~*~ Section of A.T. in PA ~*~

Rt. 183 to Port Clinton

Date: 6/17/05

Hikers: EarthNSky, Crazypace and dog Chase, lilmountaingirl

Mileage: 16

Elevation Gain/Loss:

On Friday night I drove up to Rt 183 in PA and set up camp in a field right by the trailhead. The sunset was absolutely amazing! EarthNSky met me there around 9pm and we crashed by 10:30 or so.

Saturday morning we drove to Port Clinton to meet CrazyPace, who also happened to bring his little four legged friend, a Border Collie named Chase. We shuttled back to 183 and took off. We took note of a sole SOBO hiker in Port Clinton as we drove out of town.

The first few miles of the trail were relatively rock-less. The mountain laurel in the area was in full bloom which made for a truly beautiful hike. Crazypace led, followed by Chase, then EarthNSky, and I. We stayed in that order all day long.

We stopped at Eagles Nest Shelter, about 6 miles in, for a quick snack. While ENS and Crazypace chatted, I read the shelter register. According to the register, there were lots of rattlesnake sightings and lots of bitching about the heat & humidity!

Most of this section is ridgeline hiking and no views at all. The masses of mountain laurel and the fields of ferns were simply remarkable though. I would have taken more pictures, but at the speed we were going, each picture would have set me back about 1/2 mile. We passed the SOBO hiker around the 8 mile mark and said a quick hello. The rocks were pretty miserable for the remainder of the trek. We had only one steep ascent, about 300' of rocks.

The last part of the day was the steep descent into Port Clinton. I'm glad we didn't go up it. Once at the car, we took "baby wipe showers" and hit Cracker Barrel for lunch. A nice 15 mile dayhike!

When Crazypace dropped me back at 183, our SOBO hiker was sitting down for a break. I ended up chatting with him for about 15 minutes. Turns out his name is Foodbag he was NOBO last year until he had an problem with his right achilles. He came back out this year and had left from the NY border headed to VA. Once he reached VA, he was going to head back to NY and go north again. Nice man with some good words of advice for this future thru-hiker.

EarthNSky and Crazypace were great company and according to them I've been "de-trolled" so I can post on TT without being "beat up". Chase is a great trail dog! We had a good time and I'm looking forward to another trip, maybe we can "cross them over" sometime!

Funny register entry:

Thru-hiker: "Spent the night with a lot of loud and stupid dayhikers"
Dayhiker: "We had fun and were loud, but we aren't stupid!"
Thru-hiker scribble underneath: "You were loud, which is rude, which makes you stupid".
So true...

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