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July 18, 1983 Monday (967 mtg) From Gonzo!s Appalachian Trail journal I got up this morning with the intension of hiking a short nine and a half miles to the Pinnacle, which was mentioned in the guide as "a must see, as it is the most worthwhile and scenic viewpoint along the AT in Pennsylvania," where I intended to "dry camp" at the area posted as "No Camping." From the moment we woke up, we could tell that it would be a scorcher. We took our time getting going, but up the side of Blue Mountain I went. After a mere five miles the heat was getting intense and it seemed the lazy days of summer had arrived. I pulled into Windsor Furnace Shelter and waited for the rest of the bunch to arrive. Since we were set to meet Mike the schoolteacher at Allentown shelter just 16 miles away, I decided that this was as far as I needed to go today. Why not stay at the "furnace shelter" and experience the full heat of the summer. My short day had turned into an even shorter day! The rest of the hikers elected to do the same thing. The deciding factor for Fuzzy Jim was when he discovered on the map that he could walk down a nearby jeep road, hitch into town and bring back some beer. I put in my order for some rootbeer. Off he went. During
the time that we had - all afternoon - Tim decided to excavate the
fire pit that was full of ash that had become mud after the rain
yesterday afternoon. He carefully removed most of the ash, uncovering
some rocks beneath, and built a nice circular enclosed burning area
with the help of a few of the other Pennsylvania rocks lying around
- the pit was now all ready for the next campers that might need
a little fire for warmth. We certainly did not need any. Tim was
also a great fan of cooking his meals over an open fire. Most thru
hikers use some sort of stove, and I think he had one too, but liked
building fires. I typically only used a fire if I felt that I needed
to conserve gas. I carried a one liter aluminum fuel bottle and
tried to avoid filling it up too often since most stores only sold
gallon cans. Unless there were other hikers around needing fuel,
the rest would go to waste, or be left for the next hikers that
came by.
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