Four more days down 

March 6: US 30 south to Old Forge park (slackpack)

Our shuttle driver, Dennis, has been shuttling hikers for 30 years, and entertained us with stories of growing up on a dairy farm as he brought us to our drop off. 

Baby yoda came along so I can share the journey with my granddaughter with photos in various places

Some of the ridge walk among the boulders.. photo by @keithmetzger78 on Instagram

It was a windy day, and there were wind advisories in place for the afternoon and evening, with possible gusts up to 50 mph. We were able to get to Old Forge by 3 pm, and we were moving as fast as possible when we were up on the ridges.  The wind had us worried about blowdowns, and it kept getting colder as the day went on. 

We saw some flurries as we went down the mountain toward the end of the day, and I even broke out my gloves.  We passed the Tumbling Run shelter about a mile from the park and noticed that someone had left very red flowers on a table that was part of the covered eating area. It looked like a really nice, well maintained shelter and had 2 big bear boxes there. 

The diversity of the terrain never ceases to amaze me. We walked through a boggy/ swampy area, a high ridge with boulders and assorted rocks to navigate through, and a pine forest with soft, needle carpeted ground underfoot. 

March 7: A short hike into Quarry Gap shelter

We were dropped off at US 30 again and headed north.  A 3 mile hike brought us through Caledonia state park and to the welcome sign on an open gate leading to Quarry Gap shelter, what some have called the nicest shelter on the AT.

Photo by @keithmetzger78 on Instagram

Photo by @keithmetzger78 on Instagram

I was lucky enough to meet the “Innkeeper” Jim Stauch, while we were there that evening. He has been in charge of the Quarry Gap shelter for the PATC for many years. He told me that he is training 2 younger men to take over for him, and that he tells them that the most important thing is that the desire to take care of the shelter area has to come from “in here”- patting his heart- and “not because you want this” – and patted himself on the back. His attention to detail and love of the job comes through everywhere you look on the shelter grounds; the welcome sign on the open gate, the sturdy swing next to the shelter, the red flowers on the table, the dominoes and checkers available to play and stored near the log book, even a fairy castle and planted bulbs just coming up on the edge of shelter area. I think it may very well be the nicest shelter on the AT!

It was a little bit hard to sleep that night, because late in the afternoon a large group of men who were on their annual backpacking trip arrived. They were having a great time, but we didn’t get to sleep until around midnight and missed the quiet of our more solitary nights.

I did get to hear a Northern Saw Whet owl that night, which I identified with the Merlin Bird ID app. I’ve enjoyed bird watching since my college days, and the Merlin app has been a great tool to have when I don’t have my binoculars.

I signed the shelter log book before we left Quarry Gap and was happy to see a note from Lucky 7 ( trail name for his 7 grandkids) who we had spent the night with back at the Ensign Coswall shelter when it was too windy to tent. He was an inspiring guy, having section hiked all of the AT and now considering a full thru this year.

Lucky 7’s inspiring note

He also had just finished the Camino de Santiago trail with his wife, and they were planning on visiting Mont Blanc sometime soon!

I asked him for his take on most difficult/most beautiful sections he’d done on the AT, and his response to both was Maine. He encouraged us to plan our food well for the 100 mile wilderness, as he said he hadn’t and he ran out of food and felt his body shut down there. Luckily he was given food to get through by another hiker; as he said, the trail provides!

Saturday, March 8: Quarry Gap shelter to Tom’s Run shelter 

The hike to Tom’s Run shelter started at about 7:30 am, and was a fairly easy ridge walk most of the 13.8 miles, with some rocks and steep descents thrown in for extra spice. There was a dusting of snow in some places as we hiked that morning, enough to be pretty but not really slippery. My ankles were hurting for the last two miles of the hike,  and I was very glad to get to the shelter. 

We slept in the shelter instead of the tent again that night because of the wind and dead trees over the tent sites. The shelter had a large fire pit that would have been great to use, but there’s a fire ban that started March 1st, so we went without one. It was cold but quiet, and I slept really well. 

March 9: Tom’s Run shelter to Pine Grove Furnace state park 

I woke up early and waited for the sun to come up, but it was still really dark at 6:10; I realized after a few minutes that the time had changed,  so the sunrise would actually be at 7:30!

It was a very cold morning. The temp on the thermometer attached to the shelter read 23 degrees! I got a bottle of water from my backpack and it wasn’t frozen at all; however as soon as I opened it and poured some into the pot for our oatmeal, what was left in the bottle instantly crystallized into ice! It was a cool phenomenon to watch, so we did it again with another water bottle. Something about the freezing air hitting the supercooled water in the bottle I think.

We hiked down into Pine Grove Furnace state park, past the Ironmasters mansion, the camp store and the AT museum, all of which were closed.

It was still very windy, so we took a break in the park and had some lunch in a somewhat sheltered area. I appreciated that there were frost-free pumps for running water,  at least 2 bathrooms were open, AND the bathrooms were heated. I took advantage of the running water and soap and cleaned our pots and sporks, then let them dry in the windy sunshine. 

We slept in the tent that night in the park campground and had another very quiet, peaceful night.  I really prefer sleeping in the tent to sleeping in the shelter, but I’m grateful for those shelters when it’s windy or stormy!