We are both up and packing by 5:30, and about 6:20 we are on the trail. The temperature in this valley near the stream is really chilly this morning, so I leave camp with my puffy jacket on.
We continue a short way downhill, where a young man passes us very quickly. His name is Nomad, and he is thru hiking, which if he didn't tell us we could have guessed by how fast he is moving.
About 20 minutes after leaving the campsite, we arrive at an opening in the woods. The ground is flooded and the landscape dotted with the skeletons of tall dead trees. At first, I wonder what is going on here, but then realize we are at the beaver swamp. I hiked on a beaver dam once before at Dolly Sods, and I almost went head over teakettle when I put my hiking stick in the wrong spot and it sank quickly between the sticks of the beaver dam.
Nomad goes first, bless his heart, and he instructs us to try to stay on top the downed trees that crisscross the swamp. Thankfully, the swamp itself is not wide, and after only about 25 yards of rock and log hopping, we are across.
Immediately after crossing the swamp, the trail climbs up a short hill of 500' and I warm up very quickly. I stop to take off my coat and Kelly gets ahead.
We are near a roadway and as much as the sound of the cars racing by are annoying, the woods more than make up for the road noise. The woods are absolutely lovely with lots of ferns in the understory, and the eastern hemlock which dominate the midstory smell absolutely lovely. Fun fact, the eastern hemlock is the state tree of Pennsylvania!
I encounter some crazy big blowdowns completely blocking the trail. They are very recent, and I can't see any paths to go around them, so I just fight my way through the surrounding brush.
I catch back up to Kelly at the bottom of the hill at another road crossing. She said that Nomad was pulling some of the brush off the trail; apparently the blowdown was even worse than went I went through.
We make a couple of interesting stream crossings on two by tens that are firmly anchored over the next few streams. They don't give at all as we walk across some streams that are very narrow, but they look deep, and they are running very swiftly.
Six miles of hiking and we reach Pennsylvania Route 72. The AT crosses the road, but we take a hard right to turn into Stay AT Swatara Hostel. This is where we repositioned Kelly's car yesterday. We decided to drive back to Duncannon and pick up my truck to reposition it further north, since rain is in the forecast for several days next week and we want the flexibility of the vehicles in case we want to slackpack.
Two and a half hours later we repositioned my truck and we are back on the trail. The day is getting very hot. It's already over 80 degrees and I am carrying extra water for the big climb up to the ridge because the next water source is 8 miles away.
The elevation gain the first couple of miles alternates between moderately and very steep. The trail is occasionally really narrow but is mostly wide-track dirt scattered with a fair number of rocks. I really watch my step, trying to step on the flat tops of the rocks and not the sharp edges, which make my feet ache. The rock fields certainly slow me down, but we average 3 mph on the flat sections.
We cross some boulder fields that require rock hopping, but thankfully I don't need to drop my poles to climb over the large rocks. I am alert for rattlesnakes, but so happy not to see any.
The woods at the top of the ridge are so beautiful with ferns in all directions and lots of tall beech trees. The trees provide shade, and a light breeze cools the sweat covering my skin.
I see a little piece of paper under a rock on top of a downed tree and initially think it's a scrap of a wrapper from someone's snack. I unfold it and realize that I found a Schuylkill note. These creepy things have been discovered all over the trail this year. They are weird and make zero sense, written in some crazy shorthand and code. There is a Reddit forum dedicated to this topic, and they have even been found in cereal boxes.
By the time we reach the side trail to a spring, I am in need of a water refill. I've sucked down three liters of water today, and we still have about another six miles to go. The detour down to the spring takes us off the trail for an extra 30 minutes or so.
We arrive at a rocky overlook and stop to admire the view southward into Bethel. We only have 20 minutes to get to the shelter, and we are getting tired and hungry, so we don't tarry long. Two men hike by while we are walking back to the trail, and a few minutes later we hear some animated talking and commotion in a little clearing up ahead. We arrive to see the thru hikers with their phones out, ready to film something. A gentleman is nearby with a big contraption, and we realize he is getting ready to jump off the mountain with a hang glider! This day just keeps getting better and better, and we made it just in time this crazy show!
The two hikers introduce themselves and the four of us have our cameras out and at the ready. I've never seen anything like this before. An older gentleman has on a jumpsuit and is in the harness. Another man helps him walk the hang glider to the edge of the clearing where the trees part to make a straight line of sight down into the valley.
We all hold our breath and every time we think he's getting ready to take off, he stops and sets down the hang glider again. It feels like it's forever but it's really only a matter of minutes. You can tell they are waiting for the right conditions, but I don't know what those are. And he picks up the hang glider again and before I know what's happening he takes a few steps, and he is off the cliff and soaring through the air. He turns to the left and we think he's gone but a few minutes later he returns to make spirals above us. We all let out whoops of delight and one of the hikers keep shouting "way to go buddy!"
The other gentleman tells us that he is 72, and they hang glide here frequently. The other gentleman will be launching his glider in about 30 minutes, and he tells us they can stay up there for hours if they catch the right thermals. He said they even take sandwiches with them and eat those if they get hungry. He said they won't be out for more than a few hours tonight since it's already kind of late.
Every time the gentleman passes overhead in the glider, we all yell shouts of encouragement with "oohs," and "ahhs."
After a few more minutes we decide to get going. It's 5:30 and if we want to order pizza we will need to do so soon. The cool thing about the 501 Shelter is that it's about a quarter of a mile off the highway. Normally, that would be the last place a hiker wants to stay, but this shelter is unique in that it has a full-time caretaker living in a house on the premises. There is a pizza place nearby that deliver to the road a short walk from the shelter.
We arrive at the road just in time to see the pizza driver pull up and make a delivery to the two men that watched the hang glider with us. They had the foresight to call and order ahead so the food would be arriving when they got there. We place an order with the driver, and he tells us that he will be back in about thirty minutes.
We hustle to the shelter and set up our camps. Nomad walks up to let us know that he just placed an order as well and they will have both of our orders together in about 10 minutes, so the three of us walk back to the road where we pick up our dinner. A short walk back to the shelter and we are sitting at the picnic table chowing down.
Staying at the shelter was an absolute must on both of our To-Do lists. The 501 is really unique in that in addition to being near the road and offering pizza delivery, there is an outdoor solar shower, and electricity and fresh water available at the caretaker's cottage. The shelter itself is a large rectangular structure with a row of bunks lining the outer walls. The centerpiece of the building is the huge square skylight in the middle of the roof, which lets in a lot of bright light.
Unfortunately, this is the last year that this shelter will be servicing the needs of hikers. Due to budget constraints and a desire to push shelters farther away from roads, the ATC has decided to demolish the shelter next year. Therefore, Kelly and I felt like we absolutely had to come here on our hike northward.
Kelly ordered a Chef salad, and I ordered a small BLT salad and a spinach and mushroom white pizza. I ate myself senseless until I can't eat another bite. During our meal, we meet a young lady who just started her journey less than two weeks ago from Harper's Ferry. Her name is Ladybug, and she is really cute. We talk with her and Nomad for a while, until I say good night and head to my hammock. And I am out a little later than usual at 8:30.
Today's Stats: 16.6 miles, 2,687 feet gain, 2, 139 feet loss
Trail Stats: 1196 miles, 249K feet gain, 255K feet loss
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