TRAIL DAY 116
Wed, June 15, 2016 This would be an interesting day. It started out with a hint of things to come – a challenging obstacle path of dirt-and-rock mix. Each step had to be carefully negotiated and later it would only be more so. We would spend most of the day hovering around 2,000′ up on a ridge crisscrossed by dirt access roads from and to somewhere if not everywhere as a 360̊ panorama suggests in linear span (you can see Theo at each end).
Nice, high, sometimes pine-covered trails led to the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) Milesburn Cabin (locked) where several hikers were waiting out a light rain on the porch.
I got to talking with a hiker who clearly had medical issues. He had told his story many times and I made an effort not to be invasive nor to avoid the obvious in our conversation. He accepted my questioning and opened up but you could tell he was not eager to go on at length. Since his story is on the web I’m not violating any privacy to tell you he is Danny Kennedy. He is partially paralyzed, blind in one eye, legally deaf and requires a medical device to keep his heart and lungs working. He has a (no other way to say it and do it the gut-level justice) FUCK YOU attitude to anyone who would tell him “you can’t.”
The web tells me that Danny was planning on thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2013 with another wounded warrior. I imagine he didn’t make it in that year and perhaps had decided he had to accept doing the trail in sections over several years. He was still of the mind to hike the whole trail when I saw him. His girlfriend was hiking with him. I admired and had a prayer in my heart for their relationship and their hike.
After they left, I left. They went south. I went north. The rain had abated but diamonds still clung to the leaves.
In 2.4 miles we passed Birch Run Shelter and continued on a plush trail for some distance, stopping at one point to catch Theo in his position behind me. He or I would lead all the way to Katahdin. It was 3:05 p.m. In 24 minutes we would reach the halfway marker on the AT:
1094.55 miles to Springer
1094.55 miles to Katahdin
It’s kinda nice to note at this midpoint that Springer and Katahdin each have 8 letters (one for each month I would be on the trail). The point was marked by a sign with a Tupperware container at the base containing journals for those inclined to mark the moment.
Just 3.6 miles on an easy ridge-road trail to Toms Run Shelter, there were a few tents set up but I opted for the easy shelter. Especially in summer, many opted for their screen-in tents to avoid insects and, of course, the mice for whom the shelter at night is a hunting ground. They scurry around and over you, up the walls and across beams and down ropes from which food bags and backpacks are hung. They find the food.
The only safe deterrent is a rope running through a tin can, plastic cup or other shield the mouse can’t get around. If the trajectory from a point above the barrier leads to the hanging item, they’ll take the leap. They are clever and very determined little varmints.
With Theo sleeping beside me, I was less bothered – on the floor – by mice. They did get to my food a couple of times but I survived.
One of the tent-campers came to the picnic table to eat and we got to chatting. He was from France which was not hard to tell. My son, Nathan, speaks fluent French and I tried to get him on the phone so they could meat en Français but he didn’t answer.
Water was diagonally to the left of the shelter looking out and across a large open area where a tent or two was set up.
Aaaah! I just remembered here is where I met someone I came to think of as “Scientist.” He knew a lot about science and seemed to be an efficient camper and hiker. We chatted a little and I’d see him at other shelters farther on and then lose track of him altogether. Scientist and “French” met briefly.
I got water, prepared for bed and I remember thinking of French alone in his tent, here from far, far away. He was a gentle soul but plenty sturdy enough. I wondered what his itinerary was from here and when he would be going home.
Day #116 Quarry Gap Shelters > Toms Run Shelter 13.6 miles