June 26-27 in PA

June 26, 2005 | Day 91 | Miles: 17.4 | Total Miles: 1179.8
End: 501 Shelter
Danielle:
Sunny, hot and humid
Today = not a very happy trail day.
Why, you ask? Well, first it was hot and humid, meaning dripping sweat and energy drain, even with more than 4 liters of water consumed. Then add in a ridge with the trail only about 6 inches wide, strewn with rocks, and lined with brambles and/or poison ivy and/or grasses. Lovely. Made for a very tired, grouchy Sparkplug. The heat and the overgrown trail just makes me sometimes wonder what the heck we're doing out here. Yuck. I'm feeling very uninspired and unexcited by the hiking in PA. Not the best.
However, the positive of the day is where we are currently staying. It's more like a hostel than a shelter. Doors and windows, with a solar shower out back (very refreshing!), a water spigot, and a port-a-potty with TP provided. Very nice. We even ordered pizza and had it delivered. Yum!
On the fauna list today, we saw three deer, three grouse, a pair of goldfinch, a small snake, 5 bunnies, and numerous chipmunks. A big day for the "wonderful" state of PA.

Ryan:
three h's, plus one more for double the humidity
rock factor - 6
poison ivy factor - 11
let's set the record straight: pennsylvania sucks. this state is miserable. first of all, the heat and humidity. granted, not pa's fault, but it was oppressive today. easily, the hottest day we've faced. second, the trail: it's boring, uninspiring, even ugly. not a whole lot to look at. usually, i enjoy the woods we walk through...not these, they just look dirty. oh yeah, we walked through a construction site today. then there are the rocks. it hasn't been consistently rocky yet, so we've had some breaks now and then. but, it's not just the times the trail is only boulders, even the level parts have small rocks sticking out of the ground waiting to snap an ankle. consequently, we spend all day string at the ground trying not to trip and die. finally, the poison ivy. the p.i. hit an all time high today...which is saying a lot if you've been to northern virginia. for about 4 miles, we walked a ridge that was covered with the stuff. most of the time, it closed in on the trail...sometimes the trail was a foot wide, but most of the time down to 4 or 6 inches wide. all poison ivy! needless to say, we are not pleased with the blue mountain eagle climbing club, the supposed maintainers of this section of trail. a lot of grouchiness on the trail today. nice stop tonight, though. then again, it's hard to beat a water spigot, "solar" shower and pizza delivery. less pain in the knees today, and my feet felt good, too. oh, i almost forgot, we have less than 1,000 miles to go to katahdin! now that's a major milestone. if we can just get through these 100 miles of pa. pa sucks.
today's song - homesick, finn brothers

June 27, 2005 | Day 92 | Miles: 15.1 | Total Miles: 1194.9
End: Eagles Nest Shelter
Danielle:
Warm and sunny, with a few sprinkles in the evening
Today was a bit of a better day in PA. The terrain was mostly flat, still lots of rocky sections but not as much poison ivy and a wider treadway. We've found the rocks really beat up your feet. Definitely tired feet tonight.
But overall, in much higher spirits than yesterday--always a good thing! We hiked most of the day with Fatigue, which was fun. Ryan told him all the bad jokes from his repertoire to make things more exciting... right... :-) Not much else to report. In to Port Clinton, PA tomorrow, a short day with a shower, bed and laundry at the end. Sounds good to me :-)

Ryan:
three h's
rock factor - 7
not a great day, but a better day. it wasn't as hot, and the p.i. factor was very low...only a few leaves in one short stretch. however, it's still uninspiring here in pa. and, pa still sucks. the rocks today were definitely the worst yet. they make your feet really sore, and my feet are indeed sore. ouch. knee pain minimal. speaking of that, i need to go stretch.