6/20/15   –  Allentown Shelter  –  16miles

The trail has turned to serious rockage! We had a two or three-mile stretch of beautiful dirt trail which was a nice break from the current trail littered with rocks and climbs. Every time the trail took a turn I was expecting the rocks to show their ugly edges again until finally they did. We kicked out ten miles by noon, which was impressive for the terrain. I can totally understand why so many people get injured or slow their pace in this section. As much as we wanted to move faster, it was impossible. I really felt like I was in a hamster wheel, moving but never going anywhere.

We stopped for lunch at Echville Shelter, which had drawn our attention due to its description in the trail guide. This shelter had a shower and flushing toilet that I gladly pooped in, and a caretaker. The caretaker had been working on the property since 1992 and was a very interesting fellow to say the least. We thanked him for his years of dedication and moved on.

After leaving the shelter we had around six or seven miles to go depending on where we camped. These last miles were super rocky and forced me to cuss frequently and sing the Fresh Prince Theme Song over and over. We finally made it to the shelter just in time for my toes to shoot off my feet.

Although I felt like I was never moving, we did make it to the shelter pretty early and it was amazingly empty. The weather is supposed to turn pretty sour tonight so we decided to play it safe and not pitch. Darwin and Roub have taken over the two single bunks so the floor is left all to the spiders and me.

Darwin and I had cell service so we called Caron and Mike to discuss our future rendezvous with them in the a week. I am so excited to have them come out and visit us but also nervous. We are planning on taking a zero with them and then hiking a few small days. This will put us a little behind a few of our fellow hikers especially Roub. I’m worried I’ll have a relapse and want to go home with them. What happens if we lose Roub and can’t catch up? Ugggg!

As I lay here on my bag the air is getting cooler and the fog is rolling in. I’ve never noticed fog as much as I do out on the trail. It can really effect your mood and your miles. Sigh….This imposing weather may make it interesting for the first day of summer tomorrow. It is also “Naked Hiking Day” which I feel is a pretty risky task in this section. Wonder if I’ll see anything swinging in the wind tomorrow?