The Hiking Begins!

I had planned to write the blog entry each day during our hiking trip, but between a very slow wireless connection and being very tired, it quickly became clear that I would need to jot a few journal notes to myself and do the entries when I got back to Michigan.  So sorry for the delay!

Monday, September 3

     At breakfast, we discovered that Shepherd's Spring practices "meatless Mondays" as part of their commitment to healthy living and being good to the earth.  So the breakfast included three different kinds of vegetable quiches -- excellent!  After the 7:30 breakfast, we packed our own trail lunches.  Today's choices included PB & J or roasted veggies with hummus.
       Each day two vans transport us to the day's hiking location.  We left at 8:30 (everyone on time -- this is a good group!) and drove for about an hour, stopping at a Pennsylvania state park for restrooms and then continuing a short distance to the start of our hike.  This was our Pennsylvania hike -- about 8.5 miles, mostly a slight downhill on a wooded and very rocky trail.  As the literature said, there is a difference between walking and hiking, and this is definitely in the hiking category.  We were guided on the trail for an AT "Ridge Runner" -- a person who works for the AT Conservancy in the area and basically patrols the trail during the busy part of the season, mostly educating hikers on "Leave no Trace" practices.  Thanks to Isaac, we started the hike in drizzle and had a couple of hours of very heavy rain near the middle of the hike.  Fortunately we ate lunch in one of the AT shelters.  The shelters are three-sided structures that provide shelter and sleeping space for the hikers.  Some hikers try to use the shelters each night but others prefer to set up a tent in the near-by designated areas.

Our lunch shelter. 

     
A highlight of today's hike was the half-way point of the over 2000 mile AT Trail.  I can imagine how excited a through hiker must be when she/he reaches this point!  The 15 of us got very spread out over the trail, and it is clear that we hike at different speeds. But we had two AT volunteers who acted as "sweeps" and made sure that we didn't miss any turns.  The trail is marked by white rectangular blazes on the trees, and any upcoming turn is marked by a double set of blazes.

The half-way point.

          The hike ended at Pine Grove Furnace State Park where there is an AT Museum, with displays about some of the early through hikers and other trail info.  The vans were waiting to transport us back to the conference center.
          Dinner was corn soup, a delicious lentil salad, and polenta with salsa, plus cake for desert.  We certainly won't go hungry on this trip.  In case we didn't get enough, they also provided root beer floats after the evening program.
           Our evening talk was given by Ben "Stretch" Hammaker, the author of "Northbound:  The Daily Account of an Appalachian Trail Thru-hike."  It was fun to hear more of the AT culture -- trail names, mail drops, staying in hiker hostels, "zero" days when one simply needs a rest, and just what it means to hike for six months.  He was a great speaker, and his book is definitely worth reading.