Friday, October 18, 2024
Raven Rock Shelter to Tumbling Run Shelter
Northbound miles 1062.7 to 1075.9
I started my day with a mini apple pie (thanks to our trip to town the day before) and some coffee. With only 13 miles to hike the day, we weren’t in a hurry to leave. We had gotten in the habit of rising with the sun and going about our morning tasks. I think we are getting good at this backpacking thing!
Eventually, we packed the rest of our belongings away and hit the trail. Our first destination was High Rock Ledges. Unlike most high points we’ve visited, this one was also accessible by car. And where there are cars, there are people. And seemingly, where there are people, there is trash. There was litter everywhere! Not cool. Not to mention, the entire rock area was covered in spray paint. What a shame! The view, though, was pretty great!
The next three miles were mostly downhill and they. were. rocky. If there was a theme for this trip, it would be ROCKY. It was a slow go.
We arrived at Pen Mar Park mid-morning. After searching for any kind of power source to re-charge our dying phones and watches, we discovered that the bathrooms had outlets, so we decided to take some time to charge our electronics. We sat in the warm sun and ate some snacks while we waited. This was a nice little park, filled with locals as well as hikers.
By noon we were ready to take off again. We had a little over eight miles to go to reach our shelter.
Right away we came to the Mason Dixon Line and the Maryland/Pennsylvania border.
Oh, and then there were more rocks!
Finally, the trail evened out a bit and we kicked it into high gear. The days had warmed considerably, and we had shed many layers. It was such a beautiful day!
As we entered Old Forge Park, we crossed three bridges, the last of which was questionable. We crossed that bridge one at a time!
And then we came to a little building whose only purpose was to offer us fresh, potable water. Yes! We were so appreciative of these water sources along our way. We filled our bottles and continued on.
We arrived at Tumbling Run Shelters before 4:30pm and took our time getting settled. This was by far the nicest shelter area we have seen. Aside from the main shelter area, there were several options for tent camping. There was even an outhouse with a doorbell, toilet paper, and hand sanitizer! We opted to set up camp in the group camping area, where there were many flat tent pads surrounding a fire pit with benches. It was perfect.
We got our fire going and set about making dinner. We had arrived to camp a bit earlier than in days prior and it was nice to be able to relax and not have to rush to beat the sunset. A couple camp caretakers stopped in to welcome us and give us a head’s up on water availability going north (which was very slim), as well as the opening of muzzleloader season and youth hunt the following day. We would wear our brightest colors! They were happy to see that we all had bear canisters, but not for bears. Apparently, there was a pesky raccoon in the area who was a professional climber and had gotten into a few food bags that had been hung on the bear pole.
We hung out at the fire, enjoying the day, and watched the blue sky above us fade.
Daily miles: 13.19
Time on trail: 6:07:12
Elevation gain 2018 feet
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