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[at-l] Solophile Journal Entries [Jun26-Jul02]

Below are Solophile's Journal Entries from June 26 - July 2.  I
have also received the next set and will try to get those sent
out before the end of the week.

Also, I spoke with Rachel on Friday and we've arranged to have
all of the missing photos to me.  I'll be scanning those and
putting them up on her web-site as soon as I get them.

Enjoy!


6/26      Day 108     14.1 mi to Tagg Run Shelter       1080.1 cum

Pine Grove Furnace State Park is the official home of the
"Thru-hiker Half-Gallon Club."  To become a member, you must consume an
entire half gallon of icecream at the camp store and show your empty
container as proof of your prowess.  To mark your entry into this
prestigious club, you are then give an "Official 1/2-Gallon Club Member"
wooden spoon suitable for framing (or using as firestarter).

Now I'm an icecream aficionado level with the best of them and I
was confident in my abilities to come through the initiation rites with
flying colors, but my 1/2 gallon of black cherry proved just too
formidable.  I soon  found myself staring miserably at roughly 3/8 of a
gallon of quickly melting icecream hoping that if I left it long enough,
the summer sun would cause it to evaporate before my eyes.  After about
20 minutes with no signs of sublimation, my 1/2-gallon was ceremoniously
dumped into the nearest trash can and then I went inside to order a
cheeseburger.  Oh well, I didn't really want their little dixie cup
wooden spoon anyway!

While we were agonizing over our icecream torture session, I got
to meet a woman by the name of Slim.  She was one of the leaders of a
large group of highschool girls that were on a church backpacking
retreat.  After talking for a while, we realized we had both been on the
AT-L newsgroup and that she was a good friend of the Fab 4 -- Carni,
Herba, Spaz, & Tumbles.  I had met them a long time back on my
thru-hike.  I believe it was at the Muskrat Creek Shelter.  Slim told me
that Herba is still recovering slowly from a bad fall that injured her
knee pretty seriously and forced her to leave the trail.  The others
continued on and are up in the New York area now.

Our afternoon hike was much improved by some heavy rainshowers
that mercifully cooled us off, even if they didn't do much to improve
our smell.  Nobody else is at the shelter tonight, but I'm still tenting
just to get away from the bugs.  I decided to let Micah sleep in the
shelter rather than in the tent since I was having a hard enough time
dealing wit the warm, fetid stench that FireBall and I were emitting
without adding the perfume of a wet dog to the tent's atmosphere as
well.


6/27     Day 109        12.1 miles to Boiling Springs, PA       1092.2
cum

The promise of breakfast a mere eight tenths of a mile away
prompted an early morning start today.  We had a great breakfast at the
Tagg Run Restaurant and got to talk with some of the local regulars.
The most popular question in Pennsylvania seem to be "Have you seen any
snakes?"  Which, when we reply with a "yes", is quickly followed with
"Did
you kill it?"  I don't know why this is such a popular reaction, but
everybody seems so disappointed when we confess to not having killed any
of the "evil serpents."

We had decided that it was absolutely necessary to hit a town and
fumigate ourselves.  It had been a full 7 days of 90+ degree weather and
no soap--not a pretty situation.  We were headed for Boiling Springs to
pick up a maildrop and then the plan was to go to the nearby town of
Mount Holly Springs to stay at the Holly Inn, one of the only
establishments that allowed dogs.

The trail on this section passed through lots of farmlands filled
with corn and grain.   There were times where we were walking long
sections of trail that bisected fields of grain that rose up to our
waists.  I felt like I was in the midwest rather than on the Appalachian
Trail.

Boiling Springs is a pretty little town.  It was a tourist town
in the 1800's centered around the springs, which are some of the largest
in Pennsylvania.  We checked in at the AT Regional Office and met Karen,
the regional rep.  Then it was on to the post office where I picked up
letters from Andy, Brent, and Regina as well as a care package from
Brent.

The Holly Inn turned out to be a great find.  Jim, the cook for
the inn's restaurant, came and picked us up.  The rooms were large,
clean,
and cheap and the restaurant was excellent.  We actually had some
really good seafood:  bacon-wrapped scallops, feta-stuffed shrimp, and a
seafood and fettucini main course.  Not exactly your normal hiker fare
:-)


6/28    Day 110 10.3 miles  to Scott Farm Work Center  1102.5 cum

It was a leisurely morning in town.  Jim came and shuttled us
back to Boiling Springs by 10.  We ran into a lot of other thru-hikers
that had just arrived in town--Geo, Pixie, Aunt Marty, Big Bird,
Wrangler,
Devon, and Small World.  We walked around town a bit, watched the
ducks in the lake, and picked up some last minute snacks and goodies.

It was a fun first half of the day when we finally did get on the
trail.  More farm fields to walk through, but this time they were
bordered by mulberry trees and raspberry bushes loaded with ripe
berries.
I wanted to try and make a fruit cobbler in camp, but we needed a more
productive way to collect the berries.  I finally convinced FireBall
that
he should stand under the mulberry trees holding my pack raincover in
his
arms to create the biggest target possible.  Then I would reach up with
my walking stick and solidly whack the branch above his head, causing
all the ripe berries to shower down around him.  Not a perfect system
since each time I'd hit the branch FireBall was also pelleted with
over-ripe berries, but we got a decent haul.

We made the fateful mistake of stopping for a late lunch at a
truck stop in Carlisle.  I think this was the beginning of the end for
me.  We spent three hours at that truck stop (we even tried to take a
nap in the parking lot) hoping that the heat would break.  By 5 o'clock
we decided that we needed to head on, heat or no heat.

I was absolutely pathetic.  I felt so weak and tired.   I wonder
if I wasn't suffering from a little heat exhaustion or something.  We
only made it 2 more miles instead of the planned 6 before I had to call
it quits.  Luckily, we had just arrived at the Scott Farm AT Work Crew
Center and got permission from the caretaker, Big John, to pitch our
tent on the lawn. I was collapsed in the tent before 7 pm.


6/29    Day 111 16.4 miles to Duncannon 1118.9 cum

Today was very difficult for me mentally.  Lately I've been
feeling overtired on the trail.  Sometimes I feel like I'm losing
control on my body and it's doing a slow spiraling descent to utter
exhaustion.  There's nothing specifically wrong that I can point to and
say "There, that's the problem!"  It's just a general malaise that saps
my energy and makes me feel weak.  It overwhelmed me today--just washed
over me and sucked me down.

We got a very early start because we had to make it to Duncannon
to meet my family by 2 or 3.  I hated every step.  I was literally in
tears at one point--total, uncontrolled sobbing.  I don't know what's
going on is the scary part.  It's like I've been given somebody else's
body and it's ridden with consumption or some strenght taking illness.

Poor FireBall is at a complete loss.  He gets to watch his hiking
partner fall to pieces, and I can't even explain why other than to say
I'm
tired.  And I am, but it seems like so much more than just that.  I hope
it is just exhaustion.  I pray that it's just exhaustion.  Yes, we've
been
hiking 9 days straight now and have several more to go before a
planned day off.  Yes, it's been over 90 degrees and humid many of those
days.  But our daily mileage hasn't been anything unreasonable.  Could
it
all really be just exhaustion?

I'll be going home for a few days over the 4th of July holiday.
I hope a few days off is all I need.


6/30    Day 112 11.1 miles to Peters Mountain Shelter 1130 cum

My first day of hiking with my younger brother, Michael, during
my thru-hike.  We had a really good time.  We had a very filling
breakfast
at the Clarks Ferry Truckstop, packed up the last of our gear, and hit
the trail a little after 10.  We didn't have many miles to cover, so we
set a pretty leisurely pace and took lots of breaks along the way.

Highlights of the day--eating ripe raspberries alongside the
trail, spotting a 4' long black snake, telling embarassing stories about
each other, and a heck of a trip for water upon reaching the shelter.

This shelter is a showplace.  It is a two story deal with a great
porch and a picnic table that's protected under a roof.  The lines for
hanging your foodbag up our of reach of the mice are on pulleys!  The
water source is another matter.  It was a 400 foot elevation loss down a
very steep and slippery trail to get to the little spring.  I won't even
talk about the climb back up carrying full water containers,  I'll just
mention that I made Michael carry the 3 gallon water bag on the trip
back up the hill :-)

There are quite a few thru-hikers here tonight:  Just Dave,
Pixie, Geo, Aunt Marty, Big Bird, and Wrangler.  I'm glad Michael is
getting to meet some of the other thru-hikers just to get a taste for
what
a neat bunch of people they are overall.  The shelter's supposed to hold
20, but we've got it seeming pretty darn full with just nine of us here
since most of us set up our tents in the shelter to fend off the bugs.

I hope tomorrow's as enjoyable as today was.


7/1     Day 113         0 miles         1130 cum

I couldn't help but wake early this morning.  The rest of the
thru-hikers in the shelter were the noisiest bunch I've ever stayed
with.  They were all planning a 20 mile day to the Bleu Blaze Hostel and
were up and tromping around by 5:30.  I finally gave up on trying to
sleep at around 6 and figured I might as well make some coffee and eat
breakfast since everybody but Michael seemed to be up.

It was interesting to listen to the others talk as they prepared.
 None of them seemed very happy to be facing a 20 miles.  They wanted to
be at Port Clinton by Friday, so they were going to have to pull some
big miles at one point or another.  It seemed like once one person in
the group had made the decision to crank out a long day, the rest felt
compelled to follow.  Poor Aunt Marty did not look pleased last night
when Pixie, her daughter, announced that she'd be doing 20.  Aunt Marty
had just arrived at the shelter, looking pretty tired, when Pixie piped
up about her plans for the next day.  Aunt Marty's expression was none
too happy, but off she went this morning.  I'm sure it was a long day
for her, mentally and physically.

After everybody else had left for the day, I went back upstairs
to try and get a little more sleep since I felt so tired.
Michael was still sound asleep and I don't think he ever even stirred
during all the commotion.  I was still feeling wiped out and wanted
nothing more than to sleep for two days straight.  I just couldn't seem
to fall asleep, which has been happening a lot lately.  It's so
maddening to feel so bone tired and yet not be able to fall asleep.

I was laying there all frustrated and trying to will myself into
dreamland when from across the room came those dreaded, nightmarish
sounds--zippers opening and closing over and over, plastic ziploc bags
crinkling and folding, the hiss of nylon on nylon as a sleeping bag is
stuffed in its sack.....  I was ready to kill, and poor unsuspecting
FireBall was just trying to get his gear put away as quietly as
possible.  After about 15 minutes of me silently cursing hime and
wishing his arms would fall off, I threw my sleeping bag off, unzipped
my tent door all in a huff, and stomped off downstairs with fists
clenched muttering dire threats under my breath.  I think FireBall just
stood with his mouth open as I disappeared around the corner of the
shelter.  Talk about being a morning grump....

I was losing it again and after sitting for a while, I decided
that today was going to be a day off for me.  I just needed it.  My body
needed it and my mind needs it.  I've never stayed over more than one
night at a shelter, but this seemed like an awful nice one to do it at
and the forecast was calling for rain.

So, we spent the day at the Peters Mountain Shelter.  FireBall
and Michael played with fires all day-- little camp fires, big camp
fires, smoke pots for the bugs,....  You name it and they tried to build
it.  They even talked about trying to knock together a swing for the
shelter.  I sat and sewed patches on packs, read, wrote, played my
flute, and cooked up one heck of a dinner--chicken chunks with stuffing
and corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, and dinner rolls too.  We even had
the traditional s'mores dessert after our meal.

It turned out to be an enjoyable day and in return for me making
dinner, Michael and FireBall made the dreaded trip to the spring.  They
had continued down the trail to the spring another 1/2 mile and came to
a camp for kids, Camp Hebron.  There they called my mother to tell her
our itinerary had changed slightly and they managed to haul back soda,
candy, and icecream with them on the return to the shelter!!  The Haagen
Daz icecream bars were an absolutely awesome surprise!!


7/2     Day 114         0.7 miles to Victoria Trail   1130.7 cum

I bailed out today.  I just wanted to be home.  I wanted to be
off the trail for a little while and just feel the comfort of home for a
while.

Woke to rain that continued as a fairly heavy downpour most of
the morning.  We decided the quickest way out was on a side trail to a
nearby highway.  Left the shelter around 11, hit the road by 11:30 and
began a 4+ mile roadwalk to the nearest store.   There weren't very many
friendly people out.  Lots of cars passed us, but it was more than 45
minutes of road walking before anybody offered to give us a ride.

We stopped at a little store in Dauphin, PA where I called my Mom
and asked her to come get us.  We sat around for 4-1/2 hours waiting for
her arrival.  More rain during our wait.

I'm planning on going home for at least 4 days.  Originally I had
planned on not heading home until tomorrow, but I just need to get off
the trail.  I'll be finishing the preparations on the remainder of my
maildrops while I'm home, visiting some relatives for the 4th
celebration, and just taking care of things.  It will be so good to see
my other two dogs, Tullie and Scrapper.  I miss them terribly.

I hope to be back on the trail around Sunday, July 6th.  I'm not
planning on doing any journal entries during my days off.

--
AndyMarkham - Director, ProductDevelopment
amarkham@rkinc.com
RelevantKnowledge - TheNextGenerationOfWebMeasurement
http://www.relevantknowledge.com/
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