a while flicking the slugs off with a stick. When we finally got picked up we went up to the shelter and had breakfast with Murph & Taylor. Apparently a couple of guys came into the shelter last night and set up a brand new tent still in the box right inside the shelter. After they set up the tent they proceeded to spray bug spray all over the shelter,  so much so that one of them ended up puking. They were still in the shelter this morning when we were trying to eat our breakfast. After they left, we noticed they left a bunch of trash and stuff out in front of the shelter. Murph actually grabbed some of their trash to pack out, which was a nice thing for her to do. We never left the shelter until 9:00 as we had trouble finding our groove this morning. We made stops at Pulpit Rock and the Observatory, and then hiked on to the Pinnacle. By that time it was getting on towards lunch time. We hadn¢t made many miles, but we were so hungry by the time we stopped for water that we decided we better just eat right there. After we ate lunch and had a drink, hiking was a little easier and we decided to head for Eckville shelter to see if we could get a quick solar shower. Just as we came to the turn for the shelter we saw a bunch of cars and people in the road.  At first we thought it was trail magic, but we soon learned it was the support crew for Harvey Lewis. He is trying to do the fastest time on the Appalachian Trail. Harvey¢s dad leads the support crew, and he gave String Cheese and Broken Seal each a nectarine. String Cheese was nice enough to give us one of the nectarines to share and she and Broken Seal shared the other. We also each received a cold soda. The nectarine sure tasted great. We had seen a group of hikers go by when we were out at the Pinnacle, and wondered why they didn't come out for the view. After meeting Harvey Lewis' crew, we realized it was him going by. He obviously doesn't take time out to go out for the views, as he is trying hard to set a new record for a supported thru-hike We headed down the road to Eckville shelter with String Cheese and Broken Seal. When we arrived at the shelter we saw Maple Leaf and her dog Marshmallow. Butter came in later. There was another thru hiker there named Ben.We sat at the picnic table and ate our lunch, and then Mary and I each enjoyed a solar shower.  The shower wasn't exactly warm, but was certainly appreciated on such a hot day. When we were leaving we saw Hard Hat coming down the road to the shelter. He is the thru hiker we met as we were leaving Harpers Ferry. He's doing a flip flop hike.We stopped at Dan's pulpit, and Butter was already there. We had her take our picture with the Baysider newspaper. We took a little time to read the hiking log that was in the mailbox there.When we finally arrived at Allentown Hiking Club shelter it was almost dark. Taylor,  Murph, Butter, String Cheese, Broken Seal and Ben were already there. We quickly set up our tent, and ate what was to be our lunch tomorrow for dinner, so we wouldn't have to cook.