Date: 2008-05-07
From: Pogo Memorial Campsite (1550')

To: Rocky Mtn Shelters (1520')
Miles today: 29.6

I slept hard and was feeling great this morning. When I got to the first shelter a hiker named Joe was there and told me that Bare fodder, Spruce, Grasshopper, and Breakman had all stayed there the previous night. I chatted with him for a little and he said he had done a bike trip across the country when he was younger. He said that after the trip he went back to school and it sounded like he was a lot more into school and had an easier time with it because of his trip. I'm hoping that I have a similar experience when I go back to school and that I can finish strong for my last 3 semesters at Tech. Maryland continued to be very beautiful and I took a blue blaze trail to High Rock for a view. The rock was covered in grafitti and there was a sign posted with hand gliding regulations on it. It would have been awesome if someone had actually done a jump when I was there, but no such luck. The view was nice though and looked out onto some incredibly flat land covered with farms. There was a really rocky spot afterwards and I took my lunch there. I reached Pen-Mar Park (which I guess stands for Pennsylvania-Maryland Park) and got water. I met Bare fodder there who I have been seeing in registers for a while now but never met. I walked with him over the MD/PA border without even realizing we crossed it because there was no sign. I wanted to take a picture at the border but missed it. So by crossing the Mason-Dixon line (which is the northern border of Maryland contrary to what they teach in Georgia public schools) I have left the south and entered the north.I saw Breakman and Grasshopper near the first shelter in PA and talked with them a bit. Apparently there was a gypsy moth dusting today which is where a small plane flys over and drops chemicals that either kill gypsy moths or prevent them from breeding. They said they noticed the stuff falling from the sky and once I stopped to think about if when I was taking lunch I thought I felt rain only to look up and see no clouds. I took a break at Tumbling Run Shelter and met Spruce there. He was going on to the next shelter as was I so we hiked the 6.6 to Rocky Mtn. Shelters. He said that Southside had pulled a 30+ mile day and hurt his leg somehow and got off the trail for a little while but has since gotten back on with his son I believe. During my zeroes I looked at Shepherd's journal for the first time and saw that he also injured his leg somehow and decided to get off trail, but Spruce said that he has gotten back on. I'll have to wait until I can get on a computer to find out, but I hope Spruce is right. The shelter was 0.2 off the trail with a really far water source. I was pretty beat after my nearly 30 mile day which is my biggest so far and I really didn't feel like getting water, but unfortunately it is vital for survival so I must make the walk. Spruce gave me some tea and a little thing of Jim Beam and someone had left some food in the shelter as well. I snagged a hamburger helper packet and some tuna as well as some powdered mix drink packet. The tea Spruce gave me went well with my honey packets. We talked some philosophy or more like Spruce explained a lot of stuff to me as I know almost nothing of the subject. I got the evidence against the idea of free will which is somewhat depressing and overall the theories and principles he told me about is enough to fry my brain. Now I'm physically and mentally ready for bed.