Date: 2011-05-29
From: Ensign Cowell Shelter

To: Tumbling Run Shelters
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: clear sky

(In which I enter Pennsylvania, land of Rita's and mosquitoes)Stopping for a snack at the first shelter I see a familiar though unplaceable hiker. "Portrait!" he greets me. "Remember me?" I try to place the face but can't pin it down. It turns out to be Billy Goat, whom I last saw 54 days ago on April 5th, my fifth day on the trail. As with Lemur, I fell behind Billy Goat during my knee problems and have stayed behind him ever since. He slowed down to hike with his brother recently and took two days off in Baltimore, so I passed him in Harpers Ferry without realizing it. It's fun to see a face from so early on the trail again -- his beard, stubble the last time I saw him, has filled in, and he seems even skinnier than before.Just before the Pennsylvania border is the PenMar park, and it is filled with hundreds and hundreds of picnickers celebrating Memorial Day weekend and the season opening of the park. As I wander through the throngs of people, a friendly middle aged woman calls out to me, asking if I'm a hiker and if I'm hungry. The answer to the first question implies the answer to the second, so she gives me a plate and invites me to help myself to a table full of food. I load up a plate with chips, cookies and brownies, sit down and meet the various members of the gathered church group. One of the members present, AT-Part-Time, has section-hiked 1,500 miles of the AT so far, and the pastor has climbed mountains like Mt. Rainier and Mt. Hood.Following the Hiker Code, I tell them that I have a friend nearby and excuse myself at the earliest opportunity to run over to Billy Goat and tell him about the food. As soon as I get to the word "food" he grabs his bag and hurries after me to join the picnic. We stuff ourselves and drink cups of lemonade and iced tea as we chat with the members of the congregation. Billy Goat eats until he nears a food coma, then sits to digest. I hang around until people start to pack up, then hike out, thanking the woman who invited me and the others for including us in their picnic.A few tenths of a mile down the trail I pass a wooden sign marking the Mason-Dixon line and am officially in PA. At the road crossing after that I see AT-Part-Time driving down the road, and he stops to see if I want a ride in to town. I take him up on the offer so I can resupply, and am soon browsing the air-conditioned isles of WalMart. After buying food I walk over to Rita's Ice, the first I've seen since moving away from Pittsburgh, and order a Kiwi-Strawberry gelatti, a combination of frozen ice and rich, creamy custard. I walk back up the street as I eat, and before I'm half done with the gelatti, a man walking to a pickup truck in his driveway offers me a ride back up to the trail.Back on the trail I find Buffalo camped not far from the state line, having successfully completed the four state challenge the day before and currently taking his first non-town zero, camped in the woods. The campsite is one of the nicest spots I've seen, and with its location has no doubt hosted more than a few exhausted four state challengers. We chat for a while, talking about the pleasures of taking it slow. I'm tempted to stay and camp, but decide to hike a few more miles to set up a potentially short day tomorrow.Not long after I leave Buffalo I see River Rat hiking south with his girlfriend Heather. Heather has already picked up a trail name, Chipmunk, and I am surprised to see them so soon. We catch up, mostly trading trail information, and I get to chat with Chipmunk, who is surely every bit as cute and friendly in person as River Rat said she was.River Rat and Chipmunk warn me about the mosquitoes around the next shelter. I've already heard a warning from two other hikers going south, but since I'm not planning on stopping I don't give it much thought. This turns out to be a mistake, as I receive dozens of bites just passing near the swampy shelter, and the mosquitoes continue their assault all the way to the next shelter. Between the two shelters I finally stop to reapply bug spray, covering myself in the potent, 100% deet liquid. This acts at best as a mild deterrent, and I keep hiking past the next shelter just to avoid having to eat and set up my tent with the bugs.Fortunately the shelters are spaced unusually close together here in the southern most end of PA, and I make it to the last shelter just after sunset. The area near this shelter is mercifully less infested with mosquitoes and I set up my tent without incurring any new bites. If the rest of PA is this buggy, I predict that I will use lots of deet and hydrocortisone, and that I will not be sleeping in another shelter anytime soon.