[at-l] Ready's Journal July 16 TD 34

[kahley7@ptd.net (kahley)]

It was early morning when we woke up. Reveille was being
played at the camp at the time we'd decided, for the third
time, to actually get up.
It wasn't as chilly this morning as it had been for the past
week and the mosquitos were not biting. We were packed
up and ready to hike in no time.
Back on the trail and on a steep ascent by 8:30 AM. My leg
was feeling strong in spite of giving me some trouble during the
night. I proceeded slowly and cautiously over the rocky terrain.
It was our day for wildlife sightings, it seemed. We saw a tiny
tree toad, chipmunks, a huge flock of wild turkeys, and a rollypolly
groundhog as it scampered awkwardly across and down the trail behind me.
At another spot along the trail I looked up to a crashing sound
just in time to see a young bear scampering away, looking over
its shoulder at me.
The eye contact was intense!
I had been too startled to do anything but point at it in hopes
  that Spur, walking a short distance behind me, would see it
too. Unfortunately, it was out of sight behind some brush by
the time Spur reached the crest of the trail and looked in the
direction I was still mutely pointing. To his inquisitive look, I
finally was able to utter feebly, "bear."
We walked along the narrow Kittatinny Ridge for most of the
day. We could see into the valleys on either side. We were
high above a cloud formation at one point. An amazing sight
to behold, seeing a cloud from up close and above it.
The trail in this section was often covered by long, grassy
vegetation that tickled our legs and hid the pointed rocks
beneath it. Almost the entire section was also covered with
blueberry, huckleberry and blackberry bushes, too. Yum!
We stopped for lunch on some boulders and were passed by
Rambunny, Fausa, Seattle and his dog, Seven. We leapfrogged
with them a few times today. We met only two section hikers
and two dayhikers besides. 'Guess we're out of the "pack" in
which we'd been traveling.
My leg was feeling pretty strong until about the final hour of
hiking today. It was no coincidence that the pain started up
with a fairly steep descent. We had decided to stay at a motel
near Culver Lake for the night, so I was confident that I would
be able to rest it tonight in some measure of comfort.
We made it out of the woods and to the bakery at the foot of
the trail just before it closed. Rambunny et al were not so fortunate;
however, and decided to walk a bit further into town where
they'd be able to find a restaurant.
Spur had called ahead for a shuttle to the Cogbin Motel and
they were kind enough to take us to a convenience store in
town where I could buy some more Ibuprofen.
We met Packasandra in the parking lot and she loaned us her
bottle of shampoo and conditioner. We showered immediately,
using our packtowels to dry us off. The hotel attendants would be
  bringing us towels "as soon as they could get them out of the
dryer," but we just hadn't wanted to wait that long.
Packasandra is being slacked by her husband right now and had
a car. She drove me to an area grocer where I was able to pick
up some ice cream and cold drinks to have with supper. Spur
made Derbs while I cooked the mac 'n' cheese on the curb
outside our room. We were journaling by 10:00 and sleeping by 11:00.
I hope a good night's sleep is all my leg will need for tomorrow's
planned 12-mile day.


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