Flip Flop Hikers: porcupine

Showing posts with label porcupine. Show all posts

Monday, May 9, 2016

Sprout Day 43 (Monday, May 9th, 2016) (updated)

Today was a short day but it was nice to take it easy. We hiked to George W Outerbridge Shelter. When I got there Mountain Man was gone. He went to town to get a little more food to last them until the next town. I think the store was about two miles away.

We all decided to sleep in the shelter that night because there wasn't a good spot to set up a tent. I laid out my sleeping pad and got everything situated. I always get my sleeping pad, bag, my puffy jacket, and some extra clothes in a stuff sack for a pillow. When I was done getting everything organized Mountain Man came up the hill with a big bag of subway! He got us all subs, what a nice treat! I waited for bubbles to come back and we split the subs. It was so nice to have some vegetables and eat some town food!

The last couple days we've been seeing signs for porcupines, I've never seen a porcupine and have been on the lookout. Right around dusk I was looking around and saw a porcupine running towards a tree! I went and told everyone and they got up and came with me to watch the excitement for the night. I didn't realize how well porcupines can climb trees! This little guy went to the top and was grabbing handfuls of leaves all the way to the top. When he got to the top he just sat up there eating leaves and watching us. At first Mountain Man and Karma thought we were talking about a hedgehog and didn't understand why we were so excited. They were excited to when they saw the porcupine too!!

The trail today is very rocky

More rocks

Some beautiful views

State Grounds

View today

Thanks for the subway Mountain Man!

Little spam sandwich

Porcupines

Porcupine

Porcupine in a tree

Day: 43

Miles hiked: 6.8

Total Miles hiked on the trail: 394.9

Bears: 0

Butterflies: 8

Chipmunks: 3

Cows: 24

Crawfish: 1

Deer: 20

Really Big Dog: 1

Horses: 12

Inchworm: 1

Mice: 2

Nest of bugs: 1

Newt: 1

Porcupine: 1

Rabbit: 1

Skunk: 1

Snail: 1

Snake: 1

Squirrels: 11

Toads: 2

Trout: 2

Turkeys: 4

Turtles: 107

Vultures: 6

Woodpecker: 1

Bubbles Day 43 (Monday, May 9, 2016)

Today was a very short day. I walked by myself for most of the day and it was great. I took my time and really enjoyed myself. I took too many pictures of pine trees and random stuff on the trail. I laid on the Rock and sun bathed. Sometimes I get lonely when I hike by myself. But today wasn't one of those days. I took thanks in the solitude of my hike and had time to think about how happy and blessed I am.

When I finally strolled into camp I was delighted to see my trail family. Mountain Man went into town and surprised us with subs from subway. He is such a great person.

Karma and I have been really silly together. Today we started singing Christmas songs, and we couldn't stop. Mountain Man hates Christmas songs, but we couldn't control ourselves. Mele Kalikimaka is the song we have been singing non stop. We also sang a song that Sprout’s little sisters sang during a Christmas pageant when they were little. They don't remember the song they had to learn, but Robby does! It's been stuck in my head "We're not reindeer, why would we lie. We took a train here, because we can't even fly" is a little blurb of the song. I can only imagine how annoying we must be. Now we are singing almost everything we say.

I love spending time with both of them. We have a great time and it makes the days merrier.

We also met a couple from Jersey tonight at the shelter. They are section hiking. They were super friendly and I really enjoyed my time with them.

Later in the evening a man came into the shelter who had hiked something like 18 miles on his first day out! Wow. He made us look like weak sauce!

Before bed we saw a porcupine and investigated the creature. It got spooked and climbed a tree. All the way to the top! Towards the top, when the branches began to thin out, it just kept going. It was climbing up and up and I was worried for the little guy. He was fine, he looked like he was just chewing on the tree. Ha.

We all slept in the shelter besides the couple from Jersey. It was a cold night but I was toasty in my sleeping bag.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Sprout Day 30 (Tuesday, April 26, 2016)

We got a later start than normal today. We busted out 18 miles yesterday and only had 7.3 today so we took it easy getting out of camp. We slept in until 8:30, made a batch of coffee, and called to talk to family until a little after 11:00. I bet if we knew that there would be a rain storm coming later that day we would've left camp earlier!

About two miles out of the shelter Bubbles and I heard thunder off in the distance. Not too long after the thunder we felt the rain. It started off slow but by the end of the storm it was really coming down and raining really hard. It was so hot and humid earlier in the day that I didn't even bother with a rain coat. I just put my pack cover on and kept on walking. Shortly after the rain the sun came out and it felt really good.

There's a warning that porcupines like to party in this shelter! They took the stairs down because they were so bad. I don't know what a porcupine sounds like but as I'm writing this journal there's a weird noise outside. What sound does a porcupine make? We're staying in the shelter tonight because there wasn't a good spot to put a tent up here. Maybe the noise is a porcupine, haha, I don't even know what I'd expect one to sound like.

Partying Porcupines!

Earlier in the day, before the rain, it was a perfect, unforgettable hiking day. The mountains were rolling hills through this part of the trail, huge rolling hills. The sky was blue and the clouds were big and puffy. The sun was shining bright and you could see how fast the clouds were moving from the dark shadows on the trees. It was a beautiful sight to see. At one point Maggie even said, “I'll never forget this day.” Funny coincidence, as soon as she said that we got a huge whiff of what could only be a dead rotting animal! We later found out that it was a rotting deer next to the trail, haha. even with that awful smell it was a great place to be!

Not too many animals to mention today. We had a toad and a bunny at camp right before bed. We also saw an inchworm while we were taking a break on a log.

Tomorrow we are hiking into Duncannon. We are picking up a special delivery from Poppa Lip. We were hoping and thinking that getting a bigger size boot was going to help Maggie's feet feel better but it didn't help at all. Poppa Lip ordered her a couple of different hiking shoes to try and had them overnighted to the next town. Hopefully one of the pair work for her. I know she's not liking the boots. We are also going to stay at the Doyle. It's an iconic stop along the AT and has been a hikers stop for many years. If we are stopping in towns I would prefer it be at a stop like tomorrow (staying at a hostel or traditional hiking spot rather than a chain hotel) or anywhere if we are meeting family! We also got a message from Ox. He is going to be passing through Duncannon tomorrow! He wants to have a late lunch so we are super excited. I'm glad he's back on the trail and is doing well and I can't wait to see him tomorrow!