2023 May/June Section Hike - Day 2 - Abington Gap Shelter to Iron Mountain Shelter

 May 30th

Miles Hiked: 16

       I woke up expecting to either see my bear canister chewed up, or simply gone. It was sitting on the ground, where I left it, completely unmolested. After ensuring the food was safe,  I remembered to check on Sherpa.  The tarp worked, it rained last night, he was dry. He also had not been eaten by a bear, so we started packing up. 

We broke camp early as we have a 16 mile day planned. My knees seem fine, Sherpa is also doing fine. We'll have some downhills today, that will be the real test of our knees. 

And we're off. First ones out of the campsite I think. 

Came upon McQueens Knob, a shelter built in 1934 and is no longer maintained. Very small. 

Nice cool breeze, the trail is smooth, we're banging out the miles. Sherpa is much faster than me, but varies between either walking slower so we can chat, or hikes ahead and then waits on me. 

To get in today's miles, I had us break camp without coffee or breakfast. The idea is to start hiking immediately, and use breakfast as a break. That way, we'll have a few miles in before we even have our morning coffee. We made good time, and ended up knocking out 4.8 miles prior to a stop at Low Gap/US 421 where there was a picnic table and a piped spring. Sadly, there was not a pit toilet, I had my hopes up there might be.  I introduced Sherpa to my one pot Oatmeal Coffee. The idea is simple...make your oatmeal in Coffee. Drink the Coffee off the top, scoop the oatmeal out of the bottom. Why? So you only have to carry one pot. Sherpa used my 1.9oz Ti cup, and I used the large 850ml Ti cup to heat the water, poured into his, and then made mine in the cook pot. 

For lunch I introduced Sherpa to my favorite trail meal. Summer sausage boiled in water, once it gets to a boil, mix in mashed potatoes. Add parmesan and red pepper flakes to taste. Yum. 

First good view of the trip..wide open field of wildflowers surrounded by mountains. 

Panoramic View

More climbing. But at least the temperature is in the 60s. Conditions are ideal. 

This is the burial place of Nick Grindstaff, right off the trail, where his hermit cabin was located. If you'd like to learn more about Nick, his dog Panter and the cow he used as a pack animal, you can read more here: 

http://appalachiantreks.blogspot.com/2012/07/uncle-nick-grindstaff.html

Not far after Nick Grindstaff's cabin, we made it into Iron Mountain Shelter. At the shelter, we met "Mighty Q" and "Rookie", who spent the night.  I was really tired, so I climbed in my hammock early while the other 3 chatted around the fire.