The Rock Slide

Picking your way through a massive slide of rocks on the steep side of a mountain is no easy feat. Sometimes coming downhill takes longer than going up. There are times when steps are provided but I find that most of them were not built for the short of leg. At the bottom of the descent into Duncannon there was one particularly long drop and I designated that a James (Pray) sized step. Needless to say, Liz and I found a way around instead of down.






















































 Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Hawk Rock

Hawk Rock gives you the kind of view that justifies the hard hiking and true to its name, a hawk circled the skies in front of us as we took in the scenery.





















- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Yogi

Wednesday, April 23

As the trio of two turtles and an armadillo, also known as myself, Liz and the significantly longer legged Nicole, walked along the Cove Mountain ridgeline we were greeted by several friendly messages written with chalk. By the third scrawl, it became clear who was leaving them. Colin has made sure that Yogi has gotten the full AT experience, including photo-bombing and waving to the good citizens of Duncannon as our group hiked through the town.












I love that I unknowingly caught a classic Jen Keach face in the background of this last photo.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Rocky Ground

Tuesday, April 22-
Wednesday, April 23

The area surrounding Cove Mountain Shelter was not exactly flat and extremely rocky so with limited tent space, eleven of us shared the shelter with a thru hiker who had started his trek in Georgia just after Christmas. Notable events at the shelter included:
• poor Jen's migraine
•Nolan's food bag getting stuck in a tree, with my hiking pole broken and Nolan nearly dropping onto Greg in the process of getting it down
•Josh denying the use of his sleeping mat for Grandpa Mike
•Caleb's sleep taking episode, looking straight at Peg, saying, "I'm not going to do it, Josh." and plopping his head back down again with not another word.
•A water bottle dropping onto Liz's neck from the loft after she was already sore from falling onto a rock just after the thunderstorm
•Valet in-bunk water service for Greg
•A very early morning treacherously rocky moonlight walk with Peg to the luxuriously large privy.
•My attempt to keep my neck from stiffening up by sleeping upright, encased in my mummy sleeping bag, against the shelter post.
•And of no small significance, Nicole's stolen roll of toilet paper.

Morning came with its aching muscles and a new set of miles.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

God's Storehouses

Psalms 135:5-7
For I know that the Lord is great,
and that our Lord is above all gods.
Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all deeps. He, it is, who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,
who makes lightnings for the rain
and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
••••••••••
Tuesday, April 22
The second half of our first hiking day was less pleasant. As always, the stubby, out of shape, legs of Liz and I made sure that we were the last group of our pack of hikers. As we hiked along the ridge of Cove Mountain we could hear distant rumblings and see storm clouds roll up from the valley as we anxiously watched for the blue blaze that would tell us we were about a mile from Cove Mountain Shelter. Providentially, we met up with Peg, Brooke and Jaleine, who were also wondering if they had also missed the blue blazes. We figured BOTH groups would not have missed BOTH blazes so we pressed on. We hoped the storm would change direction, knowing that it was moving much faster than us, but it quickly hit full force with driving rain and gusting winds howling up and over the ridge. When a couple flashes of lightning followed and a branch crashed to the ground near us, our packs came off and Peg found an already fallen tree for the girls to crawl under. Nichole and Liz grabbed the ground cover for our tent and I quickly chucked the metal hiking poles away from our "shelter". We prayed, stayed mostly dry and kept our sense of humor for the duration of the thankfully short-lived storm. I can't say that I was unafraid but it was definitely reassuring to know the Owner of the storm's storehouses.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

God's Garden

Tuesday April 22nd

The first half of our first hiking day was pleasant. With fresh legs we encountered green growth that hasn't hit Maine yet. Our path was interwoven with wild flowers, wild chives for the taste buds, and blooming daffodils near the remains of an old farm homestead. Light rain for a short time kept us pleasantly cool.




















- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Travel Time

Tuesday April 22nd:
We're heading to the Trail Head near Darlington Shelter to begin our first day of hiking. We traveled down yesterday, attempting to order coffee and muffins from some of the toll takers. We camped at Little Buffalo State Park last night.

Yesterday's quote of the day was from Colin Viele:

"There is nothing wrong with hiking with a teddy bear."

Yogi will be accompanying us on the trail today.







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone