Date: 2018-05-20
From: PA 443 Green Point, PA

To: 501 Shelter, Pine Grove, PA
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: light rain

May 20I didn¢t sleep much at the hotel. I updated a couple of days of journals. I tried to eat breakfast which wasn¢t cooperating with me and took Imodium to get relief. Puddles and T-Bird took off early. Once I felt better, Thumper, RX and I got an Uber back to the trail. The trail was reasonably nice and a pleasant hike in the beginning, with a very dicey water crossing over a fast moving creek. There was a log was over the fast moving water, about 1 1/2 feet across, and approx 20¢ - 25¢ long, but oddly shaped, with a hump in the middle that was about half the length of the entire log. The last 6-8 feet angled up, with the end going over the top of another log to step down on. It wouldn¢t have been so bad, but it was wet and slick, and with the rushing water below, it wasn¢t anyplace you wanted to fall into. I got on the log and straddled the hump with one foot on each side. There was just enough room for the width of my boot. I shuffled my feet along, maintaining contact with the log. When I got to the angle where the log went up, I found it was too slick to walk on and was afraid I would slip off. I tossed my trekking poles to the ground, and bent over onto my hands and bear crawled to the end of the log at an upward angle, then climbed down to the lower log. Whew! I waited for Thumper who had made a quick stop along the trail behind me. I wanted to make sure she had moral support to make the crossing. She came around the corner and saw the challenge before her and stopped to analyze it. I described how I had crossed it. She gathered herself and climbed onto the log, stopping briefly saying ¢I¢m having a little anxiety over this¢. She then shuffled across, bear crawled, and climbed down. We then continued on, Thumper with a faster pace than I, disappeared. After the short bit of pleasant, flat hiking, the trail led into the forest at an incline. The weather forecast called for 84 degrees and it was 68 when I went into the trees. I started going up, sweat pouring off me. Even though the temperature was relatively cool, it felt like a tropical rainforest. The trail continued to climb, getting steeper toward the top. It took me 52 minutes to complete the climb. It was the hardest part of the trail that I had experienced since going for water on my first day at Garvey Shelter. I think it was the combination of the steepness, along with the humidity. I'm sure I was also somewhat dehydrated from my intestinal issues before leaving the hotel. I was nearly in tears, ready to just stop and sit down. I talked to Tressa on the phone for most of the climb. She talked to me about work, home, the gym, anything she could think of, which helped keep my mind off what I was doing. When I got to the top, there were rocks! It was a long day getting into the 501 Shelter. The trail ranged from a dirt path to sections of rocks that torqued my feet. Some sections were great and hiking was smooth and painless, others were tedious and hard on my feet, sometimes getting sharp pains shooting through them. Puddles had texted me about how great the trail was past William Penn Shelter. I had gotten to a smooth section of the trail before that, and moved along really well. What she had failed to tell me (a lie by omission) that there was another section of rocks. When I got to them, it took some of the wind out of my sails, but I was glad she didn't tell me about them. After William Penn, it was four miles to 501 Shelter. Puddles told me about some trail magic just before the shelter, but by the time I got there, the gatorade that was there was gone, but I did get an ice cold bottle of water, which I was grateful for. The shelter was enclosed on all four sides, with several bunks inside. It's also unique in that food can be ordered and delivered there. There were two bunks left when I arrived. After claiming an upper bunk, I ate dinner, and went to bed.