"Katahdin: 956.7 miles"
Today, I felt like I was indestructable. Today represented my first full day in Pennsylvania in which I was not miserable at some point during the day. It felt nice not to be miserable.
The climb coming out of Port Clinton, in retrospect, was fairly easy. There were plenty of switchbacks, which differed from the straight down descent into town.
Once the trail was on the ridge, it was nice hiking for quite a while. At Windsor Furnace there was a sign proclaiming "Katahdin: 956.7 miles". It was an exciting moment. It was the first time I relaized I now haveless that 1,000 miles to go.
At Windsor Furnace Shelter I checked the non-existent shelter register to see if COokie left me a note, he did not.
After another climb I came upon "Pulpit Rock", which is a rock outcropping with a view of the Pennsylvania valley.
Hypothetically, "the Pinnacle" was 2.3 miles north of Pulpit Rock, but I missed it. I came to the conclusion that I was zoning out and completely missed it.
At Eckville Shelter I had lunch. I once again checked the register to see if Cookie had signed it, which he did not. I was starting to wonder if I had somehow passed Cookie during the day.
After lunch at the shelter I climbed one more ridge. On the finak approach to the shelter it became rocky once again. Most of today was either smooth trail or was following an old dirt road. It was a nice change of pace.
I rolled into Allentown Shelter to discover no one was here. This is when I realized I did indeed somehow get ahead of Cookie.
I was in need of water due to the fact that I ran out fice miles soith of the shelter, so I immediately fetched some and drank until I felt comfortable again.
Two section hikers informed me Cookie was behind me and that he was at Windsor Furnace Shelter last night. I naturally assumed he would be here tonight, which was true.
Today I bumped into Certain once more. She hiked Springer to Front Royal last year and now she's finishing up the rest of the trail.
Tomorrow I shall walk home once more, slowly but surely headding to Maine.
In memoriam:
To all those who have served, or are serving, in the name of the United Stated if America: Thank you.
Good night, and good luck.
Kirby
Ga>ME 2008.
