Date: September 16 2000
Trail Day: 108
Miles Today: 22
Location: Pavillion, Port Clinton
Section Mile: AT 929
ECT Mile: 1621
Got up in the morning and saw a guy heading north. He is Sweet Cicily's husband
slack packing. He said I was about 500 yards from the shelter but that it was
packed. Ate a good breakfast and started hiking. Met Doc Marten and
Straight A at the shelter. They are doing a section hike from New York
to Georgia. Straight A is of Indian descent - born and brought up here.
We call them ABCD's - American born confused Desi's (Desi means - fellow
counrty man). They call us FOB's (Fresh off the boats). A similar dynamic
to North bounder vs South bounder. The level of hostility is also about the
same. I am not saying Straight A was hostile - she was in fact a very nice
person - an ABCD exception :-)
The miles just flew by today. Met Fire Breather, Fall Girl and Sweet Cicily on
the way. It rained a little towards the end. Got to Port Clinton - a very
small town with almost nothing. Did laundry, got take out food at the Port
Clinton hotel. This hotel used to be hiker friendly but with a change in
ownership things have changed. Now in the pavillion ready to sleep.
Date: September 17 2000
Trail Day: 109
Miles Today: 24
Location: 501 Shelter
Section Mile: AT 953
ECT Mile: 1645
Last night one of the locals came by at about 3:00 AM and asked us if we wanted
to smoke some pot. We were sound asleep when he came in. The group hung around
for quite a while and I could not get much sleep. I woke up quite late
(maybe 10:00 AM). Fall Girl and Fire Breather were gone. I tried to get
breakfast in town but there was no place. Started hiking - wasn't feeling very
good. I decided to take a O in Shartlesville. Decided to hike to Cross-Mountain
, which runs to Shartlesville. I was looking for a black top road, which it
wasn't and completely missed it. Talked with a nice day hiking couple about my
options to bail out further down. None of those sounded very good. So, I
decided to hike on to Duncannon, 3 days, about 70 miles away. Composed a poem :
Destination Duncannon
Gather round ye young and grown,
And listen to me bitch and moan.
Twenty five days, on the run,
Now its ceasing to be fun.
Covered, five hundred miles,
Thought of it, makes me smile.
But now my body is so worn,
My socks - they are all torn.
My tarp belongs to the landfill,
My sleeping bag leaks holofill.
I need a shower real soon,
I smell like a dead racoon.
My clothes - they need a wash and spin,
To be of any use again.
My morale is now shot to hell,
My spirit is way down as well.
I walk with an unsmiling face,
Gone is my former pace.
Boy, I need a zero day,
To fully recuperate.
Three days mileage, sixty nine and some,
Hello Duncannon, here I come.
Anyway, thanks ye young and grown,
For listening to me moan and groan.
Date: September 18 2000
Trail Day: 110
Miles Today: 24
Location: Stony Mountain
Section Mile: AT 977
ECT Mile: 1672
Got up quite early today. Took a
photo of all. Turns out Firebreather, Fallgirl
and Sweet Cicily were responsible for the birch beer I found at Kirkbridge
shelter a few days ago.
Trail Angels
Hiked to an AT shelter,
With absolutely no water.
Saw a little sparkling spring,
A sigh of relief, it did bring.
What do I find floating there ?
A can of cold birch beer.
Sat down, drank with relish,
Best drink I must admit.
Fire breather, Fall girl, Sweet Cicily,
Thanks to you, all the three.
Date: September 19 2000
Trail Day: 111
Miles Today: 22
Location: Hotel Doyle, Duncannon
Section Mile: AT 999
ECT Mile: 1694
The place where I tarped was good - under a big, dense pine tree. When I got
up in the morning it had just started to rain but I did not get a single drop.
Packed up and started off. It rained all day. The day was also very
foggy.
It was a fairly easy hike. Came to an old shelter and stopped for a break.
I could not find the register. I rested for a while and continued on. A few
hundred feet down there was a beautiful shelter - Peters Mountain shelter.
There were 5 brothers there who had stopped due to rain. I made a register
entry and continued.
The last section to Duncannon was quite rugged. The trail designers have
tried to run the trail along the ridge top. But this is highly broken
here. So the trail goes down some 100 ft, turns around, goes back up,
runs the ridge for 300 ft, back down ... Some places I had to check for
blazes to make sure I was indeed on the trail. I could also hear the road
and train traffic but it took a long time to actually get to it.
Got a room at the Doyle hotel. Its quite run down but they are working on it.
Did laundry, shower and dinner. Met T1 and T2 - they are doing the AT in
sections. They started this one in Delaware Water Gap. T2 has some foot
problem also. Met Springer and Still Searchin. Had a long conversation with
Still Searchin about life, trail etc - very interesting.
Date: September 20 2000
Trail Day: 112
Miles Today: 0
Location: Hotel Doyle, Duncannon
Section Mile: AT 999
ECT Mile: 1694
O day today. Bought groceries, new tarp etc. The old tarp had big beer can
sized holes in it. I had placed my alcohol stove on it while cooking food
and it made a bunch of holes in the tarp. Also got a novel to read - Harry
Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Why its a best seller is beyond me.
Also stopped by at a computer store and the owner allowed me to use his
computer to check for e-mail. Looks like Michelle sent me something in Kent
where I did not stop. Wish I had known about this earlier. Called Kumar.
Left a message at Churi's.
Met Torn, Cinderella and Razmataz. Very interesting group of people. They
are north bounders but will be stopping in 10 days or so. Torn has a very
appropriate name. Stayed up very late talking and partying with them.
Date: September 21 2000
Trail Day: 113
Miles Today: 0
Location: Hotel Doyle, Duncannon
Section Mile: AT 999
ECT Mile: 1694
Another O day. Read the book, ate pizza and drank beer.
Date: September 22 2000
Trail Day: 114
Miles Today: 14
Location: Near PA 944
Section Mile: AT 1013
ECT Mile: 1708
Got up and did all my morning chores. Had breakfast across the street and
hit the trail. The climb up lasted quite a while although it wasn't steep.
The rocks are starting to decrease. I believe the Pennsylvania rocks
are just very overblown. My take is - we are on the Appalachian trail.
Its not Appalachian lakes, rivers or sea shores. Its Appalachian mountains
and mountains are made of rocks. So in a trail as long as this one, you
should expect sections with a lot of rocks.
Met a 19 year old guy. He had run away from home when he was 17 and has been
homeless ever since. He has been hitch hiking all over the place and has
lived in Arizona, California and the Carolinas. All he had was a very small
day pack and a sleeping bag tied with a string. He was wearing slippers.
He is trying to hike to Massachusetts where his parents live and take care
of some court cases pending against him. Everything he had with him (which
was very little) was stolen. He had been abusing drugs several months
back but was now clean. He had small red berries with him that he got from
some tree. He had eaten several of them without even knowing what they were.
He said the Bible says all fruits growing in the open with seeds can be eaten.
I ate one of them and found several along the way. I intend to find out
what they are. I was also very surprised to find out that he had an email address.
We exchanged our addresses. He also gave me a prayer feather. I gave him one
of the maps that I am now done with. I hope he gets all his problems resolved.
I personally think he has all his inner problems resolved. It is now just a
matter of time. We'll see.
A short day today. Cooked some horrible tasting rice. Almost had to force
myself to eat it. I was then lying down for a while when I heard a lot of
snorts and crackling of twigs. I thought I had a human visitor. Got up and
saw about 7 deer that bolted. I did not move. They hung around there for about
half an hour checking me out. Deer are very curious animals. Every once
in a while one of them would come a little closer and stomp.
Sleeping in the open tonight. There is civilization near by and there is a
constant hum and drone.
A field view
