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[Editor's note: My comments are in square brackets - Wendy]
May 20, 2001 - Darlington Shelter
Miles: 18.2 Time 8 hr
Birds Seen (s) and Heard (h): Indigo Bunting (s), Peacock (h)
Today was a short, easy hike through the farm country of PA's Cumberland Valley. Unlike yesterday, I saw few other hikers. Except for "Hikes Alone" and one guy that was going south, everybody that was at the shelter last night is here this evening. "Hikes Alone" has decided to push on to Duncannon despite the threat of rain.
May 21, 2001 - Peters Mountain Shelter
Miles: 22.7 Time: 11 hr
It did rain last evening, and all night, and it's still raining this evening. There's a huge group at the shelter tonight - all thruhikers - about 10-12. I have escaped to the "old" shelter which is still standing and except for a crooked floor, is still in pretty good shape. When I picked up my mail drop in Duncannon today, I simply pulled the bag out of the shipping carton and stuffed it in my pack and kept going, so it was nice to have some room to spread stuff out to sort and count.
I trudged all the way down to the spring (the famous quote is "the water is so cold because the spring is in Canada"), but so far have had only a couple of sips out of the two quarts that I fetched.
May 22, 2001 - Near Swatara Gap (0.8 m S)
Miles: ~22.7 Time: 10 hr
Flowers: Daisies, Forsythia, Red Clover
Milestone: 2 calendar months on trail
The rain had stopped by morning but it remained overcast all day, and it is sprinkling again this evening.
I am momentarily about 6 miles ahead of the big group of hikers that stayed at the shelter last night. Many will not catch me again, but there is a "core" group that I have been leap-frogging with since the Shenandoah National Park. They are: (not all of these were at the shelter) "Motoman", "Walks Alone", "Sure Foot", "Scatman", "Al", "Waco", and "Rabbit". I'll probably see them again later in the trip.
May 23, 2001 - Black Swatara Spring
Miles: ~22.8 Time: 11.75 hr
Bird: Rock Dove (s)
Snakes: 1
It rained most of the night but you could see blue sky past the trailing edge of the front by the time I got walking. I got several good views of the Pennsylvania farm country today. (Actually, I got several opportunities to see the same view from different angles). This made me realize that there have been relatively few views since Virginia. It's been mostly woods and more woods. (Well, I guess, after all, it IS "Penn's Woods").
I lost some weight on the first half of the hike. In fact, I lost more than I wanted, so I have been making a deliberate effort to ingest more calories. Most thruhikers are hungry all the time but I don't seem to have much of an appetite.
May 24, 2001 - Near Hawk Mountain Road (1.6 m S)
Miles: ~22.6 Time: 12.5 hr
Snakes: 1
The snake was just a black snake but he coiled as if to strike and "rattled" by vibrating his tail in the dead leaves.
I met northbounders "Leading" (f) and "Trailing" (m) today. They quit last October at Pine Grove Furnace (approximately half-way) and hope to finish the trail this year. Pairs of hikers sometime adopt reciprocal (right term?) names. In 1981 there were "Sugar and Spice". This year I've noticed "Crash and Burn" and "Huff and Puff". The latter clarify their trail name with "Maine" in parentheses - I think to distinguish them from another Huff and Puff. Some people get very clever, like Janet and Bill (I think) Foote who called themselves "The Happy Feet".
May 25, 2001 - Bake Oven Knob Shelter
Miles: 19.0 Time: 10 hr
Flowers: Indian Cucumber
I stopped at Eckville Shelter hoping for some snacks but the only thing available was soft drinks. The caretaker was just leaving for work and took my picture for the shelter album. He distributes soft drinks to machines and has a keyring that must weigh five pounds.
I met an Allentown Hiking Club maintainer out on the trail. He was just doing some checking of conditions and trash pickup, and we walked together to the shelter, then out to Rt. 309. On the way we exchanged flower information. There were some that he knew but I didn't and vice-versa. The one listed in the heading above is one that he showed me that I rememered well enough to identify later. He and his wife met at the Allentown Hiking Club and thery were married on the trail near the shelter.
Here at the shelter tonight are a section hiker, Paul, along with an exchange student from Germany, Wolf. It has started to rain, all according to the computer model, says Paul, who is a weatherman. He gave me a detaileed hour by hour forecast for tomorrow.
May 26, 2001 - Leroy Smith Shelter
Miles: 24.1 Time: 12.75 hr
I survived the Attack of the Green Beret last night at Bake Oven Knob. Some guy in a Green Beret outfit showed up at 2:30AM, made a lot of noise, flashed a light around, cooked, etc. Then he lit up something, and when the smoke drifted into the shelter, I had a severe asthmatic-like reaction to it. (I don't have asthma and, although I dislike cigarette smoke, I have never had a physical reaction to it). Whatever it was was perfumy and settled in the shelter. It wasn't MJ - I know the odor of that. [Kretak? Opium?] I finally got up at 3AM and left. I continued to get whiffs of it all day and I could smell it on my sleeping bag when I unpacked it this evening. So the day started very early with a two hour night hike. By the time I would normally be getiing up, I had already hiked 4 miles.
It rained pretty much all day, so there weren't any views and the day was spent watching where I stepped on the slippery rocks. I was amused that the AT maintainers had posted a sign asking hikers going into Palmerton to use the railroad right-of-way rather than the road, becaues the "aluminum and nylon packs screw up the deep fryer at the Roadkill Cafe". (Somebody needs a physics lesson here).
May 27, 2001 - Delaware Water Gap (Church of the Mountain Hostel)
Miles: 20.2 Time: 10.5 hr
It was another day with rocky trails (the worst of the rocks in PA) and occasional rain. My pack seemed to be riding awkwardly on my hips at one point and a check revealed that a grommet had pulled out. (Actually, it looked more as if it had disintegrated - it was reduced to little more than a semicircular scrap of metal. I switched to an alternate grommet to correct the problem. I hope this one lasts the rest of the trip.
May 28, 2001 - Delaware Water Gap
Miles: 0
I have taken a day off here to rest, resupply, do laundry, and await the opening of the Post Office on Tuesday. (Today is a holiday). Between yesterday evening and today I have read Heinlein's "The Star Beast". It was ok.