Water Talk and Missed Markers

Today is Tuesday, July 2nd, and I'm at the Eagles Nest shelter and campsite, which is around mile 1,212. I stopped here for the night in part because it was about 14.5 miles into the day, which I figured was probably good enough, but also because this campsite is really the only good place to get water for a while. All of Pennsylvania has been very dry, and this section seems to be particularly dry. So even if you wanted to camp further on, you'd have to come here anyway for water.

Once I got here — and it’s a decent distance from the trail, 0.3 miles — and filled up my water bottles, I took a look around and saw that there were some good tenting spots, which made it difficult for me to get motivated to get back on the trail and keep walking toward an uncertain campsite. Gentle Yeti was hiking with me when I got here, and we both made the same decision to stop and set up camp.

I woke up this morning at the unnamed campsite at mile marker 1,197.1, and it was pretty chilly again last night. That is not a complaint. I'd much rather it be a bit on the cold side than on the hot side. But it's unusual, and I don't really expect it to keep happening.  

I was up and out hiking by 7 o'clock, and unlike yesterday, the miles today — especially this morning — were very slow, because the trail was very, very rocky. It's all a sprained ankle just waiting to happen. Whenever you have to pick your way across rocks, it doesn't really matter whether the trail is flat or it’s going up or down, it's slow going. I was very happy that it was a nice day and that everything was dry. Less chance of slipping that way.

I took my time, and after about 5 miles, I got to a little campsite with a stream. It looked like a nice water source, so I stopped for a break and to refill my water bottles. Gentle Yeti was already there, having a snack, and before long, Boots with the Fur and Terminator both showed up. We were all just chatting and filtering water, and Terminator and I got into a discussion about how great the water is in Austria. When S. and I visited Vienna — apparently, where Terminator is from is pretty close to Vienna — the water coming out of the tap in our hotel bathroom was some of the most amazing water we’ve ever had. Not the most interesting topic to most people, I guess, but I enjoyed talking to him about it.

After that, I just kept picking my way along the rocks. The trail was hillier than it was yesterday, so the miles weren't passing very quickly, but it wasn't too bad. It helped a lot that the weather was good. The heat is going to be returning, and along with it, we're going to be getting some storms. So I'll enjoy the nice weather while it’s here.

I knew I was going to be crossing the 1,200-mile mark today, so I was looking out for it, but apparently, my powers of observation are incredibly bad these days, because I managed to pass right by it somehow. Gentle Yeti saw it and took a picture of it, which he showed me. I feel pretty silly about missing it. I feel like I should have. It’s kind of a big milestone. [Wife note: Sunny, I used your AI suggestion for this one. I’m sure it looks exactly like this.]

As the day went on, it got increasingly sunny and hot, and when you’re hiking in a rocky area, that’s pretty much a perfect combination for bringing out snakes. They tend to like to sun themselves on the rocks, so as I was working my way along, I was just waiting to cross paths with another rattlesnake. But fortunately, I didn't.

At one point, Boots with the Fur and I saw a sign for a spring that was about a quarter mile off the trail, and it's always good to fill up your water when you can, so we decided to find the spring. But when we got there, it was completely dry. Actually, it did have some water, but it was stagnant and completely unappealing. So that was kind of a bummer.

Not too long after that, we pulled into the Eagles Nest shelter area and took the side path to refill our waters here. Boots with the Fur and Terminator chose to hike on, but I checked the comments on the Far Out app, and the tent sites that are about two miles away don't get very high marks. And since I was already here, and the tent sites were very nice, I just decided to stay.

Tomorrow is going to be a very, very good day, because I'm meeting up with my friend Scott in Port Clinton, which is about 8.5 miles from here. I'm going to try to leave camp as early as I can, because I want to have as much time with him as possible. I'm shooting to be up and out by 6:30 at the latest. So we'll see how I do.