Date: 2006-06-01
From: Pine Knot Shelter

To: Birch Run Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

We decided to get up early to beat the heat. We were up at 5am and on the trail by 6am. Bonesaw and I left first and Tricycle was going to catch up. Tricycle is a fast paced hiker and can easily make up time so we expected to see him soon. We hiked about 7 or 8 miles and arrived at the turn off for Rocky Mountain Shelters, and still Tricycle had not caught up. We left a note saying we were going on so Tricycle wouldn¢t go to the Shelters. We hiked on, reaching the Caledonia State Park where we planned to swim and visit the snack bar. Bonesaw and I waited for awhile and became concerned about Tricycle¢s whereabouts. We called the Italian Restaurant down the road to see if he might have gone there. The woman answering the phone was extremely rude and told me she was too busy to help me, even after I explained it might be an emergency. We ended up calling back and found out that Mad Dog and the Cane Train were there, so we asked to talk to him. He told us that they had not seen Tricycle all morning. I will not go into all the details regarding the rude woman working at Taormina¢s Italian Restaurant but it was bad enough for me to recommend that all through hikers boycott this restaurant. When on the trail it is great to look forward to good food, but I would choke on their food knowing how they treated a fellow through hiker who was only asking for a moment on the phone. I later learned from Mad Dog that the woman was not busy at the time and just had a very bad attitude. We stopped a park worker in a pick up truck and told him about Tricycle being missing. He said he would look for him in the park. Bonesaw said he would hike back to look for Tricycle. I stayed with the packs in case Tricycle showed up. After Bonesaw left running back south on the trail, Tricycle arrived coming from the opposite direction. He explained that he had walked south (THE WRONG WAY) for 3-4 miles before running into Tagalong and her husband, Heading Out. He knew immediately upon seeing them that he was headed south (THE WRONG WAY) and turned around. Tricycle said he ran up the trail, hoping to make up time lost by his mistake. When I saw him, he was red and looked overheated. He was definitely embarrassed and knew he would be taking a lot of kidding!! Bonesaw ran into Maverick who advised him that Tricycle was found safe in the park, so Bonesaw turned around and we were all reunited. We got over the crisis and went on up forward (NORTHBOUND, THE RIGHT WAY) through the park on the trail. Along the way we did stop for a break at the Quarry Gap Shelters. These shelters are too nice; they even have hanging flower baskets! The rest of the hike was over nice, gentle rolling hills to the Birch Run Shelter, where we will spend the night. We met Power Stroke who is hiking up from Key West, Florida along the Florida Trail, then to Springer Mountain and up the Appalachian Trail to Mt. Katahdin, and then up the International Trail to Newfoundland. Pretty impressive trip. He was hiking with his brother Camo. Also at the shelter were the Cane Train, Switchback, Pondwater and Snickers, along with 2 dayhikers who shared some of their gourmet dinner. Tomorrow will be a special day for me because I will meet Lynne at the Pine Grove Furnace State Park.