Big breakfasts rule!

Day 66 - 6/21/10
Had an awesome sleep last night. The bed was super comfortable and
there was great AC. I woke up about 7:15, and by 8 o'clock I was all
packed up so I headed over to the dining area for the breakfast
buffet. It was only six bucks, a very good deal for what I had. Eggs,
bacon, sausage, biscuits & gravy, cereal, and so much more. I actually
ate too much, so afterward I sat in the lobby and let my body digest
it. During that downtime I used the Resort's iPad, which was the first
time I'd even seen one. It was pretty cool, but sort of difficult to
use. I much prefer the iPhone. I felt well enough to leave in about a
1/2 hour, so I made it back to the trail by 10. Rather late start,
which was not what I had wanted to do because the heat was way up
there, but what can you do?

The first 10 miles flew by, and when I stopped at Scott Farm Trail
Work Center for water I still wasn't even hungry. Those big breakfasts
always last you a long time. I stayed there for a while to take
advantage of the spigot, probably downing close to 2 liters in a 1/2
hour span of time. Then I was back on the trail, and didn't stop for
about another 6 miles. I finally ate something, a Snickers and some
Nature Valley bars. Gotta say, not too shabby when your breakfast
lasts you for 16 miles.

When I continued on I soon passed what looked like a concrete bathtub,
and it was full of rain water for who knows how long. A frog, a very
big frog, was sitting on the edge, so I moved one of my poles toward
it. The frog made a strange noise, then leapt into the tub and
disappeared. It was amusing to me. After that was a bit of steep
uphill. Had me dripping in sweat. Then I made it to the ridgeline, and
soon was passed by a sketchy character going the other way. He had a
huge pack on, and a small pack on the front too. The combination
totally dwarfed him. I've met 2 other people with huge packs, so I'm
now confident in saying that these people are generally strange. I met
one guy in Damascus who was carrying at least 90 lbs. of stuff, and he
could easily have been homeless. He was a wierdo. Another guy who I
met at this one shelter was hiding out from police on the trail, or so
I heard later on. He had at least 70 lbs. So beware of the huge pack
people.

It started to become rocky on the ridge, and I've heard after
Duncannon is when they really start to show up, so the ones I had
today were just like an appetizer. I made it to the shelter I planned
on staying at, Cove Mountain, sometime around 6:30. Winston and
Churchill were both already here, tents up and everything. Another
hiker named Ohibro was too. There really was no places to tent, the
two Brits were tented in pretty bad spots, so I just took up a bunk in
the shelter. I got water and then made dinner, and in that time Pyro
(a sectioner) and Ace showed up. While eating we had such an intense
conversation about food. What me miss, our first meals when we get off
the trail, what we'll never eat again, and so on. Food is the #1 topic
of conversation out here, hands down. It's what everyone is constantly
thinking about, so it's hard not to talk about it.

Anyway, gonna call it a night now. Pretty tired after 21 miles in the
hot sun all day. I should be in Duncannon tomorrow by 9, where I have
a mail drop waiting. Since there's a library right close by I might
try to load some more pictures onto the blog. Then I'll be moving on
into rock country. That might change how fast I hike, so I'm not sure
how far I'll make it.

P.s. Ian, I passed Jim & Molly Denton shelter a while back, so I was a
little confused by what you meant. And the shower was broken when I
was there. A bit of a bummer. Nice shelter though.

Total miles: 1133.6