Appalachian Odyssey by Jeffrey H. Ryan

Author:Jeffrey H. Ryan
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781608935796
Publisher: Down East Books
Published: 2016-10-25T04:00:00+00:00

I stayed awake all the way through our bus ride from Harrisburg to Chambersburg, PA. Thankfully, our pre-arranged shuttle dude was waiting at the station for our 12:50 arrival.

Wayne climbed into the front seat and I crawled into the back of the van to discover that the one bench seat was stowed perpendicular to its proper spot and even more disconcerting, not bolted down. On every corner, I went up on two legs and was in danger of tipping over. The floor was also awash with empty water bottles that rolled from side to side when we changed lanes.

“Sorry about that, man.” said the driver, half turning around. “I didn’t have time to re-install it before I left to pick you up.”

Turns out the driver was a through hiker the year before and had plans to do the trail end-to-end the following year as well. “Go with the flow” seemed to serve him well in trail life. Driving, maybe not so much.

Nonetheless, he was able to deliver us to our desired destination — Caledonia State Park. The van disappeared from the clearing and we were left by the picnic table we remembered from two years ago as our last rest spot before we thumbed into Gettysburg to view the battlefield. A few hundred yards from where we stood was another notable stopover point. The Confederate cavalry, under the command of General Jubal Early, stopped here in late June of 1863 to destroy the ironworks. They were also on their way to Gettysburg.

I took one last look around the dirt parking lot, tied on my bandana, adjusted my ski poles to hiking length and slid into my pack. At 3:00 p.m., the temporarily sleep deprived 2001 Masters Tour was underway.

Even in my sleepwalk-like haze (or perhaps influenced by it), I started out with a heightened sense of euphoria. After all it took to get here, I was finally on the path again. I roared down the first half mile of trail to abruptly emerge onto the edge of PA Route 30 — four lanes of fast moving busyness.

“It would have been so ironic to have gotten flattened here.” I said to Wayne while we waited for a break in the traffic.

Two miles in, we arrived at a beautiful ridge top spot on Rocky Mountain and set up the dome. We celebrated by scooping warm cheese fondue out of the cook pot with hand torn chunks of bagels.

It was still light out when I pulled my winter hat on and got low in the sleeping bag. The temps would drop into the 30s before dawn and I would sleep all the way through. I was back in the woods where I could completely relax at last.

On day two, we had a tremendous ridge top hike as our next to the last day’s farewell to the Pennsylvania AT. We walked along surrounded by late fall splendor with bright red foliage above, granite outcroppings to our left and still brilliant green farmland below. My trail induced euphoria was still in play — maybe too much.

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