Tumbling Run Shelter 13.1 miles
Total mileage 48.7
When I woke up this morning I was surrounded by goose down feathers. Luckily they were not from my sleeping bag. They were from the girl who was sleeping next to me. She thinks that a mouse chewed a whole in her bag. I noticed this afternoon that I had a couple of holes in my bandana so I didn’t escape the mouse after all. Mice are a real problem in and around the shelters.
It was a foggy start this morning but really turned out to be a beautiful day.
I’ve completed one state. Maryland is done and I have moved into Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is over 200 miles so I will be here for a while. Plus when I hit the dreaded rocks it will slow me down and I will be here even longer. 😯
The shelter area that I am staying at tonight is really nice. Shortly after I arrived the care taker walked up and introduced himself. He looked to be in his late 60’s or early 70’s. He told me that the piped spring, the water source for the shelter did not have to be treated. They had it tested and it is free of contamination. I still filtered it as I do with all the water I drink.
This shelter area has two shelters one for those who snore and one for those who don’t. It also had two clotheslines for hikers to dry their wet gear on, a covered picnic area and an uncovered one, and two fire pits. I wish they were all this nice, but it takes great caretakers to keep them this nice. Unfortunately there are some hikers that just leave trash everywhere.
I forgot to mention in yesterday’s blog that I met a women hiking to Maine. Her name is Soul-flower and she is 70 years old. She started in Harper’s Ferry just as I did. That will be an 1100 mile trip for her! So far I have seen more people in their 60’s than any other age group out here. It is truly an inspiration to me!
I was brave enough to set up my tent tonight since there is not a change of rain. It is a one person tent that only weights about a pound. It is really lightweight and easy to set up. The woman I have been hiking with is pictured in the background with her tarp tent setup. She is quite the seamstress. She made her tarp set up and her backpack!!! I’m not sure how much her tarp tent weighted in at but her backpack was only 10oz. Which is super light.
I wonder if more of the “older crowd” (I use the word older lightly because you are not old and you are the badass out there doing this, not me!) are doing flip flops in order to avoid “the bubble” and all the craziness that comes with it in the beginning? Sounds like a good idea to me. I don’t think I would like to be around all the 20 somethings just out of college for that long. Anyways. Keep up the good work and safe travels!
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Doing a flip flop gives you the best weather advantage and more time to do your hike since you will finish up down south. So far there have been a good number of hikers on the trail. I have even run into a few NOBO’.
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Congrats on making it through one state! You are making great mileage for just starting. The shelters that have caretakers really ARE impressive! I remember most of the really nice and memorable shelters being in the Northern states.
I’m glad the mice only got your bandana (and not your comforter). It could have been so much worse. They must have been really brazen mice to eat up a bandana! …or maybe they needed nesting material. we’ve found some really interesting things in the mouse nests we’ve found here at home. Some of them are so fluffy and soft-looking that I almost want to use it myself! 🙂
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Do you know one of the hikers told me to lay out a few sheets of toilet paper on the floor of the shelter for the mice to use as nesting material so they would leave your stuff alone.
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congratulations on your “one state down” your words and stunning photos are such a welcomed sight in my life. I use to wonder if I could do something similar. I would like to think I could.. Hike on 🙂
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Flip flopping sounds great to me!
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