Tag Archives: section hiker

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AT-PA Rt183 to Port Clinton 6/6/2015

I’m back Pennsylvania!

Thank goodness I found a hiking pal in PA! It has been a lot of fun hiking these last couple of sections with Cindy, trail name “CanDo”.

This time around, I got to the parking area off Rt. 61 in Port Clinton with no major drama, just a little rerouting around Harrisburg due to roadwork.  It is a nice little lot south of the town and has a blue blaze to the AT.  As soon as I got the car backed into a spot (beautifully I might add), a text came in from CanDo.  “I’m in the Rt. 61 lot.”  Ummm…but I am in the Rt. 61 lot and it was clear she was not.  This was soon sorted out…two lots, different sides of the highway.  My lot was deemed the nicer choice to leave a car, so CanDo picked me up and we headed down to the Rt. 183 gameland parking lot.

Pulled in, gathered our packs, then headed up the gameland road to get to the AT.  It was 8:45 and 15 miles were ahead of us.  I like smaller goals, so I set my sights on Eagles Nest Shelter, about 6 miles in.

Intersection of the Gameland Road and AT...right turn and off we go!

Intersection of the Gameland Road and AT…right turn and off we go!

A deer jumped to the side of the road flicking his white tail before disappearing for good into the woods.  Good morning to you too, little deer!

Reaching the intersection with the AT we also disappeared into the woods, taking a right, headed north.  There were no climbs initially, just a few rocky spots, so we soon found ourselves passing Black Swatara campsite and spring. The campsite looks to be large enough to serve a group comfortably.  Someone has handcrafted a gorgeous sign for the site!

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It was a wonderful day for hiking! The rain had finally cleared out leaving us with a morning of cool temps, blue skies and refreshing breezes! The trail was a regular amount of rocky as we stomped on towards Eagles Nest shelter.

Only another two miles until the shelter!

Only another two miles until the shelter!

Eagles Nest Shelter has windows and gutters!

Eagles Nest Shelter has windows and gutters!

The shelter was 0.3 miles off the trail, which meant we added a little over a half mile to our trip by stopping for lunch there. We opted to pass on another 0.1 mile to see the view since we would get an overlook further down the trail.

What a super respite!  We lolligagged for about 45 minutes before heading back to the AT. I took off my boots, laid back on the shelter floor and propped my feet up on the wall. Ahhhh!!!

This shelter even has a mirror!

This shelter even has a mirror!

Taking a break fooled my mind into thinking I hadn’t actually hiked this morning. So starting out after lunch was like starting anew on a 9 mile day hike, not the 15 we had originally undertaken. “I got this!” I said to myself.

The woods was still carpeted with thick ferns, but now the mountain laurel was beginning to bloom as well.  Just gorgeous pockets of mountain laurel blossoms brightened up the darkness of the forest.  We walked through admiring all of it!

Another little break along the trail.

Another little break along the trail.

The miles were just melting away and I still felt good.  The guide book warns of the severe rockiness of the last six miles.  I found the guide book to be wrong in this case.  There were some spots of heavy duty rock hopping, but most of the trail just seemed like regular old Pennsylvania rocky!

Now this ... this is one of the REALLY rocky sections! :)

Now this … this is one of the REALLY rocky sections! 🙂

Feeling pretty triumphant at Auburn Overlook.

Feeling pretty triumphant at Auburn Overlook.

The hardest part for me was the steep downhill into Port Clinton.  Slow go there for sure.  My knees and thighs were relieved when we were in sight of the bike trail at the bottom of the hill. Then another short down on some very suspect steps and we were at the Port Clinton trail depot.  And since we had not had enough walking on rocks all day long…we proceeded to tramp all over the ballast to look at the trains!! Go figure…we are nuts!

Trail comes out to Fire Road, then turns back into the woods...almost missed this arrow!!

Trail comes out to Fire Road, then turns back into the woods…almost missed this arrow!!

Yay! Reached the rail trail!!

Yay! Reached the rail trail!!

The final assault, I mean descent, to the depot.

The final assault, I mean descent, to the depot.

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As we left the train depot, a guy stops and asks, “hey, you two know about the all you can eat spaghetti dinner?”  WHAAAAAAT?!!!!!  Oh, this was the best end to a hike ever!

Oh Yeah!!!!!

Oh Yeah!!!!!

All You Can Eat!!!! Yesss!!!

All You Can Eat!!!! Yesss!!!

All You Can Eat Spaghetti Dinner…$8.

Feeling like real hiker trash…priceless!

Hike on! 🙂

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AT – VA Compton Gap to US 522 with the Trail Dames

I will remember this day as hiking through the sky with Dames, then descending into the valley with Angels.

Before all of this, however, was donuts.  Tenacious D was driving and I had hitched a ride to the trail head since my car is no longer to be trusted on long trips.  I felt very grateful to have a ride down to Virginia for this section hike and stopped at Dunkin Donuts on my way to meet Tenacious D for coffee and donuts as a token of appreciation for the ride.

Wow, it was raining. and cold. and windy.  Glad I put gloves and hat in the back pack before I left!

We were the last to arrive at the trail head…Tenacious D says being a bus driver for so many years makes her just drive slow all the time!  I didn’t mind, we weren’t more than 3 – 4 minutes late, and the drive had been lovely.  We pulled over and rolled down the window as Dirigo (the hike leader today) approached. She asked “Can you all help shuttle?” “Sure!”  Another Dame jumped in and away we went up into Shenandoah National Park.

We met up with everyone at Compton Gap trail head, about 10 miles into the park.  Donning our layers, rain jackets, hats, gloves, and grabbing our hiking poles we set off into the foggy woods.  Pretty easy walking, although it began to rain making me wish I hadn’t left my big red poncho back in my car before riding down with Tenacious D.  Oh well, my rain jacket, plus layers did a fine job anyway!

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Tenacious D enjoying the trail!

The forest was magical with the heavy fog.  Lines between heaven and earth were smudged giving everything a soft ethereal glow.  It felt like we were part of the sky.  Then my eye would catch a tree with its brilliantly colored leaves in the forest reminding me that the sky had descended on the mountain, we had not risen to the sky.

We reached Possum’s Rest, which on a clear day has a beautiful view, without much trouble.  Today, all one could see was the fog.  Coming down from Possum’s Rest was a little tricky!  We were climbing down from the ridge and it was a sharp decline, even with the switchbacks, littered with wet leaves and rocks.  It was slow going…but no one fell, no one slipped!

Just before reaching the Tom Floyd Wayside, we heard barking.  Lake Front Royal is a neighborhood which backs up to the AT, so the dog was probably over there.  Happy to get out of the rain we sat down for lunch at the shelter.  A PB&J and half a bag of cheezits later I was feeling quite content.  I stretched out my legs and sat there looking out into the mist.

Tom Floyd Wayside

Tom Floyd Wayside

There is was…that barking again…louder this time.  We discussed where the dog could be, then brushed it aside as we packed up and left the shelter.  Headed downhill, then all of the sudden there it was, a small older beagle, lost, cold, wet, shivering, and very scared.  She came right up to me.  It was clear she needed help.  At first we got her to follow us, but soon realized she needed to be carried as her paws were rubbed raw.  I carried her for awhile,

then Python cleared out her backpack and together we fit her inside.  She loved that! So cozy!  And that is how Python packed her out.  As we continued towards Rt. 522 we passed directly by a few houses in Lake Front Royal.  Python asked a guy out on his deck if he knew anyone who had lost a beagle.  He didn’t but turned to get his wife.  Turns out the wife works in a vet clinic and offered to take the dog so they could follow up on the license number and scan for a microchip.

So you see, the Dames had become Angels arriving at just the right time and place for this lucky little pup.  I am ever so happy she spent the night inside, safe and warm.

A Journey Taken

A Journey Taken

Hike on.

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On the Trail with Sidekick Pauli and Little Caesar! June 21-22, 2014

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Last weekend was the FIRST weekend of “ahhhhhhh” that I have had since we started getting the house ready to sell.  Well, the house is now on the market! It went on the market on June 17, our anniversary…it wasn’t planned that way, but is so symbolic as remodeling the house just about killed our […]

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AT-PA Peter’s Mtn Shelter to Duncannon 9.3 miles 5/27/14

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May 27, 2014 Last Day Peter’s Mountain Shelter to Duncannon Rain was in the forecast, with possible thunderstorms so we got moving early hoping we could get to Duncannon before the rain!  I ate a quick breakfast of Clif bars and hot tea before heading out.  We made good time and decided to make a […]

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AT-PA Yellow Springs Village to Peter’s Mountain Shelter 5/26/14

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May 26, 2014 Yellow Springs Campsite to Peter’s Mountain Shelter 13.5 miles,  Staying at shelter   Something like sciatic nerve pain, but down the front of my leg, kept me tossing all night.  Add that to continuously sliding off my mat and you have all the makings for an early rise! I had fallen asleep […]

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AT-PA Swatara State Park to Yellow Springs Campsite 10.8 miles 5/25/2014

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Day 3 Sunday May 25, 2014 Swatara State Park to Yellow Springs Campsite (tenting) 10.8 miles On our way day down into Duncannon yesterday, while I was silently cursing that descent, I asked Google & Cindy what they thought of us flipping directions, starting at Swatara SP and hiking back to our cars parked at […]

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AT-PA Darlington Shelter to Duncannon 10.9 miles 5/24/2014

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Day 2 Saturday May 24, 2014 Darlington Shelter to Duncannon, PA (Staying at the Stardust Motel) I fell today.  Yes, a sacrifice to the trail gods was necessary before the descent into Duncannon.  As usual for me it was on the least rocky section of trail…I loosen my focus for 2 seconds…skinned my right knee […]

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AT-PA Trindle Road to Darlington Shelter 10.2 Miles 5/23/2014

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Day 1 Friday May 23, 2014 Trindle Road to Darlington Shelter  (Staying in shelter) This day! Wow! Easiest hiking I have ever done on the AT if you exclude the part just before Darlington Shelter. Google and I left Trindle Road at about 10 am this morning and got to Darlington about 4:30 pm.  The […]

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AT – MD Day 2 Over the Rocks, Up to the Cliffs and Down to the Shelter We Go!

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10/18/2013  Ensign Cowall Shelter to Pine Knob Shelter It rained off and on all night!  So happy I was in the shelter as I kept hearing acorns and small limbs hit the roof of the shelter.  The front that had moved in left us with a chilly, damp morning.  This was the kind of morning […]

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AT – MD Day 1 Climbing the Rock Pile & Getting Caught in the Rain

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10/17/2013  PenMar to Ensign Cowall Shelter (10 miles) This was a tough 10 miles!  No surprises there…lots of rocks and then there was the climb up Quirauk Mountain to High Rock.  Boomerang, Google, V. and myself started off from PenMar at about 10:15.  We trekked north about a quarter of a mile to the Mason-Dixon […]