5-23-12 Boiling Springs, PA to Pen Mar Park, MD

Wednesday the 23rd

Now that Leroy and I have finished the first section, it is time for us to rejoin with Jack Masterson and Athena Flytrap for another Appalachian Trail hike. We haven't hiked as a group since May of 2011 when we did Lehigh Gap to Delaware Water Gap.

Jack Masterson had called us the night before we left Port Clinton and told us he was thinking about backing out because of the high chance of rain for the rest of the week. We ensured him that we would be fine and that he has nothing to worry about. He was also told that we thought he was a woman for even considering backing out. This stuck with him for the entire trip.

We picked up our car at route 325, and stopped in Carlisle to drop off Leroy's bike. Went to the food store to pick up some beef jerky and blister bandages for Leroy's heel. We also got a big bag of peanut M&M's with cookies and pretzels all together, but we devoured it in about 10 minutes. After the pit stop, we headed towards Pen Mar Park where we dropped off Jack's car. The traffic on I-80 was awful, there must have been a terrible accident because they were closing all the ramps to get onto I-80. We had to take an alternate route, which ended up running through the AT a few times, and it was a very scenic route.

Jack Masterson's face as we got poured on in the car.

On the way back, we could see the dark clouds looming over all of Central PA, where Carlisle is. As soon as we got onto I-80, the rain started to come down. Jack was especially angry because we promised no rain for the hike. All we could do is laugh at him.

Traffic was terrible on I-80 again, except going the opposite direction. Again we had to divert, and this time we changed the start point because of how late we were running. We had to cut off 4 miles from the trip, so instead of starting at Trindle Road, we started in Boiling Springs. Once we got there, we grabbed some dinner at the Boiling Springs Tavern. The sign said "Casual clothes required". This was a problem because Leroy and I still smelled from the last hike, and we looked like homeless people. We went in and they placed us at the bar. Luckily the place was empty so no one had to experience our smell. The food was a little pricey, but it was delicious. Leroy and I got a chicken sandwich with roasted pepper and thousand island dressing. Jack got a salad. Got back to the car and got ready for the next 60 miles.

Luckily the rain had stopped. We hiked 4 miles to the Alec Kennedy Shelter where we met 3 other section hikers. They went to North Carolina State University. I only got 2 trail names, but they were were Bowls, and That's What She Said. They had been out for a few days, and they started in Harpers Ferry, WV. There plans were to go as far as they could in a month. Somehow we managed to make a fire at the shelter even though it had been raining all week. We called it a night around 8:30 so that we could attempt to get up early. Leroy and I were tired from the rough night in Port Clinton the night before. We had planned to do 19 miles to Toms Run Shelter the next day. Leroy and I were ready for this, but it was Jack Masterson that I was worried about, as he hadn't been backpacking since his road trip last year.

Thursday the 24th

I got up around 6am and took my time getting ready. Athena kept waking me up by walking on me or just because she smelled like skunk since she got sprayed the week before. Jack and Leroy got up around 6:45, and we were out of there by 7:30. The forest was soaked from a storm during the night, but the rain had stopped just before we left. Jack was still uneasy about the chance or rain, but we ensured him it would not rain while we were on the trail. I never knew someone could be so afraid of rain.

About 3 miles in we ran into 2 rock mazes. I pictured them differently than they looked. They were just massive boulders on the ridge line that we had to walk through. I imagined something more like 127 Hours, where I would go off trail because I was having fun, fall into a massive crevasse, have my arm wedged to the wall by a rock, and eventually have to cut my arm off because Jack and Leroy would have left me. Thankfully it was far less intense than that. All day we were going up and down, and it was quite tiring. When we reached Pine Grove Forest State Park, we had about a really long ascent up a mountain. It must have been 3 or 4 miles of nothing but up. We kept thinking we were approaching the top, which had Jack growing more and more frustrated. Athena was growing weary as well. She likes to run ahead to make sure everything is safe, then she runs back and checks on us, regardless if it makes her tired or not.

We saw a bunch of thru hikers headed north while we were in Pine Grove Forest. One man was turning 60 in a few weeks, and he was moving at the same pace as the younger guys. He said so far PA was very beautiful, and that the trail was very nice. This was good news for us since we were headed south.

The elder did not lie, the descent was nice and gradual, long of course. We were ready for a break, so we headed for Fuller Lake in Pine Grove Forest. There was a small beach there with a few people on it, so we stayed on the opposite side. Jack and I laid in the grass, Leroy on the bench, and Athena went in the lake.

We rested for a half hour, then Jack and Leroy went on a search for the snack bar. Their efforts were valiant, but the snack bar was closed. Instead they found brand new showers. I loved the sound of that. The sun had been out for a while now, and my clothes really needed a washing. Leroy and I took advantage of the situation. The shower was really hot, but it was so satisfying. While I was showering, Jack and Athena got into a conflict with a raccoon on the bank of the stream. Athena wanted to start a fight with it, but luckily Jack was able to keep her back. This park is famous for the Half Gallon Challenge. This is when someone buys a half gallon of ice cream, and attempts to eat it all in less than an hour. The general store on the south side of the park holds this event. This is a massive attraction for thru hikers, because they are all starving, so they want to indulge on all the ice cream they can get. I've heard stories of some thru hikers eating 2 half gallons, and then topping it off with a few extra little ice cream sundaes. The only problem is, the store is only open on weekends, so we had to relay the bad news to each north bounder that was anticipating the challenge.

Jack Masterson at AT Midpoint

We headed for Toms Run Shelters. We were all pretty beat from the long humid day, but we pushed on slowly. The path was covered in water, making it swampy and hard to walk around. We were able to see the AT midpoint on this stretch. I can't imagine what it would be like to hike 1090.5 miles and say it was only half way. But it is a glorious moment for many thru hikers. Anyone who makes it that far should be proud of themself that they could endure about 3 months of living in the woods.

Toms Run Shelter (Note: blaze on tree to right)
It was literally on the trail. Other shelter to right.

Toms Run Shelters were just the standard shelter. 3 walls, a slanted roof, and a picnic table out front. There was a bear bag hanger to the right, and tent platforms spread throughout the site. There were 2 shelters, which was a first for me. Also, they were literally right on the trail, so its really nice to just be able to stop on the trail rather than going off trail. The stream there was a perfect water source. We met 2 other section hikers who were out until the end of memorial day weekend. They said they were moving slowly and were going to take their time getting there. It was only Thursday so they had no intentions of moving fast. We cooked some Tomato Basil Chipotle Pasta with Chicken for dinner, discussed our plans for the next day, and headed to bed.

Friday the 25th

I got a really nice sleep. It wasn't very humid through the night, so it was easier to sleep comfortably. I was up early as usual, and I looked to see if the other hikers were still there, but they had left much earlier. I was up at 5am, so I can't imagine when they left, nor do I see the point if they hadn't planned on moving fast. I waited for Jack and Leroy to get up. We had planned to hike 13.6 miles to Quarry Gap Shelter, which was known to be one of the nicest shelters that the AT has to offer.

The morning hiking was fairly easy, although we were going up most of the time. The air was still cool, so we took advantage and moved fast. We climbed to an elevation above 2000 ft, which was pretty surprising considering this was the highest we've ever been on the AT. We stopped next to Shippensburg Road for a brief break. Little did we know, we were less than a mile from Birch Run Shelter.

Birch Run Shelter was really nice. It looked brand new, could fit 8 people, had a huge porch, and had a nice campfire with handmade benches and chairs out of fallen tree branches. A young man came up to the shelter from Shippensburg Road. He told us he was working at the AT Museum in Pine Grove Furnace State Park. Jack and Leroy were talking to him, while I noticed that a hiker strolled into the shelter, so I went up to talk to him. He was a thru hiker headed north. I told him about Leroy and I's last section, and also gave him some information on Pine Grove Furnace. We wasted a lot of time at Birch Run, and the temperature really jumped as the day grew on. 13.6 miles is nothing compared to what we've been doing, but it was all up and down all day, so it was tough.

The last few miles to the shelter were interesting. Leroy kept having problems with his left leg. He kept feeling sharp pains in his leg, so we slowed down the pace and took breaks more frequently. We ran into a hiker was warning us of a couple up ahead of us. Apparently they were laying on the side of the trail and the woman had her shirt off. He had startled them and quickly walked by. We saw them eventually, and they were packing up their bags and moving on. Luckily we didn't see them naked, because it wouldn't have been pleasant. Jack kept saying they were coming for me. This inclined me to run for a little bit for my own safety.

Anyway, the descent down to the shelter was wretched. It was very long, and each step down seemed like 2 or 3 stairs. It always seems like the descents before the destination are the longest.

Finally we made it down to a damp pine forest setting, and we were at the shelter after the ground leveled out finally. Quarry Gap Shelter was amazing. It was almost too perfect. There were flowers hanging on the corners of the shelter, that's how much the caretaker cared about his shelter. There are 2 living quarters (left and right) that fit about 4 people comfortably each. In the center, there is a picnic table with chess and checkers. All of this has a giant porch, and an awesome fire place. About 20 feet in front of the shelter, there is a stream that runs fast and clean. Perfect place for filling up water and cleaning dishes.

We laid around for about an hour, then finally recovered enough to get water and start making dinner. We wanted to devour a lot of food, so we cooked up some tortellini. But that wasn't good enough for Leroy. He insisted on making Chicken & Dumplings, which required actual preparation to eat. I told him if he made it, I would eat it. So he did. We ate the tortellini as the dumplings cooked. Basically it was just balls of bread with peas and chicken on the outside of each ball. It looked really gross, but it was amazing. Jack had cooked up some Uncle Ben's rice for himself.

We met tons of people at this shelter. First, 2 section hikers that were out for a month. They started at Harpers Ferry, WV and were going for a month to see how far they can get. The next person, Jim Stausch aka the "Innkeeper". He was the caretaker of the shelter, and he was a proud man. He comes to the shelter every single day to water the plants, rake the leaves, sweep the shelter, and take out any trash. Then an older fellow rolled in. We talked to him for a little bit and he told us that he had hiked the AT twice already and was coming from Georgia again, and going as far as he could. He had doubts that he will finish again, but that would be amazing if he hiked it 3 times in his life. Some people just become a part of the trail and cannot be separated from it; he was a perfect example.

Next, there was a man named Chris, but we know him better as Tremors. He was an interesting fellow. He was very talkative, but he often told depressing stories that killed the mood. Also, when he was making his dinner, he was trying to remove tape from him fork, so he got a knife and started going at it. The problem was that he was very shaky, and he often slipped and almost stabbed Leroy multiple times. Finally a thru hiker was able to assist him for the safety of everyone at the shelter.

We also met a few lads that were out for a week. They were headed up to Duncannon, PA from Pen Mar Park. By doing this section, they would complete the AT in PA just like Leroy and I. We were both on the same mission, just doing it differently. We shared stories of our times all across PA. We made a fire and talked with the other hikers. We were talking about ending tomorrow instead of Sunday, so we discussed the possibility. It seemed unlikely, but we figured we would see how we felt. We were laying down by 7pm, and were out by 8. Tremors was talking pretty loud until late, so it was kinda hard to get a solid sleep.

Saturday the 26th

I was up at 5am again, and we were out of the shelter by 6. It was supposed to be up to 90°F today, and the most humid of the days that we were out here. It was nice to get an early start on the heat, especially if we decide to push for finishing today. That would mean we would go for 20.1 miles to Pen Mar Park from Quarry Gap Shelter. Just before we left, Jack decided to do some pull ups on the shelter. He ended up hitting his head on a corner of the roof. We didn't know that he had gashed his head until he touched his head and felt it. We saw it running down his face, and it looked pretty awesome, but at the same time I was afraid that he had seriously injured himself and that we wouldn't be able to hike very far. I sacrificed my bandanna so that he could cover the wound.

We dropped into Caledonia State Park, used the bathrooms there, washed up, and set out. We saw an awesome snapping turtle on the trail in the park. There was a long ascent out of Caledonia, but the path was covered by pine needles, so it made for easy walking. We saw so many people out for Memorial Day weekend. It was insanity. This was motivation to get off the trail today. Shelters were going to be filled with weekend hikers and even worse... boy scouts. We were walking on the ridge for most of the morning, so there were lots of rocks. Also, the trail is on the south side of the mountain, so it gets a lot of sun during the day. Which means one thing... perfect for snakes who need the suns warmth. Leroy was still getting the sharp pains in his leg, so we took a break and told him to take his time. We weren't really in a rush, because we could only do 15.1 miles if we had to, so we'd rather be safe than get injured by rushing.

Chimney Rocks

We crossed route 233 and started our rocky ascent up Snowy Mountain. Jack and I powered up the mountain because we were tired of all the ascending that this trip had to offer. Once we reached the top, the trail widened and became easy on the feet. The boy scout troop that we saw earlier was headed south just like us, so while we were stopped at Chimney Rocks, they passed by us. We saw a black rat snake when we reached the side trail to Chimney Rocks. I was literally standing next to it talking to people who were headed north, and when I saw it, I didn't even react to it. Black rat snakes aren't a threat to humans because they don't have any venom, only a bite, but that's the least of my worries. We walked over to the lookout, which was the first of this trip, so it was nice, although it was extremely humid out, which hindered our vision.  From Chimney Rocks, we were halfway to Pen Mar Park. At this point, finishing today seemed practical. There were 3 shelters spread out within the next 5 miles, and we planned to stop at 2 of them for long breaks. It was only 11:30am, so we had about 8 hours of sunlight to hike 10 miles.

The descent down from Chimney Rocks was somewhat steep and covered with loose gravel. We passed by Tumbling Run Shelters that were at the base of the mountain. The shelters were split up by snoring and non-snoring shelters. Boy, with my experiences and snoring, I kinda wish I could stay there. We stopped at a baseball field because there was a water spout intended for hikers to use. The water tasted really metallic, but it saved us a lot of time, and we were able to dump it on ourselves to relieve our bodies from the heat.

Antietam Shelter wasn't far after that. It was a really crappy shelter to say the least, but it had a river in front of it which made up for it. There was a birds nest inside the shelter, and there were red hand prints on the walls which gave me the vibe that someone was murdered here. We were standing in the river, when all of the sudden, we heard a bunch of barking dogs. We checked out the situation, and we saw about 20 dogs headed our way. They were wearing antennas which made the situation almost unreal. It was like a wild pack of family dogs was coming for us to take us away. The three dog walkers had the dogs on electric collars. We welcomed them to the shelter, but Athena was overwhelmed by all the dogs. The dogs took a dip in the river then they were all on their way. Just before we left, a family came to the shelter and told us of their plans to sleep there that night. We told them to push on 2 more miles for a nicer shelter, but they said it was a tradition to come to Antietam. I don't think that's a good place for a tradition to take place, but everyone has their own thoughts. We pushed on towards Deer Lick Shelters, with about 8 miles left for the day.

The trail was nice for the most part, only one ascent then it was all downhill until Deer Lick Shelters. It had an old school outhouse for use, but I decided to use the woods over it because it wasn't the nicest place to be. A massive boy scout troop came running up the trail headed northbound. There must have been 20 scouts. They were headed for Tumbling Run Shelters. If I had been staying there that night, I would have just packed up and hiked down trail. Nothing worse than sharing a shelter site with boy scouts. We rested here for about 45 minutes and assessed the situation. We decided that we were going to finish tonight because we had the energy required, and we didn't want to end up sharing a shelter with a ton of people. We had 5 miles left, so we ate most of our remaining food, watched the boy scouts mess up their water filtration methods, and we were on our way with a final 'launchpad'.

Chicken of the Forest

We only had one more long ascent for the day, then a big drop down to a river, then a steep ascent to the PA-MD border. The first ascent was an annoyance. It got steep at times, and it winded all of us so we stopped for a short break with the final climb in front of us. We kept talking of a pizza place in Waynesboro, PA which had awesome deals apparently. That is what pushed us forward, as it would for any hiker. The descent was gradual with switchbacks that made it easy on our knees. We saw another black rat snake on the side of the trail near the river. I tried to grab Athena so she wouldn't be bit, but she ran right past it without even noticing it. I'm glad that we only had to see rat snakes, I'm not sure how Athena would have reacted to a rattler. I feared that it would cause us to end our trip early. We also saw a fungi, which is most commonly known as Chicken of the Forest. Apparently if you cook this fungi, it tastes just like chicken. I would have loved to try this out, but we figured we would save it for someone who was in need of food, plus we didn't want to ruin our appetite for pizza.

Black Rat Snake

The steep ascent was in fact steep. We were so tired from the long day. But nonetheless, we were able to muster enough strength to get to the PA-MD border. This marked the completion of the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania for Leroy and I. We pushed hard for this accomplishment, we even hiked over 24 miles in a day in the last section, and now we just hiked 20.1 miles to finish the state the right way. A lot of people didn't understand why we were hiking in PA, when we could have just used the week in Colorado. Well, it means a lot to complete a state, whether you are a section hiker, or a thru hiker. The feeling of hiking all 229 miles of PA is amazing.

Leroy and I at the Mason Dixon Line

Leroy, Jack, Athena, and I
at the Mason Dixon Line

We made it to Pen Mar Park where Jack Masterson had parked his car. Loaded the car and headed for our feast at Brothers Pizza, about 10 minutes away. We left Athena in the car and promised her that we would return with pizza for her. The waitress knew exactly where we have been without asking, and quickly gave us a seat in the back, away from other customers to contain our smell.



Once we got the menus, we quickly brainstormed all the possibilities that we could get. We decided on the pepperoni pizza and 18 wings for $20. We also got the loaded fries because our appetites insisted. We got 9 BBQ honey wings, and 9 hot wings with blue cheese. The fries were covered in a thick later of cheese, along with bacon and sour

cream. The food was so perfect. Nice and filling, but we were still hungry after the meal. It hurt to save the last 2 slices for Athena.

I drove Jack's car back to Boiling Springs to get Leroy's car. But of course we stopped at the Sheetz outside of Carlisle. I got an Arnold Palmer and a donut because I had the hiker munchies. We said goodbye to Jack for the summer. He was headed back home, and we were headed for Pittsburgh to begin the road trip out to Colorado. We told Jack that we were glad that he decided to be a man.

Completing PA with Leroy was amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better trip. We set new records for ourselves, and also reduced the planned 8 days of hiking, down to 7 days. Now we will set out to meet Leroy's old roommate, Dan, on Mount Washington in Pittsburgh. I am excited for this trip. I will be able to see Jenna tomorrow in Pittsburgh, and spend the day with her. This should be a great start to the journey west with Leroy.