TRAIL DAY 124
Thu, June 23, 2016 I was awake at least by 5:30 a.m. and peeked outside my tent toward the tents of Magellan and Strider, still bedded down. In time we’d all be sitting on an elevated log for breakfast and chat about the day.
“Did you hear the coon fight last night?”
“Is that what that was?” I asked.
I’d heard some sharp loud, violent and angry screeching not far away from me by the water. Coons according to Magellan.
Magellan and Strider left before me. I never saw them again. Their plan was less than the whole AT.
Under way, we crossed PA 72 and US 81, a familiar highway to anyone living in eastern Pennsylvania. It was my highway to Georgia when I left town for this adventure, covering most of Virginia north to south.
But for the highway crossings and a complex of bridges we went under, the trail, after a modest 1000′ climb was pretty straight and uneventful. There were, however, some post-Duncannon rocks challenging us. The destination was the 501 Shelter. Route 501 is the main drag from Lancaster to Lititz, Pennsylvania, a place known as one of the neatest small towns in America. My son, Soren, was instrumental in putting Lititz on the map as a cool spot which caters to Rock bands and other large performance groups at what became known as Rock Lititz.
Clair Brothers first drew attention to Lititz with custom made sound systems for super large events all over the world. Tait Towers came next building stages. Soren helped grow Atomic Design, a stage set design company from just a few people to well over a 100. After 20 years, he has resigned as President and CEO to start his own live-events production company which is taking him from his home turf in Lancaster to Los Angeles. He knows the east and west coast large performance arenas very well and knew he would settle in NYC or LA. Perhaps it’s our name – the West has won.
When I got to Route 501, I wasn’t sure what I’d do. The shelter was nor far from the trail. I looked it over and wasn’t sure exactly where it was with private wooded lanes and paths intersecting. It turns out it was attached to a house which I thought might be a private home because of PRIVATE signs I’d seen. I was not of a mind to venture and explore even though AWOL noted a solar shower which sounded real good.
I decided to carry on northbound on the flat trail but found it very rocky and I was just not up to it. I turned around and went back to Route 501. After reading the bulletin board, I decided to head into town. I called Carlin’s Shuttle Service noted in AWOL but the driver could not pick me up for about an hour. When hikers at the shelter arrived to await pizza delivery, I figured I’d see if the driver could take me into town. He wasn’t allowed and couldn’t. He recommended Uber. I actually downloaded the app which noted no drivers in the area so I tried Lyft with the same result – surprise! OK, I’ll just wait for my shuttle.
I got comfortable on some grass by the bulletin board. There was a handsome, smoking, leather-jacketed biker nearby. He asked me if I’d seen a certain girl on the trail and I hadn’t. He had met her along the trail moons ago somewhere in the south and wanted to see her again. He figured she would be crossing 501 by now. He waited and smoked. I could feel his eager anticipation but no luck. He left on the machine that was a part of him.
Carlin arrived sooner than expected and we headed down the hill, off Pennsylvania’s typical Appalachian ridge into Pine Grove. I had already arranged for a room at the Econo Lodge in and Carlin dropped me off there. Since I was planning on seeing a podiatrist while in town, I arranged to call her for a ride to the office in the morning if necessary.
At the Lodge, I called Dr. Kurt K. Kovalovich who, despite his unfortunate initials, was a very fine gentleman. I had left a message on his answering machine and he called me back well after business hours. He said he had been out with his dogs and was working in the garden when I called. Anyone giving you that kind of detail and doing the things he was doing has got to be a real decent person – and he was!
I told him I was thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail and that I was having a lot of difficulty with my feet. He was used to calls from hikers, for sure. He would meet me at the Lodge parking lot at 8:00 a.m. and take me to his office and he or a member of his staff would drive me back to the Lodge and the Appalachian Trail if necessary.
You couldn’t ask for more.
Plans in place, I called my son, Soren, and arranged to have breakfast with him. I gave him Dr. K’s address and the time I expected to be finished. He’d pick me up there.
I took my laundry to the Pilot Travel Center, a trucker’s pit stop just off US 81, and, after declining the single-load price for the detergent, I decided to machine wash without soap until I used the bathroom and found a remnant of bar soap I figured would do just fine.
While my load was washing, I went next door to the large diner-like Travel Center restaurant. It was late but perhaps truck stop eateries never close. There were only one or two truckers at tables in the large, high-ceilinged, wide-open space with perhaps one at the long counter. They did serve beer. I had two in time and an Italian dinner with salad. My waitress was pretty but aloof. I did not have desert.
After dinner, I moved my laundry to the dryer and sat in the closed-and-empty café section of the store, reading something or other until it was time for the trek back to the Lodge and bed. Before turning in, I took Theo, as I always did in town, to nearby grass for his bed time relief and comfort. I don’t mention him much – but he meant the world to me on this hike and I have wondered many times if I could have done it without him.
It’s odd, I hardly ever think of him as I go about my business day to day but I light up when – THERE HE IS!
Day #124 Campsite (PA 72) > Pine Grove (Route 501) 12.8 miles