Campsite near Hawk Mountain Road to Windsor Furnace Shelter – 9.6 miles
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
This was the first day of a southbound hike from where Bob and I had previously left off at Hawk Mountain Road. We were joined for the first two days of this hike by Cody, who had agreed without much convincing to come along. He was now three months shy of his 6th birthday. We got dropped off the evening before and pitched our tent near a stream about a half mile from the road. Tuesday morning we hiked to the Pinnacle, which is always a great time and I was so excited for Cody to witness it. We saw our first rattlesnake on the trail on this day. We enjoyed awesome views from Pulpit Rocks, and Cody got to use his binoculars. We finished the day at Windsor Furnace Shelter just as a storm rolled in. I believe Bob slept in the shelter while Cody and I opted for our tent. There was thunder and lightning for the last mile or so of our hike, and after we set our tent up we were eating dinner in the shelter when a large tree branch fell to the ground right next to the tent. Surprisingly, we were the only ones at this site on this particular night. Today was the day I realized how important it is to have a properly fitting backpack, and the importance of wearing it properly. My shoulders were starting to complain… and it was about to get much worse.
Wherever I May Roam 