Day 26 on the Trail

Dave has been gone 4 weeks (26 hiking days, 2 zero days) and has walked a third of the miles from PA to ME!  He called before 5 pm, a little earlier than usual yesterday.  He had stopped at the Shaker Campsite as on his plan, even though it was early and he had gone a moderate 11 miles.

As of Saturday 7/9/11:
Miles today - 11.1
Miles to date - 321.4

He said the weather was good and the trail wasn't bad, but he was tired.

The Appalachian Trail near the Shaker Campsite

Dave hadn't slept well Friday night.  He said there was a loud sound in the shelter. Me: Someone snoring? Dave: More of a grinding noise. Me: Someone grinding their teeth? Dave: No, louder.

He said he had been looking forward to getting into his dry clothes and sleeping bag after being soaked during the day (we're talking about his Friday downpour). He laid his wet and sweaty clothes over the railing to dry and went to sleep.  Then came the loud grinding noise. Dave got up to see what it was, and could not figure it out, but it stopped.  Later it happened again.  Dave took his flashlight to go outside the shelter but still couldn't see anything.  The third time they were awakened, Cloud Walker got up, but, nothing.  The fourth time, Dave very quietly went outside the shelter with his flashlight and finally saw a porcupine, gnawing at the wood where Dave's wet and sweaty clothes had dripped.  Dave assumed the porcupine was looking for something salty, but too bad, he shooed him off.  The porcupine was persistent, though, and came back.  This time Dave dropped a rock on him which must have finally scared him away because he took off running and never came back.  I asked if the porcupine shot any quills at him; he said there were none anywhere.

Though Dave went "only" 11 miles on Saturday, Cloud Walker was also tired and stopped even earlier.  Dave was sharing the Shaker Campsite shelter with Vegan, a young hiker.  Dave would like to catch up with Wakarusa and/or Arthur Dent, but they are still a day ahead of him.  There is a log book in every shelter, and at many commercial places that welcome hikers - supply stores, hostels, etc. The hikers check in, using their Trail Names, of course, since no one knows their real names.  Thus, their hiker friends know where they've been, and in case of emergency, their location can be narrowed.  Dave can see that Wakarusa and Arthur Dent had logged in the day before he reached the shelter.

A typical AT shelter log book

Sometimes hikers leave messages for each other, so even if he isn't staying at a shelter, Dave often checks the log to look for messages and he notes the time and date he was there.