After spending the night in close quarters with 4 weekend hikers in Tom's Run Shelter, (somewhere between Pine Furnace State Park and his next mail drop, Monday, in Blue Ridge Summit, PA), Jonathan caught me up on the last week prior to shoving off for the day. The shelter dates back to the 1930's but is well maintained - has had a recent paint job and a new roof. It is, however, smaller than most. The guidebook says it sleeps 6, but Jonathan said it was quite intimate with 5 Friday night. He enjoyed the company of the weekenders, young men in their late 20's who hail from Lancaster, PA. Weekend hikers are more inclined to build and tend big campfires than thru-hikers who are frequently too tired at the end of the day to do more than fix their supper and crawl into their bags. With daylight ending earlier, it's not unusual for bedtime to be as early as 6:30 some nights. However a campfire built and tended by others can lure one to a later bedtime. Young weekend hikers tend to hike with heavy packs as they don't skimp on the luxury items when their journey is short. This group packed pillows and camp stools, plenty of snacks and the necessary supplies for mixing evening drinks. They cordially shared with Jonathan. One of the men told him that on one weekend hike, he packed a 30 pack of beer - proved to be more weight than he cared to carry so has not repeated that as his beverage of choice. Jonathan will be sheltering with them again tonight for they all have the same destination for today.
Prior to this phone call, I last left Jonathan in Duncannon on Halloween evening at which point he returned to the hotel in town for live music - folk rock covers - an enjoyable evening. At the close of the evening, one of the hotel owners gave him a lift back to his campsite which was situated along a railroad track resulting in sleep that was somewhat jarring. He began Sunday in trail angel Mary's kitchen for french toast with fellow hiker, Lion King, prior to Mary giving him a lift to the trail to slack pack the 17 mile stretch he had skipped coming into Duncannon. Mary has an older, somewhat battered, boat-like car which she has signed (on the outside) by all the hikers she has given rides to. He didn't hit the trail till early afternoon but the weather was clear and once darkness fell, a full moon made his headlamp unnecessary during all but the last treacherous mile back down the mountain. He returned to Mary's for dinner and movies; says she is awesome.
He headed back to the trail and his southbound journey Monday afternoon and sheltered that night again with fellow hiker, Lion King, whose company he enjoys. Their paths have woven in and out this past week. Tuesday evening he left the trail at Boiling Springs in order to pick up his mail drop the following morning. He stopped in what he thought was a local tavern for a beer but found it to be a rather fancy restaurant. Though neither his clothes nor his smell were compatible with the other patrons, he sat at the bar and talked to a friendly bartender and a number of very nice people who were interested in his story. Although they have a camping permissible area on the outskirts of town, it is again located along a railroad track so he chose instead to lay his sleeping bag out behind some shrubbery in a town park. Arriving as he did after dark, he could do so unnoticed. In the morning, he was able to charge up his ipod on the computer at the local AT Conservancy office and pick up his package prior to returning to the trail on Wednesday. He sheltered that night with thru hikers, Bad Idea, Swamp Cricket, both flip floppers, Old Yeller, a south bounder, and section hiker, Fat Foot. He hiked with them the following day. Swamp Cricket straps a radio to his pack so as a group, they hiked to music - whatever they could pick up. When they stopped at a shelter for lunch, the rains began so they collectively wiled away the remainder of the day and night in the shelter. He doesn't know if he will run into them again as they hike fast and with longer days than he is generally interested in. Though it's good to have company, this is not a group that he feels strongly connected to.
His goal had been to make his next mail drop before the post office closed on Saturday so he toyed with trying to cover 42 miles in a straight 26 hours but opted for a more leisurely hike and a Monday pick-up. Knowing he would need to supplement supplies, he stopped at the General Store in Pine Furnace State Park and waited around till they opened. They are soon to close for the season and currently only open for 2 hours a day. He was unsuccessful in resupplying as the shelves were virtually bare. As they get to the end of hiker season, they don't restock. It is a tradition for hikers to take the 1/2 gallon challenge (ice cream) at the General Store - if you eat it, it's free. This is a relatively small feat for a hiker. They were, however, out of ice cream too.
Weather has been mostly clear this last week with highs in the 40's and lows in the 30's, though the weekend held promise for warmer weather. He had ice in his water bottle this morning - a first since the Bigelow Mountains in Maine. The terrain remains much the same as it's been throughout Pennsylvania - relatively flat by comparison, a lot of valleys, corn and soy fields, and cattle pastures. Deer are plentiful in the meadow areas at dusk. He should be in West Virginia by Wednesday or Thursday. The states are adding up. ~ Amy
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment