MadA=tlantric Drunkferst-n-BQb VI

“Welcome. :)

Someone should be there then. If not, and as you're walking you get to the "a fort was here" marker that looks like a gravestone you've gone too far. Back up about 50 yards to the enormous fire ring in the trees on your right.

See you there! :)”

“Great, that helps! I get lost going around my own block, so it will be good to know when I've gone too far!!”

“Worst case scenario, if you get there early just wait in the lot until a likely-looking backpacker shows up.”

“Yeah, if you wait in the lot, wait in the car. That lot gets visited by the local two-legged wildlife.

Oh the oddities. lol”

“creek dancer... let me know when you plan to arrive and I'll plan to be there to hike in with you. I was there last year. I can get us more lost than you can imagine. But then ... I won't make us spend the night on some body elses cabin lawn.”

“Spindlette ---- ducttape comes in all sorts of colors nowadays.”

“What are you talking about? That was the best front lawn stealth site EVER.

His and hers double privy? Hello!

Not a bad spot to pitch a tent in that whole yard.”

““Spindlette ---- ducttape comes in all sorts of colors nowadays.” tiltTiltBLAM

Camo? Does it come in Camo?

You would totally make my day if you say yes.

Camo is the State Tartan in PA, I'm sure of it. :)”

“I had to google it.

It does! It really does! Oh happy day!



”

“Is it time to go yet?”

“Screw all y'all. I started this afternoon.”

“Drat. We don't have to bring axes now.

Leave the axes at home.

:-<”

“I was so looking forward to axing someone.”

“It would have been the funnest thing ever.

We'll get him next time.”

“WHO IS READY TO PARTAAAAAAAAAY???????

Thanks for the offer Rev, but I have no idea what time I will be able to sneak out of work. I will be arriving with another person, so I think we will be able to find the spot.”

“MEEEEEE!

Almost packed. :)”

“I'm ready too!

I should be there around 7:30 - 8:00ish”

“Yawn.......I made it home. Great trip with some very cool people. Trip report forthcoming.”

“I had to bail Saturday morning after an attack of the golly-wobbles. I started puking my guts out and all agreed it was wiser to head back to the car than to try and push 3 miles further in. I'm going to have to lay off the coffeemate liquid creamer I think. I was not hung over and was stone cold sober. But each time I have used that creamer on the trail... and as I think about it, at home as well I have ended up decorating the fixtures. Not a good thing.

Friday night was fun. I ended up hiking in by headlamp. That is a great deal of progress for me in my recovery to trail status. Had a good night's sleep. Felt good until somewhat after breakfast. Yep... I think that creamer disagrees with me big time.

Took me about three hours to get back to the car and then far too long to get home cause I had to stop and sleep. So there's my report. But at least they didn't have to decide whether to evac my pack... or me... They had already told me which they would choose. It wasn't pretty. hehehe :)”

“That's terrible getting sick on the trail, but I'm glad you made it home okay.”

“Glad everyone got home in one piece. :)

Creek Dancer, it was great to meet you! Next hike in VA right?

I think nogranola is missing 32oz. We'll need to come see him again soon. ;)”

“Hey girl. It was great to meet you too. Thanks so much for the hospitality.

Yup, next hike in VA. Could you send me your e-mail addy. I don't see it in your profile. I gotta send you a draft of the trip report for "fact" checking!

Sorry you got so sick Rev. That just stinks. I was glad to meet you finally.”

“Hey, where's this trip report I kept hearing about?”

“I'm working on it!!!!!!!”

“Wound up staying in PA Sunday Nightas well, as I really didn't feel like dealing with all of the thunderstorms..

Great meeting you all and thanks for rearranging your itinerary to accompdate my hiking plans!!!!

I appreciated the food and the beer. The dogs were great, and Lost Souls sure can cook..

I must confess however that I have gone to sleep the last few nights thanking God that my tent only has one door...

"fool 32oz”

“Let me start out by saying that 32oz has now officially earned the noble title of �hiker trash�. Before we met up with him, he had just finished hiking 120 miles on the AT in like 7 days. We found his skinny butt sporting a beard, walking like an old man with shredded feet, carrying a very stinky pack and talking about milkshakes, dark ale and pizza with whole mushrooms and pineapple no less. What a freak! A week on the AT can sure change a man.

Anyway, Spindlette, 32oz and I picked out a campsite south of PA183 off the AT around dinner time. We quickly put up our tents and then the girls started collecting wood for the campfire and hanging up bear ropes while 32oz laid around doing nothing. (Ok, ok, we told him to rest his feet�) We couldn�t find any hard wood anywhere, so we had to make do with the soft stuff which doesn�t work quite as well. But that�s okay cuz Spindlette got our fire burnin� anyway! She is one cool chick, by the way. About that time, nogranola walked into camp bearing gifts of cold beer! I knew immediately that we were going to get along just fine. Three of us cracked open a couple of beers each and Spindle sipped on some magic concoction of god-knows-what.

We sat around the campfire talking trash about other TT�rs when the Rev rambles into camp way past dark carrying a small city on his back and wearing his nifty super deluxe homemade kilt. Nice job Rev, but me thinks you need just a tad more length in the back! He miraculously hung his very nifty hammock set up in the dark. I am still amazed at the skill of hanging that thing in the dark.

We all hit the sack rather early, all of us (not me) being nearly middle aged and all. Just as I was nodding off to the land of sleep, I hear nogranola over at 32 oz�s tent mumbling something like �what am I supposed to do with this� which peaked my curiosity. So I flipped over on my stomach and peered out my tent to spy on him as he was fumbling around 32oz�s tent, trying to get inside. He kept walking around the tent, shining his headlamp everywhere, trying to find the zipper. What the hell nogranola? That�s only a one person tent man! And besides, I was pretty sure 32oz. was passed out from exhaustion. Let the man rest! Eventually he gave up and found his way back to his own tent.

The next morning I was the first one out of the sack. While I was sitting around the smoldering campfire, I see Jim Carey birthing himself out of the bottom slot of the hammock, you know, like he did in that rhino movie scene. First came the legs, slowly now, one at time, pushing through the slot grunting and groaning, then his middle section and eventually out pops his head! Oh wait, that�s not Jim Carey � that�s the Rev! Morning Rev!

A little while later a very cute guy named LostSoul wandered into camp looking all freshly scrubbed and smiley carrying a monstrous pack. Turns out he was carrying a cooler of beer and food for the party! Man, these people up here are hardcore partiers. Too bad 32oz and I are going to miss the festivities. We decided to overnight back to Swatara Gap, a distance of about 21 miles. We packed up our crap, said goodbye to new friends and old ones, and headed south on the AT for the William Penn shelter. The plan for the rest of the gang was to hike down to Hertlein campsite to continue the party.

The hike between PA 183 and William Penn shelter was fairly easy. There were no real ups or downs and only a few stretches of boulder fields. Not too many views, but I was happy to be back on the trail again anyway after a four month absence. We met a couple from Wales who had read Bill Bryson�s Book A Walk in the Woods and decided to check out the AT. We also met a young couple on the trail near PA 501. She was a newbie to this crazy world of backpacking and seemed a little wide eyed as she talked about her first time out. A group of Boy Scouts warned us that the water source at William Penn was nothing more than a drip drip drip. Oh well, that�s better than no water at all.

By the time we got to the camping area near William Penn shelter, I was completely out of water. (Good thing that this section of the trail was so easy, because there were very few water sources along the way.) We saw some tents set up already, but we didn�t see any people. We headed down to the water source right away to check things out. Lo and behold, there sat LostSoul, collecting water, looking fresh as a daisy. What the heck? How did he get there, and why isn�t he sweating like me?

ok, who wants to write the rest of this thing? I gotta take a work break.”

“you are dong fine.. keep it up...

HOWEVER, I must try to regain some respect... My old man walk was due more to the fact that my feet had swelled during my drive up after the 15 mile hike.... Cramming them back into hiking boots was the last thing that they needed...

As for my food consumption, hey I like my carbs.. especially in liquid form.....

'32oz”

“Ok, you slackers, I�ll finish this��.

LostSoul wasn�t sweating like me because he, Spindlette and nogranola decided to drive the party south! Yeah! Turns out the Hertlein campsite was going to be full of people so they changed the plans. AND they carried in the food and beer 3 miles to the campsite, collected and cut wood and started the campfire all before we got there. Southern hospitality has nothin� on these guys!

Soon we were drinking cold beer and cookin� nogranola�s hot dogs on a stick over the fire. I gotta say, those were the best hot dogs ever! LostSoul cooked up some delicious shish kababs of steak, red and green peppers and squash smothered in a yummy sauce. He even hauled in home made chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Oh and ladies, he was able to do this and stoke your fire all night. Grrrrrrrrr baby!

The newbie couple that we had met on the trail earlier ended up camping with us. We joined together and sat around the picnic table telling stories and joking about this and that. We all offered them some advice on how to make future backpacking trips more enjoyable. We were all newbies at some point afterall.

The next morning 32oz. and I were packed up and ready to go by 8:00 am. We said goodbye again and headed down the trail for the last 8 miles. This was another relatively easy stretch of the AT. As we approached the end of the hike, 32oz was galloping down the trail full tilt like Flicka headed for the barn at the end of the day. He must have had visions of pizza and ale on his brain again. There was no stopping this guy.
last edited: 8/12/08 9:16:25 AM”

“You all should have see the 'newbie couple' when Nogranola and Lostsoul started pulling out the beers... their expression was only topped by the expression when they saw the homemade cookies and shishkabob squewers get unpacked....

oh yes, and I was thinking about canadian pizza topped with pineapples washed down with Yeungling Porter..

'32oz”

“Does anyone else read this and think about the South Park episode in which Mr. Garrison was trying to write a romance novel?



We sat around the campfire talking trash about other TT�rs when the Rev rambles into camp way past dark carrying a small city on his back and wearing his nifty super deluxe homemade kilt. Nice job Rev, but me thinks you need just a tad more length in the back! He miraculously hung his very nifty hammock set up in the dark. I am still amazed at the skill of hanging that thing in the dark.”

“LOL....

yeah the hard wood soft wood was the introduction...

I'm just glad she didn't take poet's liberty when describing nogranola trying to enter my tent...

'32oz”

“Trip Report/General Info
Swatara Gap to PennMar

Saturday 10 miles
Hisoks, Bull, and 32oz started at Swatara Gap and headed south... We did not stop at Rausch Gap Shelter, but I did hear that there was water there. Instead we went to Cold Springs. While not a spring, the water was flowing. We did camp at Yellow Springs.. There was some debate as to whether or nor camping was allowed. The rules say that you can camp as long as you are 200 ft off of the trail, however we saw plenty of sites closer then this, and there was no attempt to dissuade campers.

For a seccluded campsite at Yellow Springs, follow the blue blazed trail up to the stone tower, there are some great sites up there.

Sunday 13 miles

Hisoks and 32oz continued south while Bull headed back home. Hiked 13 miles to the Peters Mountain Shelter. Awesome shelter but a heck of a down hill hike to get water. TAKE THE GALLON JUGS THAT ARE IN THE SHELTER DOWN WITH YOU. Hisoks and I were the only ones at the Shelter, and to our dismay the original Earl Shaefer shelter had been dismantled the day before. SOme of the wood from it was in the Peter's Mountain Shelter. We were kept awake late into the night be some sort of religious revival service taking place in the valley.

Monday 15 miles
The trail into Duncannon is fairly easy with one pretty decent rock scramble. I want to go back and hike this in winter/spring as the trail parallels the Susquehanna River, and it must be an awesome view with no leaves in the trees. In Duncannon I gorged myself on Mushroom/Pineapple Pizza and Yeungling... Hisoks hit the trail again at 1:15, I ordered another Yeungling. After lunch I had about a 4 mile hike to Cove Mountain Shelter. I met a family from Indiana hiking to Hawk Rock, which is an AWESOME view... You can see the bridges that you crossheading into Duncannon as well as those heading out.. A truly picturesque view.

Stayed at COve Mountain Shelter, which was a huge mistake. The area is not maintained. We took trekking poles to the privy to fend off the thorn bushes. The hike to the spring is also thorn infested, and apparently what you think is the spring really isn't.. There is a piped spring 50 ft further down the trail which isn't marked. Then there is the porcupine that comes to the shelter at night (Yes I have pictures).. It was ok in the beginning, until the dang thing actually climbed into the shelter...

Tuesday 20 miles

HIked to Boiling Springs, probably the easiest stretch of the AT that I have ever hiked, HOWEVER, be warned.. you cross a lot of farming land, so try to do this section early in the day.. We hit it mid afternoon, but fortunately it was an over cast day. Also they are doing work on the bridge that crosses I 81 and sometime soon it will be closed to hikers for 10 days. If you get there during the day the construction co will shuttle you.

NO WATER AT DARLINGTON SHELTER

We ate lunch at the Scott Farm Trail work center which is where we refilled our water.

Ate dinner at the Boiling SPrings tavern (Carol Stoudt beer on tap) and hunkered down at the ATC camp right next to the RR tracks.. I was so tired from the night before that I didn't mind the constant trains.

Wednesday 23 miles

Said Goodbye to Hisoks and headed out alone for the 23 miles to the Toms Run Shelter... DO NOT WASTE TIME GOING TO TAGG RUN/JAMES FRY SHELTER. The spings there are all bone dry. Instead, get your water from the stream the the AT crosses just south of the blue blaze trail leading to Tagg Run. I wasted 30 minutes here.

Got into Pine Grove Furnace State Park. Bad news is that there is a lot of construction going on which forced the closure of the snack bar. Good news is that they rerouted the AT through the beach area so I had an excuse to look at all of the ladies in their bikinis... The camp store south of the park is still open, and while I didn't have time to join the half gallon club, I did rest for some ice cream.

Got to the tome runs shleters and were they packed. 2 or 3 Boy Scout/Camp groups were there. Shared a shleter with "Suzy' and 'Dad'. There is a stream right in front of the shelter so water is plentiful. Soaked my feet for 30 minutes while talking with the scouts...

Thursday 21 miles

More easy hiking. Passed up on the Quarry Gap shelter which is by far the most beautiful shelter that I have ever seen. The floors are shalacked (sp?), there are hanging flowers pots, a bear box for food.. The place is amazing...

4 miles north a Caledonia State park, where the AT crosses under some power lines I came upon hiker's paradise.. BLUEBERRIES... Thousands of them... I ate and ate and ate, before thoughts of the consequences of eating too many blueberries popped into my head and I moved on....

Got to Caledonia STate park, and here is where I made my biggest mistake of the trip... Instead of pushing on, I stopped for lunch. As I ate my cheeseburger and french fries swimming in ketchup, the clouds started rolling in.... Didn't look to promising, but it looked like they would miss me to the south... uh.......... not...

About 1 mile into the 3.5 mile hike to the shelter the storm hit. Coincidentally, this is about the time where the AT begins it rock climbing accent of Rocky Mountain... Oh did this suck.. Nothing like climbing wet rocks in a T-storm... I made it to the Rocky Mountain Shelters which aren't the greatest. There is no broom, so they are dirty, and the water is a long way down.. I had stocked up at Caledonia so I didn't even bother going down to the spring. It rained most of the rest of the day, and I spent that night alone in the shelter.

Friday 14 miles

Last day for this section.... Had anyone seen me, my trail name would have been changed to clothesline... I had 75% of my clothes hanging from the back of my pack to dry. My goal was to get off of the trail ASAP so I could get to Northern PA, so this part was pretty much a blurr.... Stocked up with water at the OLD Forge Picnic area (You gotta love spigguts 5 feet from the trail)... Made it to the PennMar park at 1:30 and was greated by bagpipes....

Pictures to follow

'32oz”

“haha, I really was talking about the hammock though!”

“What, no tequila?”

“Where there's a spindle, I'm sure there's tequila. Spindle's Elixir of the Gods is what they should call what she puts in that nalgene.

Great report, CD! I haven't gotten to yours yet, 32oz. It's a weee bit longer... lol Works crazy, I'll get there.

I wish I could have gotten to meet you both! Sounds like it was a great time. :)”

“I had a great time this weekend and it was very cool to meet Creek Dancer and 32oz. Thank you for the kind words I do what I can.
Sorry you couldn't hike Rev. no more creamer for you.
Sunday morning the rumble of thunder sent us hot footing it back to the cars. The threat of rain passed and it was off to the truckstop for the breakfast buffet and hot trucker coffee. Large Marge and the snowman weren't to be found just some guy Spindle and no_granola swore was a serial killer. No_granola almost stabbed the waitress (she tried to take his plate that still had a piece of sausage on it)but, still got a smile and a giggle from her. what I learned: don't get between a hungy hiker and food.
That about wraps it up for me I'll be looking for the Virginia DF.”

“Great trip reports and sounds like a fun weekend.”

“I'll refrain from adding my long-winded rebuttal to the TR. I saw things unfolding much differently . . .”

“I don't think Rev will ever live down that description of him getting out of his hammock! That's priceless!”

“Just to clarify...I didn't mean that Rev was like a rhino! I meant that the scene was like the one in the movies. Ok, some of the TR was really just my twisted imagination.”

“Hey, the best part last year was reading ng's trip reports. Guess the fighting squirrel must not have made a comeback?”

“They weren't squirrels. They were chipmunks. And they were badass chipmunks!”

“Whew. I think I just recovered for this event. ;)

ng, I hear you and 'fool can make it "official" up around Boston way these days.

The ban stands on the soft wood. NO SOFT WOOD IN CAMP EVER.

Lost soul packs in cookies. Thanks Martha!

Hey Creek Dancer, it's over 24 hours. Pull my finger? ;)”

“With the Rev it's always a blessed event.”

“Sounds like a great time, wish I could have made it! Work sucks, and I'm old now! LOL”