Date: 2014-07-18
From: Hawk Mountain Road Eckville Shelter

To: Blue Mountain Summit
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: moderate rain

Trail Angel Michael picked me up this morning, and took me to breakfast at the 3C's Family Restaurant in Port Clinton. The cheddar and broccoli omelet, toast and local sausage patties fueled me up for the hike today. He dropped me off at a point 12 miles north of Eckville Shelter where I stayed last night, so I could slack-pack back to Eckville.The early part of this section was a smooth hiking section allowing me to speed up for a little then stop occasionally and quietly observe my surroundings at each stop. I noticed the change in the notes and volume of the sounds of the wind blowing through the oak tree tops. As usual, the blue jays were squawking at me. There were three other bird species I could hear in the nearby area but could not see. I passed a lady yesterday with binoculars standing by the trail and she stated, "I'm trying to watch birds but I'm not very good at it." I thought later, the instructions on how to watch birds--just do like the school bus driver at crossings: Stop, look and listen. (By the way Cornell University has a good bird guide.)I also tried to take some pictures of sticks or stones and other small objects.Since this section was easy walking, I thought of a new way of praying. I learned from Elder Paisios of Mount Athos to use a prayer rope to pray for individuals' needs. When someone came to him to request prayer, he used the knots of his prayer rope to say the Jesus Prayer 50 times--or 100 times if the matter was really serious. I just use the shortened version: Lord Have Mercy on.....I fill in the blank with the persons name. I have a prayer rope hanging from a carabiner on my backpack but don't always have a free hand to hold it, especially when using trekking poles. Today, I started at a white blaze marking and prayed for that person until the next white blaze. Then I chose a different person from my prayer list for the next section. However, if I came to one of the double blazes I would continue to pray for two more blazes thinking maybe that person might have more serious needs.Eventually, I came to one of the famous Pennsylvania rock sections and needed my full attention to just hop from boulder to boulder and keep my balance. I may have gone a little faster but I have learned that even with walking I must consider the reaction time and add that to my stopping distance. I was on high alert for rattle snakes. The habitat and temperature seemed just right for them. I did get a glimpse of a striped snake--maybe a garter. It's a mixed blessing not seeing any rattlers today except the one that got hit by a car on the highway 50 yards from my shelter.I enjoyed the rocky sections which were better marked with the white blazes. A different mountaineering club maintains this section.I noted Dan's Spring and Dan's Pulpit along the way. It is not unusual to have outlooks (the word in PA for overlooks) called something "pulpit". Yesterday's pulpit was being used by a group learning to rappel as part of SAR training for the Cival Air Patrol.Since this was an overlook with my name, I looked up a Sermon on the internet by St. John Chrysostom "On Living Simply," and read it at pulpit rock. His sermons are sort and biting.Michael is expecting to pick up another hiker named Grizzly Bear this evening and take us to dinner. There may more to today's story but that is it until Blueberry Bear meets Grizzly Bear.