Day 11 (13.8 mi), 8 MAY, Leroy Smith Shelter: On the Trail Again

I woke up early (5 AM) and started to prepare for my first real day on the Trail in almost a week.  I had done some practice hikes at home with a full pack, and the 6.5 miles the day before had begun to break me in for the PA terrain.  It is rocky here and the most detrimental effect is the way my pace is slowed by the rocks.  Yesterday, I kept thinking I had missed the shelter because my pace had slowed so considerably.  The hiking is not too difficult, but it just feels like it takes a long time to get anywhere.  Water is more scarce on the AT in PA also, which makes the hiking a little heavier because I carry more water than normal.  One trade-off that I had made was to bring my "summer bag" because it is somewhat lighter and more waterproof than the down bag I carried a few weeks earlier.
I heard that below Duncannon (Day 6) the terrain was much smoother, and I was thankful because many of my long days (18+ miles) were South of D'cannon.  With the threat of rain the following days, I actually stopped at Leroy Smith so I wouldn't have to pack a wet tent.  It really is THAT rocky, and there are times where I would be rock walking for miles (over an hour on pure rocky terrain).  I think of the rocks in PA in three distinct sizes ("small pebbles", not really a problem; "boulders", which would slow anyone down; and "thinkers", those medium sized rocks that require every attentive moment to choose my footing wisely).  It is the "thinkers" that drive me crazy, and that slow me down considerably.  Day 2 had plenty of "thinkers".
I made it to the shelter in the early afternoon, and I had plenty of time to write and read.  Unfortunately, that is something I had not done very much of the previous weeks in MD, and it began a pleasant pattern that persisted through the week.  I don't know if it just takes "that long" to get into a habit of discipline or if it takes that long to realize that writing is a necessary activity out here.  The topic of humility consumed my thoughts over the weeks in PA, and there is plenty of opportunity to practice the humiliation, which is the parent of any true humility.  I fell on Day 2 and "headed" a rock.  Thankfully, it wasn't too bad and there wasn't anyone around when I bit it.  In the immortal words of St. Bernard, "I prefer a defeat borne humbly than a victory obtained by pride."