wheres TODD now?....The Appalachian Trail, that's where!

Weekend # 40: October 13 & 14, 2008

Appalachian Trail : Eckville Shelter to Dan's Spring

This is the first hike Joe and I have done since we missed each other on the Grand Canyon Trip. I was looking forward to getting him back out into the woods. I knew he needed it. Joe has a new baby and it is his second in a 2 years...need I say more!

About the Blue Mountain Section of the AT

Thru-hikers know Pennsylvania by the name Rocksylvania. Before too long, day-trippers on this 15-mile hike along the Blue Mountain ridge discover why. Truth be told, there are some early stretches of this walk through a maturing oak forest where a footstep will land on soil instead of sharp rock. Enjoy them. By the hike's end they will be distant, obscure memories.

Mostly there are the rocks: gray-green, often jagged, quartzite shards, ranging in size from pork chops to pumpkins to Plymouths. Hikers will find them generally unsorted by size, and occasionally unsecured. Natural history feature: Auburn Lookout. Social history feature: Port Cling, "Buzzard Capital of the Northeast."

The Hike

Unfortunately, Joe and I have a habit of stating hikes later than we do earlier. Joe had a big day the Sunday before, having his newest child christened, so he was a little worn out and got to my house a couple of hours later than planned. Of course, this is why we are good hiking partners. We are both very laid back and ultimately flexible. Having anticipated the problem of a late start, I reached into my trusty AT guide Book and pulled out the map, and plotted an alternate route just in case we started the hike after 1 pm, as opposed to the planned 10 am.

The section we were hiking is in PA, about 45 minutes past the Jersey border on rt.78. I had planned to hike this section previoulsy, with disasterous results. The lesson I learned that day was that a late start is one thing that can be overcome very easily given the right partner, but he wrong partner will tempt you to comit suicide.

He who shall not be named - JOHNNY! - committted a number of no no's...

He slept almost the whole drive to the trailhead. While this is not that bad of a thing as I was able to do some thining and listen to music, it did foreshadow hiw interst, or lack thereof which would later be our downfall. I have since learned to read those non verbal cues very carefully before entering the woods with a friend.

He whined and complained the entire way up the trail for about the first mile and a half. The whole point of doing a hike in the woods is to get away from the shining and complaining that men have necessarily gotten used to as a species. The whining of the significant other about every possible thing you could imagine. The whining of the boss about, again, every possible thing you can imagine. The whining of the direct reports or clients, who never seem to stop complaining. All of these necessitate the retreat of the male into the wilderness to reflect on what is truly important in life. unfortunately I was robbed of this!

He basically changed his mind about wanting to camp out after 2 hours of walking and quit the hike! It is one thing to quit because you are injured, or because of someother emergency, like the world ending or your whle family has suddenly died and you got the cellphone call from your great aunt Bertha to come home immediately. But to just quit. Buecauise your tired. Because you're not really into it. I was shocked. To be pearl harbored in this fashion. I was betrayed. Johnny was no longer a thoroughbred. He was barely a pony.

This time around was a markedly different experience.

Joe and I drove to the trailhead laughing and joking about past indescretions, former bosses and co-workers, and follies that should be celbrated as one grows older. Mutual self deprecation and the type of teasing only friends can handle was exchanged. Commiseration about the financial crisis, plummeting 401k's and IRA's, and house values was traded. Dreams of hiking the full AT were shared, tempered by the more realisitc planning of a recscheduled hike in the Grand Canyon.

Once we found a parking space close to the trailhead, the new route was agreed to in about 30 seconds. Why? Because Joe will never complain, whine or sissy out. His standard respnse is, "Whatever you want to do dude." My man.

And then we started hiking. An we kept, hiking. Simple as that. No drama, whining, or quiting. As it should be.

Rather than park at the resovior, and hike up past the shelter to the top of the mountain, we decided our late start gave us no choice but to start halfway at Eckville shelter and then hike from there to the top. The shelter is near the state gamelands as you can see in the above map, and it is maned by the caretaker you see in the below picture, riding the mower.

Inside the Eckville Shelter

We started at the Eckville Shelter and hiked towards the top. We brought only enough water for the hike up, knowing there was a spring to fill up and get water for the night and next day.

Me of course. The hike up was about what we've come to expect in PA, NJ and NY. Rocky, steep and some sections, and not a lot of water sources. You really need to plan accordingly.

Dan's Pulpit

Providing inspiration since 1997!

The view from the pulpit.

This view was REALLY nice. I think I want to buy a farm. Seriously.

Dan's Spring... Dry as a bone unfortunately, halting our progress and forcing us to camp for the night and double back first thing in the morning.

I would have liked to go for longer, but we ended up getting a late start, which altered our route and camp site, and then the lack of water made us stop and reassess our strategy. Both Joe and i are heavy drinkers so no water was not a good thing.

A good fire can take away the thirst a little bit... unless you get too close. This bad boy was HOT.

The fire at half blast. There were a number of really good campsites on this hike. I thnk more good campsites than i've seen on any of my other AT hikes so far.

Joe getting it going at full blast. It was a VERY bright moon last night so there was no need for the fire to see for sure. But a campsite is not a campsite without a fire.