Saturday – 21 September

Destination: RT. 653 Shelter Area (MM 18.5)
Start Location: Grindle Ridge Shelter Area (MM 24.0)
Today’s Miles: 5.5
Trip Miles: 51.6

Cell service not strong enough for photos today.

Last night the DCNR, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources stopped by our campsite and chatted for a while. The ladies in the shelter built fire but Bob and I were too tired. Sunset is around 7:20. I read for a while but was ready to go to sleep around eight.

With only five miles today, Bob and I took our time and got a late start, about nine, after breakfast of pepperoni rolls and oatmeal raisin cookies from the market. Better than my usual protein bar.

If we had forgotten it was the weekend, numerous runners (none with dogs today) and day hikers were a reminder. Bob and I passed a troop of Boy Scouts with their leaders heading in the opposite direction. Three backpackers were also heading north.

With nice flat terrain except for the last half mile we made it to camp around 12:30. Bob and I passed on the campsite with the picnic table, the tent sites were not very flat. After we set up our tents in the nicer site it was time to filter water and wash up. The water here has much less iron than the last two nights. The hand pump wells at each of the camping areas are a god send since it had been so dry. Many of the streams are dry.

A family with two daughters is staying in one of the shelters. We heard thunder in the distance and had a few drops of rain and a little steady rain while relaxing before dinner. A group of six guys with two dogs came in but it looks like they are camping outside the shelter area. Another pair of campers are in another shelter.

Yesterday and today we seem to have moved out of the oak forest. Acorns are not as numerous. They do make a nice bang when one lands on a shelter roof. We have also been lucky with almost no bugs.

Tomorrow will be a long day, twelve miles with some ups and downs. Hoping for an early start.