Day 15: More off-trail wanderings

July 19: In theory, I could just roll out of bed, pack up my stroller, and immediately hit the trail. But... That's not what I was going to do. I was going to take another off-trail detour now that Amanda was here with a rental car.

Two days earlier, I had been given a map of the Great Allegheny Passage from a couple of trail angels, and I noticed a couple of points of interest listed close to the trail that I hadn't known were so close to the trail. I didn't exactly do a whole lot of research before starting this hike, which is why I could be so surprised that Flight 93 crashed nearby and.... I'd be passing less than 10 miles (as the crow flies) away from the Pennsylvania high point!

Amanda at the top of Mount David, the highest point in Pennsylvania.

Mount Davis, a part of Negro Mountain and rises an unassuming 3,213 ft (979 m) above sea level. In the grand scheme of things, it's not a particularly noteworthy mountain in any sense--except for the small, coincidental fact that it's the high point in Pennsylvania. Had a British court ruled that the Maryland/Pennsylvania border was just a few miles further north, Pennsylvania would have had to select a different high point because this peak would have ended up in Maryland, and the summit would have been completely unnoteworthy because Maryland already had a higher peak.

Of course, when I realized that I would be walking just a few miles from the Pennsylvania high point, it occurred to me that Maryland isn't especially large, and most of the mountains seem to be in the western part of the state where I'd been traveling since leaving Washington. How close had I been to the Maryland state high point? Turns out, I wasn't really all that far from that location either, but according to Google it was about a 1 1/2 hour drive away from our current location in Confluence. I didn't really want to drive that far out of our way to hit that high point. It's fun to hit points, but it's not really a life goal for me to hit them all. Maybe I'll hit it another time.

But Davis Mountain.... we were already in the closest town one could be to the Pennsylvania high point! It would be criminal not to do a quick visit!

Although the mountain peak wasn't far, the drive would take nearly a half hour on the narrow, windy roads that lead to the top. Yes, that's right--we didn't even have to hike the top. We could just drive it.

Well, almost.... there was a parking lot maybe a quarter-mile away from the summit where we parked, then walked to the actual summit within about 10 minutes or so. The summit was covered with trees and a thick canopy of leaves that would have blocked the views except for a lookout tower that rose 50 feet above the ground level poking out above the canopy.

Looking around, it wasn't even at all obvious that we were at a high point. Some of the mountains we could see looked like they might have been higher--and they very well might have been since the Maryland border was less than 5 miles away. The mountains in Maryland--clearly visible from our vantage point--could have been higher.

We didn't linger very long--there wasn't really anything else to see or do--so we headed back to the car and back to Confluence.

Out of Confluence, the trail would now be following
the Youghiogheny River--much to my disappointment....

Confluence is named such because that's where three rivers merge into one. Laural Hill Creek merged into the Casselman River, and about a thousand feet beyond that, the Casselman River--much to my distress--merged into the Youghiogheny River. I was distressed because the trail would now follow the Youghiogheny River, which I knew I'd have to spell correctly for this blog over and over again for days on end. Ugh! More work.... Casselman was easy for me to spell. Youghiogheny.... not so much! I couldn't even be sure how to pronounce Youghiogheny. I could sound it out, but I'm sure it would turn out very wrong. Why couldn't they build trails to avoid geographic locations that I'd have trouble spelling or pronouncing?

Before I hit the trail, Amanda needed to fill up the car with gas and we drove to a gas station that our GPS pointed us at... but it was a smoldering ruins of ash. Well, okay, it wasn't smoldering anymore, but the gas station had clearly burned down at some point. According to our GPS, it was the only gas station in town. Well, shoot....

Amanda would have to drive somewhere back to the main highway and get gas instead, but in the meantime, she dropped me off in town for me to continue my hiking.

With Amanda nearby, I wanted to take a small day pack with me and ditch the stroller, but Amanda wouldn't let me. I'd pushed it all this way, she told me, and readers for my blog expected me to push it down every inch of the trail. No, she wouldn't let me ditch the stroller.

But still, I didn't have to push all of my gear in it! I still filled up my day pack with water and snacks and left the rest of my gear with Amanda. I was slackpacking! With a stroller! Slackstrolling? Hmm... I was in uncharted territory. I needed to start inventing new words.

Turns out, pushing the stroller without all of my gear was an absolute delight! It was much easier to turn and control, and I found myself often pushing it with just one hand allowing me to switch off when the palm of one hand started getting sore. I constantly needed to use both hands to push the stroller when it was fully loaded down.

I made good time. The weather was once again hot and humid, but at least no threat of rain dampened my spirits.

For the night, I had two options I could hit: Ohiopyle a mere 11 miles away, or Connellsville a more ambitious 27 miles away. I was getting a bit of a late start due to the Mount Davis detour so 27 miles seemed a bit of a stretch, and I settled for Ohiopyle. A nice, easy and leisurely 11 miles. Less than four hours of walking--eer, I mean slackstrolling....

The day's walking was uneventful, with lots of views overlooking the Youghiogheny River. Often times, I could see rafters floating down the river which looked like a lot of fun. Next time, I'd have to bring a packraft and raft downstream instead of walk. =)

I'd be "slackstrolling" today!

I arrived into Ohiopyle by around 2:30 in the afternoon--still relatively early in the day! Amanda was already in town waiting for me--after having filled up the tank with gas--and we immediately drove to another nearby famous landmark a few miles away: Fallingwater.

Fallingwater, as I suspect most of you probably already know, is one of Frank Lloyd Wrights most famous buildings that he had built over a waterfall. Amanda had wanted to visit the location for eons. It had never really been on my "must see" list, but since it was--quite literally--just a few miles from the trail and with Amanda providing a car to get us there, sure--why not?! =)

I did complain about the $27 per person cost, though. What did they think they were--Disneyland?! I paid it grudgingly and told Amanda that she better enjoy the afternoon there because it was likely we'd never go again--even if we for some reason ever found ourselves in Ohiopyle again. =)

The building is incredible--I'll say that for it. Photos weren't allowed on the tour so you won't see any of the interior in this blog (although it's easy enough to see interior photos online). The tour guides were rather bland, just-the-facts boring. At least ours was. She was nice and certainly knew the history of the building well enough, but she just told us facts. No jokes or puns or anything to make us laugh or keep our short attention spans focused. I whispered to Amanda, "They really need to get Wassa in here to liven up these guides. It could be SO much better!"

After we left, we headed back to Ohiopyle for the night. I called a few of the hotels in and around the town, but the cheapest rates we could find were over $100/night which I thought was a little steep. I paid a lot less than that at the Riverside Edge B&B the night before. It might be prime tourist season in July, but Amanda and I were the only people at the B&B last night (it was a weekday, after all) so the area didn't seem over-filled with tourists.

Instead, we drove down to the campground at Ohiopyle State Park and paid $25 for a campsite. Which still seemed like a lot of money for a tent site--especially considering I'd been camping for free the whole time up until this point--but it was still a lot better than $100 or more for the night.

I wanted to get online so after setting up camp, we went back into town to find somewhere to eat dinner that had a wi-fi connection where we quickly learned that nowhere in town had a wi-fi connection. What the hell?! Seriously?! It's 2016 people! Wake up!

We wound up eating at the Paddler's Pizza where Amanda ordered a white pizza for herself and I ate an Italian sub and an ice cream sandwich for desert.

Then we headed back to camp for the night and quickly hit the sack. Another day was done!

Mural on a bridge support

The trail is used by bicyclists more than hikers, and I'd often see these strange contraptions along the trail which are somehow used for fixing bikes. (Don't ask me how--I don't know!)

Go, stroller! Go!

I saw lots of rafters in the Youghiogheny River. *nodding*

Amanda was already waiting for me in Ohiopyle when I arrived--with a full tank of gas to boot!

Perhaps Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous creation: Fallingwater.

Named that, of course, because it was built over an actual waterfall! Very cool place. *nodding*

Outfitters in Ohiopyle

Amanda with her "white" pizza. =)

Day 106: Water, water, everywhere!

June 21: It rained all night and continued heavily into the morning. With little hope of the rain tapering off, I didn't linger under the dry confines of my tarp and hit the trail at 6:00.

Today was the first day of summer--better known as Hike Naked Day in the letterboxing community! I'd considered hiking naked for the heck of it, but it was so cold and wet I'd likely die of hypothermia if I tried so I bagged that idea. It was not going to happen in this weather! But in honor of Hike Naked Day, I'd hike commando without any underwear. =) Actually, it was more of a pragmatic decision. My underwear was soaked from the rain the day before and wet underwear tends to chafe me, so I just decided to go without it and blame it on Hike Naked Day when I told everyone. =)

Early in the morning, I passed the 1,500-mile mark of the trail! Woo-who!

I'd only walked a couple of miles when I felt the shoe on my foot suddenly loosen. The shoelace had broken. It had been fraying badly since New York which is why I picked up a spare pair of shoelaces left behind in a shelter, but I'd been too lazy to actually replace the laces on my shoe. Now, in the pouring rain, I still had no desire to replace the laces. Instead, I knotted the ends of the laces together. Not a shoelace knot that could easily be pulled open--there wasn't enough lace to do that--but an actual knot that I knew I'd have little hope of opening again later. It was a permanent knot! I figured I'd just cut them off at the end of the day and replace my laces that evening.

Four or five miles up the trail, I was able to get out of the rain in the Riga Shelter. There were a few hikers in the shelter who were lingering due to the rain, and Scibbles--who I'd met earlier--was camped in his hammock nearby. He must really hate sleeping in shelters if he preferred to use his hammock in the rain rather than sleep in the shelter!

They also told me that the weather forecast they had seen suggested that the rain might stop by around 10:00 and it might even be sunny later in the afternoon. I could only pray that were true! I could have lingered to see what would happen, but I was already soaked to the bone and saw little advantage to waiting around. I continued hiking.

I only made it 1.2 miles before I stopped again. Another shelter to get out of the rain! =) These shelters are unusually close to each other--it would have been helpful if one of them had been near where I camped for the night!

Inside was an old man who told me that he was taking the day off because of the rain. He doesn't hike in rain. Ever. Which kind of irritates me. So he's guaranteed a spot in this shelter because he never got out, while any hikers that arrive late in the day after hiking through the miserable rain have to camp out in the rain? At least set up his tent and let someone else use the shelter, but he had no intention of doing that.

And he was hiking southbound--the next shelter was a mere 1.2 miles away! At the very least he could make it that far! So in any case, he rubbed me the wrong way and I didn't much like him. At least I knew I wouldn't have to ever see him again!

By the time I left this shelter, the rain had largely stopped. Tree snot continued to drop from the trees, but the heavy downpour had finally stopped much to my relief, but the damage had already been done. The trails were positively flooded! Creeks ran down the trail in torrents.

Another mile and a half later, I had reached the top of Bear Mountain, mistakenly known as the highest point in Connecticut by many. It's the highest summit in Connecticut, but there highest ground in Connecticut where one can stand is on the Massachusetts border on the south slope of Mount Frissell. The summit of that mountain, however, is in Massachusetts and not Connecticut. So it's an awkward high point--on a slope partway up the mountain! And therefore Bear Mountain tends to get all of the glory.

The trail down from Bear Mountain is treacherous: steep, rocky and wet. I remembered it being difficult from the first thru-hike and it was even more difficult this time around because of the recent rain causing a creek to run down the trail. The going was slow, but I took my time and made it down safely.

Shortly thereafter, I crossed out of Connecticut and into Massachusetts. The border itself is unmarked, so I drew a line in the dirt with my trekking pole marking CT on one side and MA on the other and took a photo of it to honor the occasion. I didn't have a GPS or anything to tell me if I put it in the correct place so it was undoubtedly off by a bit, but I didn't care. It's the thought that counts, right? =)

I did pass a sign marking the border of Connecticut and Massachusetts--about half a mile beyond the actual border--next to Sages Ravine. A good size river was flowing and if you didn't know any better, you'd assume that the river was the border by the way the signs are placed. It's not, but the signs are very misleading!

As for the river, it was flowing fast and high! I didn't remember having to ford this river during my 2003 thru-hike. There was some sort of small bridge to get across, and if the water level was lower, I could probably walk over a series of logs that made a small dam. The water was much too high and fast for me to do that, though, so I pulled up my socks and just plowed through the water which was about knee-deep in most places.

The trail headed back uphill, this time to Mount Everett which, if I remember correctly, is something like the 4th highest mountain Massachusetts. The trail was rough, and not the least because of all of the water running down it. Near the summit the clouds started to clear, though, and I could get some pretty nice views.

Throughout the day the clouds continued to clear and the afternoon became quite nice! The rain from earlier would plague the trails all day, but at least the rain had stopped and temperatures warmed up again. I even thought about Hike Naked Day. It wasn't too late to participate for an hour or two! But at this point, it was so late in the day I was seeing a lot more people on the trail and didn't feel comfortable doing so. Nope, Hike Naked Day wouldn't be happening for me this year.

Late in the day, I bumped into a couple of people I knew: Silent Doug and Clueless! Familiar faces! Familiar faces NOT from the Appalachian Trail! Okay, it wasn't entirely by accident. They knew I was on the trail and were traveling back from an event in Vermont. I had texted and called Clueless about my location earlier in the day and where I expected to be in the afternoon. I was running a bit later than I expected, but they intercepted me just before reaching MA 41 at a scenic overlook.

They brought gifts of food and Coke and all sorts of good stuff. We walked back down to their car, and just as we arrived, it started to sprinkle again. ARGH! So the first thing I did was set up my tarp nearby. I had planned to walk further, but it was already late in the day and I had largely dried out (except for my feet) from the rain earlier, and I wanted to stay dry! So I called it quits next the dirt road and set up camp in the woods nearby.

After my tarp was set up, we walked back to their car and chatted and ate the food they brought. Nothing came from the light sprinkle that scared me into setting up my tarp, but it was ready--just in case! The rain would pick up later in the evening. Eventually they headed off to go back home, and I headed back to my tarp--my home for the night. I was a little sad to see them go--I had really enjoyed their visit!

This is no creek--it's the trail!

The rest of the evening turned increasingly miserable. After dark, the mosquitoes came out in force so I wound up having to wear my headnet and get into my much too warm sleeping bag to escape the onslaught. Then, as it grew dark, I noticed a slug crawling up onto my groundsheet. I flicked him off, then noticed another one. And another....

There were slugs everywhere! I cleared the ones I saw, then read my Kindle for an hour before looking around for more slugs and found a couple of more making the run up onto my gear. I flicked them off and started regular "perimeter checks" each hour until I went to sleep. Slugs don't move very fast so I figured I really only had to keep an eye on the perimeter of my groundsheet periodically rather than search all of my gear for them.

Even after going to sleep, I'd do another perimeter check whenever I woke up during the night. In total, I lost count of the slugs after about 20 or so. The final count, if I had kept up with it, would probably have been over 30 slugs.

The mosquitoes just buzzed in my ear all night long. I didn't sleep well....

The top of Bear Mountain, and the highest summit in the state!

A pretty little waterfall, right? NO! This is the TRAIL!

My improv border monument. Hello, Massachusetts! Goodbye Connecticut! If I had thought about it at the time, I'd have made sure the knot in my left shoe was visible! I'd cut the knots of that shoe at the end of the day.

Lots of waterfalls today! Fortunately, THIS is a real waterfall and not the trail!

The "official" MA/CT border sign is 0.6 miles into Massachusetts.

The trail crossed this creek. I forded through it in fast-moving knee-deep water, but other hikers I talked to later said they just walked across on those logs without even getting their feet wet. The rain, obviously, made this creek a lot higher and faster!

Nearing Mt Everett, the sky is starting to clear!

RIP, little fire tower....

You might think all that rain would discourage snakes from coming out, but you'd be wrong!

Now this water IS the trail. *nodding*

Clueless and Silent Doug come out to visit! I'm not sure what Clueless is doing in this photo. I hope she doesn't see this photo, but it's the only one I took of them! =)

It actually cleared up quite nicely late in the day! It would not last, however....

I set up my tarp before any rain can get my gear!

Day 93: New Jersey's High Point

June 8: It didn't rain during the night--which was good since I had cowboy camped--but it did rain soon after I started the day's hiking much to my surprise and dismay. Rain was in the forecast, but not until later in the afternoon! Fortunately, camping on the bright and exposed Rattlesnake Mountain allowed me an extraordinarily early 5:30 start. I usually don't get such an early start, but I wanted to get as much hiking in before the afternoon rains started. Little did I realize it would start within minutes of my hiking--but at least the early start saved my camp from being rained out. I'd have been in a real pickle if that happened.

The morning started wet and drizzly!

I hiked through the rain, soon arriving at the Brink Shelter where I found Superman along with a couple of other hikers awake but still wrapped up in their sleeping bags and generally unresponsive. Who I did not see, however, was Heavyweight and Blueberry. Superman asked where they were.

"That's a good question," I replied. "I thought that they were ahead of me... but if they hadn't arrived yet at this shelter, then they must be behind me. But I'll be darned if I know what happened to them!"

It was a mystery, but I wasn't particularly concerned about them either. They can take care of themselves. Well, at least Heavyweight can. =) But Blueberry may have chased a chipmunk off a cliff or something crazy. Somehow, I must have passed them when they got off trail to get water or do a dump or something. It happens! But they probably weren't far behind me either. Mostly, I was just glad to learn that they hadn't deliberately ditched me. Turns out, I ditched them! Completely inadvertently, of course.

McGuyer, much like myself, got an early-morning start to his hike and we started hiking together. I'd met him earlier at Delaware Water Gap but hadn't learned much about him. Today, we'd get a lot of one-on-one time together! We hiked together chatting about nothing important for much of the morning and the entire afternoon.

The rain stopped after a couple of hours, much to our relief and by noon, we had largely dried out.

At the Mashipacong Shelter, we met a woman who was putting up a missing persons poster. It was her brother who was missing. She explained that a couple of weeks earlier, he had quit his job unexpectedly and run off to the A.T.--or at least that's what he told his former boss--but no family members had heard from him since that incident and they were a bit concerned about his well-being. They weren't even entirely sure he was on the A.T.--the only information they had was that his former boss said that's where he claimed to be going.

Seems like an inconsiderate thing not to at least inform your own family where you'll be headed, but on the positive side, his family had no reason to think he was hurt, injured or dead either. He'd run off on his own accord. I offered to take one of the missing posters on to the next shelter up the trail, which I did. I have no idea whatever happened to the missing brother--if they found him or if he ever contacted his family, but I'm hoping it all worked out in the end.

Good grief! This thing was huge! (It was also injured--McGuyer accidentally stepped on it when he didn't see it on the trail at first.)

Late in the afternoon, we reached a lookout point for New Jersey's high point. They got really creative in naming the highest point in the state: They call it High Point. =) I was inclined to skip it since I'd been there before on my first thru-hike and it was 0.3 miles off trail, but McGuyer had never been there and liked the idea of hitting a new high point and I wound up following him up the trail. The things I do people! *shaking head*

The high point itself is marked with a large obelisk that looks not unlike the Washington Monument in Washington, DC. Unfortunately, the monument was closed. It was closed during my 2003 thru-hike as well. I'm not sure if it's always closed or if there are times when visitors can climb to the top of the tower.

The only other people in the area were doing a photo-shoot. There was one woman in a billowing black dress that everyone else followed around taking photos, carrying props and such. The black dress was gorgeous, not the least of which was because there was a stiff wind that would blow it all around. McGuyer called it a Marilyn Monroe dress, except this one was black.

McGuyer wanted a photo of himself on the wall where the model was posing, which wasn't a big deal because it was a long wall and plenty of space for a second photo-shoot happen! =) He gave me his camera and started walking towards the wall... then stopped suddenly and just watched the girl--seemingly enchanted. Although his admiring the girl wasn't supposed to be part of our photo-shoot, I thought the look hilarious and quickly took a photo. The timing of the shot was absolutely perfect too--just as a gust of wind blew up the woman's dress and blew her hair back. I managed to crop her troop of followers off the photo (although if you look real closely, you'll see what looks like a single foot just barely in the photo to her right), so it looks like she's standing alone and McGuyer has been hypnotized her by.

I absolutely love the photo! It makes me laugh every time I see it!

I know you all wanted to see the photo I was talking about!

Eventually, McGuyer managed to pull his eyes off the girl and we wandered off to do our own little photo-shoot, but still watching the woman with her entourage from our vantage point. He got another laugh when the woman laid down on the wall and hung her head--upside down--off the side of it with her hair streaming down. It looked gorgeous (sorry, I didn't get a photo of that pose!), and I joked with McGuyer that he needed to do that because she certainly looked great doing it! Somehow, the effect is lost without the long, flowing hair. Oh, well.... After that, though, we joked around about taking "glamour shots" of each other. Just because we're dirty, stinky thru-hikers doesn't mean we can't have glamour shots! =)

Eventually the festivities were done. Our mysterious model and her entourage went back to the parking lot, and McGuyer and I headed back down the trail and returned to the A.T. (We never did learn who the woman was. If you recognize her, let us know!)

As we left High Point, the lightest of sprinkles started falling and McGuyer and I both hustled in the hopes of reaching the High Point Shelter before the rain really let loose. We were dry right now, and we wanted to stay that way!

And we did make it to the shelter just as the rain started to pour buckets! A heavy, drenching downpour! Oh, it felt good sliding into that shelter just in the nick of time! Already in the shelter, a bit to my surprise, was Heavyweight and Superman. Heavyweight?! Where did he come from?! I hadn't seen him all day, but somehow he'd managed to pass me! He probably passed me when I walked the half-mile off trail to the shelter to put up the poster of the missing poster, but it was good to catch up with him again. Blueberry, apparently, slept in late but was expected to arrive at the shelter for the night. He did arrive, completely drenched from the rain. =)

The shelter was a crowded one for the night, but we all fit in snugly and listened to the thunder crashing all around us. Yep, it was a good place to be for the night!

McGuyer hiking through the mist.

By afternoon, we'd already dried out from the morning rain.

New Jersey's High Point in the distance. A measly 1,804 feet (550 m) above sea level. I'm a little surprised they'd build such an elaborate monument for such a low high point. *shrug* =)

This is MY glamour shot at the high point. I used my trekking poles as props by hey, I wanted some props!
What do you think, girls? Sexy, huh? *nodding* =)

This is McGuyer's best glamour shot, but I don't think it turned out as well as mine. ;o)

A few days later, when I knew McGuyer was just behind me on the trail, I laid out on this rock with my head hanging over the side upside-down in imitation of the woman's pose at High Point. So this is what I looked like when it turned the corner of the trail--McGuyer just laughed knowing exactly what I was doing, but took the photo for me anyhow! Then made some sort of rude comment that the girl was better at the pose than I was. *rolling eyes* =)