Hello from Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, MILE 1196 for North Bounders.
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| Crossing Interstate 20, Maryland, May 2 |
I left Harpers Ferry May 1 and had a cool but nerve wracking walk across the Goodloe E Bryon Memorial Footbridge, which is mere feet from the CSX Transportation rail line. Much to my delight an eastbound coal train was approaching as I was at mid bridge, high above the Potomac River. The trail portion of the bridge began to shake and sway… I lay down my poles and fumbled with my camera, then turned my back and plugged my ears as the locomotives approached. I was terrified he might whistle just to freak me out… but I managed a glance upwards and the engineer was laughing his ass off. Weenie Foamer.
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| Goodloe E Bryon Memorial Footbridge, May 1 |
Once off the bridge you are in Maryland, immediately walking on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath, and soon back up into the mountains. The next week would see lots of rain and rock.
I always find it a wee bit tough mentally to get back on the trail after 2-3 nights in town. It takes a bit to get back in the mode -- you quickly forget all the potential hazards that might lay ahead.
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| Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath, May 1 |
To this point, I have hiked 129 Pennsylvania miles, with another 101 to go before I cross into New Jersey. The serious rocks this state is famous for started in earnest about 75 miles in, and I am told will continue thru Jersey and New York.
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| "Rocksylvania" May 7 |
My shoes are just about done so will have new ones waiting for me at Delaware Water Gap Post Office, just as I exit PA.
Despite other's opinions to the contrary, I really enjoyed the 40 Maryland miles. The blast of rock graffiti between High Rock and the PA border was both jarring and disappointing, but the numerous comfort stations, state parks, and enough rock-hopping to prepare for Rocksylvania were worth the crummy weather. The original Washington Monument was pretty cool too.
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| Original Washington Monument, Maryland May 2 |
Story for Arthur:
I have been struggling to keep down the concoction of calorie and protein ingredients (recommended by your Momma!) that I had purchased and sent forward in 500 miles worth of resupply boxes. I eat it every day for lunch but dread the exercise as it grosses me out tremendously. I know it is effective fuel so I eat the crap. I have been pondering ways to make it taste better and have failed to date, until this flash of brilliance hit me:
1) Feed the calorie/protein crap to a bear (not at all bear-wise as a FED BEAR IS A DEAD BEAR).
2) Tag said bear so I can find it later (good luck with that stunt).
3) Return in the fall, locate and harvest said bear (probably get us locked up, Arthur).
4) Make jerky out of the bear, feed some to Little Bear (but you have no teeth) and eat the rest on the trail (but by then hike is long over).
Glad I worked that thru before implementing such an ill-conceived plan. So I continue to shovel it in. Trail friend, Diesel, gave me a packet of Truff hot sauce to try, but ended up eating it all by itself. Really yummy!!!
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| The crap I eat for lunch. A packet of TRUFF helped to kill the taste! |
Trail Hazards: Gobbler hunters can hunt turkeys all of May here in PA, and they can hunt right beside the Trail!. Sure hope Christy from Front Royal isn't planning to hunt up here, for I shall be doomed!
I met two creepy guys one day just north of Quarry Gap shelter.
The first had a big pack and acted overly animated and slightly aggressive. Five minutes later, I met his travelling companion (confirmed by other hikers they were a pair) sitting trail side with no pack but he did have a white plastic bag and what was obviously a soda can crack pipe, complete with residue (I know this because it was about 6” from my foot and I received such training long ago from the Bladen County (NC) Sheriffs Dept). Stupid me asked him if he's okay, to which he replied “Why the hell you asking me that?” Needless to say, I was able to increase my hiking speed to make distance.
Trail friend, Frizzle, also had a nervous encounter with a group of young men along the towpath mentioned above, but had the presence of mind to call her hubby and maintain a loud conversation until they dropped back and disappeared.
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| Sponge FOB, Frizzle, and Pokeyhontas May 1 |
Danger of Losing Katahdin: Trail officials and volunteers were telling a group of us a week ago that the much sought after northern terminus in Maine is under threat of being off limits to hikers, thanks to some Hikers Behaving Badly. As such, much lobbying is taking place to try to persuade authorities in Maine to NOT shut down the mountain to hikers. Katahdin and Baxter State Park are under strict land management practices that include zero tolerance of alcohol consumption and doing ecological harm to the sensitive alpine biome. It is also sacred lands to the Penobscot Band. And yet some choose to ignore all of this and treat it like a fraternity house. Sad and very maddening.
Big holes: I camped at a place called Yellow Springs Village Site, May 10. A pretty and secluded spot that was once a coal mining community. You would not know it today except for coal deposits still in evidence and a GIANT hole in the forest floor... that could have consumed a number of the houses on my street. Good thing I am not a sleepwalker.
Trail that Crosses a Beaver Dam: only got one soaker.
Recent Burn Areas: I hiked thru two burn areas this week between Duncannon PA and Second Mountain. Potential to stray off course when trail blazes are on charred trees.
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| Old Burn Site May 5 |
Crowds: On May 10, I was cruising along near a lookout called Table Rock.
These days I am doing 18-20 miles per day. If I see more that 10 people in nine or ten hours, that is a lot. On this day I began to hear a noise way off in the distance, presumably on the trail north of me but hard to tell. As I hiked on, it got progressively louder but I still could not identify it. I stepped off the path at Table Rock to have a look and met a guy named Jay. "Do you know what that noise is?" I asked. He smiled and said “I have 150 nine and ten year olds about a quarter mile ahead and my colleagues are just staging them in groups so they can come here to be photographed. Are they ever going to be excited to see you! They have yet to meet a hiker.” Was not prepared for that! I did not linger when I met the group as the sound was ear splitting. Nevertheless, it was pretty cool to see them getting exposure to the outdoors.
Dog Bites: Hiker Gummy Bear showed me a nasty gash on his bicep from a dog bite. He got off trail long enough to get treatment. "Some random dog?" I asked. "No, golden retriever on a leash," replied GB.
Trail Hazards Cont'd: There was a report of bedbugs in the Birch Run shelter! One more reason to be a tent guy.
Trail Magic:
A cyclist approached me along the C&O towpath. Instead of telling me to “Get a bike, hiker trash,” he smiled, extended his left arm and handed me a pack of dried fruit as he flew past and yelled, “AT hiker…awesome!”
A woman by the name of Tia Bonster (near South Mountain PA) left a big ziplock bag trailside full of goodies, and left a note with a simple request “Please don’t take my bag as I will return for it later.”
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| Sweet Trail Magic May 4 |
Wanderlust drove all the way from Denver CO to do trail magic. He rented the PACT Milesburn cabin and cooked brats and tube steaks, and offered beer, chips, and fruit. He hiked the trail in '94/95 and wanted to finally give back. He told me that I must be French Canadian… presumably because of the buff on my head… which is from Cape Breton. Pam figures he meant Acadian, so not far off. Steve at PA 645: Steve dished out cold drinks and pretzels. He’d like to hike but is wary of snakes and insects, so does magic instead. “And another thing I love about you hikers is that NONE of you wear those red ball caps I am so sick of seeing.”
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| Trail Magic at PA 645 Courtesy of Steve May 12 |
People:
So long and thank you Gordon Lightfoot.
Shoutout to Ale and Anita B (Ville Emard QC) who always seem to be out in nature, and thriving in it! Your parents are setting a fabulous example and you two look so at home in the outdoors!
Curt Finney: Curt and family are caretakers at the Tumbler Ridge shelters in PA in Michaux State Forest. Curt’s love of the forest, The Trail, and those shelters run deep. A fellow hiker asked Curt to recount a favourite story from over his 30 years as caretaker. “There was the time I came up here with my wife at dusk to check on things. Nobody here except for this half naked, Charlie Manson-like guy, in a trance sitting in a dark shelter, surrounded by lit candles. Curt asked him if he was ok and the guy looked up and said “I’ve been expecting you.” Curt’s wife ran home! “Just some trust-fund kid off his meds," Curt explained. "Forest Service got him his meds and told him to move along.”
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| Tumbler Ridge Shelters May 3 |
Humour aplenty at these twin shelters with Smoking and Non Smoking signs, tree sentinels at all of the tent sites, a doorbell on the privy as well as a dummy light switch inside with a Solar or Lunar option. There were also about 6 rolls of T.P. and hand-sanitizer! Dare I say typical AT privies are very crude in comparison.
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| Tree Sentinel at Tent Site May 3 |
Legendary Big Bear and Toothbrush (MD): I met this couple on May 5. Dave conceived his name while hiking with a group, including wife Toothbrush, in the High Sierra’s in California. He is a very big man and in really good shape. Dave separated from his group on a particular day as he didn't feel like doing many more elevation gains. At one point, he became entangled in a massive patch of stinging nettles that went on and on. In great discomfort and frustrated as his pack and accoutrements were becoming entangled, he burst forward and let out a yell. Around the corner were a pair of “California stoners“ who were at first terrified, then relieved, then impressed. Later Dave met up with a guy who was packing an inflatable to go floating in a lake so Dave followed and went for a swim. He found a place to pitch his tent and hung his clothes to dry. He retreated into his tent and dressed into his black thermals. Then it started to pour so he dashed out to get his clothes, "like a big black bear." And there were the same two stoners, “Wow dude, that was LEGENDARY!!!” Before Dave reconnected with his group the next day, his wife Toothbrush and the rest of his party met the two stoners who went on and on about The LEGEND they were such good pals with.
Hostels: I did my first hostel stay at a place called the Ironmaster’s Mansion, May 5 and 6 as I cooled my heals to time a resupply pickup. It had its perks but I was anxious to move on after one night.
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| Ironmaster's Mansion: Hostel in Pine Grove Furnace State Park May 5 |
Trail Names: KC (What’s your trail name? KC. Where you from? KC. I got your name but where ya from? KC. So he’s KC from KC. "Did that to make it easier on folks," but I still managed to flub it up; Frizzle (Chasing Blazes on YouTube) from Mass (I helped her with some logistics and she gave me friendship and company thru a section of MD); Showtime (SW Germany and teaching himself harmonica on the trail); Pokeyhontas (AT ‘95), Mouse (NH) and dog Isis; Stitches (got a trail gash on forehead and her companions suggested she tattoo a silhouette of Maine at the top of the gash and Georgia at the bottom), Kim (PA); Fire Flo and service dog Jojo (Alabama); Tasters Choice (Queens NY); Diesel and Eco (PA); Unicorn and Rntul (PA/FL); Trina and Corey (TX); So-Duck of Scranton PA (hit his head on a shelter beam, then fellow hiker said, “So next time, DUCK!”; Sock Monkey (Chicago); Skippy (CO); Eric (NC) just retired after 30 years in the Marines; Tommy (MI) who took some excess leucotape off my hands!; Happy Hermit (VA); Flying Camel and Alchemist from State College PA. Flying Camel teaches Health Care Communication at Penn State so next time we meet I want to know all about that discipline during a global pandemic, and she wants to know more about how meat industry keeps antibiotic residues out of the food chain; Ogee (PA) and Gummy Bear (NC); Stitches #2 from NY/Conn border area; and finally Blaze and Truk (WI).
Flora: Manitoba Maples along towpath, signs warning about Wavy Leaf Basket Grass, yet another invasive species. I have yet to see a sugar maple, although red maples are aplenty.
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| Skink May 6 |
Fauna: Skink (photograph), ovenbirds and wood thrushes (seen and photographed), phoebes (heard), red-winged blackbirds, black and white warbler (seen), Great Horned owl (heard) and the following seen: brown thrasher, eastern bluebird, eastern meadowlark, mourning doves, red-tailed hawk. And one scruffy looking woodchuck.
They Said It: Hiker Looper (Maine), "I bet every hiker looks longingly at an Amtrak station and thinks, “Maybe I should just go home…”
Son William (when he saw recent photo of me): Pietro, you look skinny. Why you no eat? Mangi! Mangi! (Will is rapidly learning Italian… along with wife Candice). Missy at the Ironmaster’s Mansion hostel when I thanked her and said goodbye, "Toda" [Hebrew for thank-you].
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| Missy: The Biggest Heart in all of PA May 7 |
Teacher with group of 150 kids mentioned above: Me: “And I thought my logistics were complex… are you obligated to bring each one of these kids back to town?" Him: “Naw, we’re aiming to return with about 90% of them.”
Lawn sign just after I crossed over PA Turnpike: under the silhouette of a rifle, the message read, “Burglars: please carry ID so we can notify next of kin.”
Sister Julie and her family, “We’re having a little party in honour of you making it half way!” A party I was invited to, via FaceTime!
Postal clerk in Boiling Springs PA when I stopped to get re-supply box, “Oh, I know how to spell your last name.” Note: still riding the fumes of the Mario Factor in this state. Man near Susquehanna Rivers overlooks, May 10. Me: "Is that the Rockville Bridge off in the distance?" Him: "Maybe, but if you look carefully you can see Statue of Liberty in the foreground." Me: "Are you nuts?" Turns out they have more than one!
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| Susquehanna River with Rockville Rail Bridge May 10 |
MIDPOINT: many different locations and 4 different photos…
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| Halfway Point... again May 5 |
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| Halfway Point May5 |
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| And again May 5 |
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| And yet again!!! May 5 |
Story for Robbie [my dog]:
On the morning of May 12, I was in poor humour as my feet were very sore and I was frustrated after a phone call with an underachieving, unaccommodating hotel clerk in Hamburg PA. As I sat by my tent eating breakfast and feeling bummed, a Wood Thrush hopped up to within five feet from me, close enough for a blurry photo.
Thanks all,
Sponge FOB
