[at-l] Ready's Journal: June 30 TD 25 PT 1&2

[kahley7@ptd.net (kahley)]

We slept in late in spite of having had our early evening
naps yesterday. We must have been really wiped out
from all the heat, humidity and miles from the previous
days. 29 miles in 24 hours, in temperatures over 95* -
that'd probably account for it!
We packed up and moved out of the camp site quickly
  enough, but were stopped by a father hiking with his two
young sons. He'd been confused by the relocation of the
trail and wondered if we had maps and guides. Spur
confirmed with him that the trail had indeed been lengthened
by two miles. We were finally on the trail at 9:55 AM.
It was an uneventful hike for the most part. Our energy was
better, although Spur especially was still feeling bit of a lag.
It was a steady climb up during the morning. I found it very
doable and even pleasant to be climbing. Had it not been for
all the poison ivy I'd have absolutely loved it. Only some short
sections were covered with the infamous rocks of Pennsylvania,
but over much of the trail, we were sidestepping poison ivy.
  It was almost impossible to avoid contact in some stretches.
As we walked, it occurred to me that these were essentially
  "Penn's Woods." Fascinating to consider, although surely none
of the trees we had passed had been here during his time.
I saw few trees that were more than 10 years old; most seemed
considerably younger than that, even. Perhaps this section of
trail was put in right after the area had been clear cut, we speculated.
We ate lunch at a trail side camp site at the top of Blue Mountain
and just relaxed as the cool breezes swept over us.
We leapfrogged with White Foot and Goblin several times during the day,
but encountered no other hikers from the huge swarm in which we'd been
traveling lately; all had left before we had, and were way ahead of us on 
the trail.
We had miscalculated our next water supply and had run out sometime
  before reaching the William Penn Shelter and spring. When we finally
  arrived, we were parched and downed a quart or so immediately.
It was now 4:00 PM and we had only 4 miles to go to reach
our destination for the day: 501 Shelter. Spur commented
that my pack "looked kinda crooked." Just moments later,
I felt a tug at the back and sensed the pack drop somewhat.
The metal frame had broken and would need to be repaired.
We agreed to walk on and fix it when we stopped for the evening.
We hiked energetically, even on the rock-covered uphills and
  made it to the shelter well before 6:30 PM. As we'd anticipated,
  it was a mob scene! One hiker estimated that there were over
  40 hikers present!
We each took a shower at the outdoor "solar" structure. It was
cold but refreshing. Shortly after our arrival, fellow hiker, "Toast,"
cut up and shared a watermelon with everyone there. Yum!
I met Cindy Romansky who is hiking with her husband and 5 kids,
aged 14 through 21. She was thrilled to learn that Spur and I had
met the Family from the North. She expressed great admiration
for Mary and Paul and was tickled by the similarities between them.
Two of her boys were named John and Joel; she'd been unaware that
  one of the girls was Grace, the same as her 16-year-old.
Spur had a cold Coke and shared a Klondike Bar with me as we sat
on the caretaker's (Joan) porch. Spider's wonderful dog, "Girl" entertained
us as she played on the lawn with Joan"s Dalmation, "Jasmine."

Spur managed a temporary fix of the backpack while I prepared
before-dinner drinks, which for us means hot chocolate. He then
sped off to pitch our tent while I prepared supper, which for us
usually means Spaghetti.
Around the picnic table were Unemployed, Awol, Blowing Sunshine
and Java. Others came and went and the conversation was lively.
Talk focused on the great burgers to be had at the "General Purpose"
bar and the Cadillac- driving trail angel who'd provided a ride to town
or back for many of the hikes there.
I learned that Java had spent several years in Norway, and we had great
e" and was delighted when I could remind her. Many of the hikers had
seen turtles today, it turns out.
It got dark altogether too quickly and Spur and I were anxious to
get to our journals and get some rest. We'd agreed that we would
start early in order to avoid the midday heat that we'd been encountering
  these past many days. This was the first time in a while that we'd
pow-wowed with other hikers at camp and it had been fun - "duty calls," 
however!