Red Bull Home

   Red Bull had planned on us picking him up this evening, because he had an appointment on Sunday.  He had a very rough day yesterday, and requested we pick him up a little early.

  We picked him up at mile 1154.7 where the trail intersects with PA 225.  He hiked a little over 4 miles today.  It is a concern with no water available for 16 miles.  We welcomed him home for lunch with pizza!

   He is limping, has huge blisters on his heals, and a big area rubbed raw on his hip from the waist belt of his pack.  He says he hurts everywhere.  His new insoles cushion his feet well, but raise his heal higher in the shoe, and the shoes rub on the top of his heals.

   We thought he had hiked 20+ miles his first day back on the trail.  He actually hiked 22+ miles that day.  He had accidentally gotten off the trail, and did not realize he was on the wrong trail until he had traveled a mile.  So... an extra mile off and then back to the trail that day!  I think he should have eased back into hiking a little more gently... but he was on a quest to catch his friends!

   Red Bull has decided he would like us to jump him up the trail to his hiking group, there is no one in this area.  We will make the 4 hour drive tomorrow after his appointment, to transport him to his pals.  Upon completing the North section of the trail, he will come down to hike the section he missed.  Hopefully in the fall the water sources will be flowing.

   I remember hearing a few weeks ago that a hiker near this area was lost, and a search party had been sent out to find him.  He was out of water, dehydrated, and left the trail to find water.  He became lost and called his family for help, he was incoherent.  The rescue party located him, asleep in his tent and very dehydrated.  They transported him to the hospital.  I now want to look up the story again, I am pretty certain it was in this area!

   Yes, I just looked up the article.  It appears to have happened about 15-20 miles North of where we picked up Red Bull!

Here is the story!
Lost Appalachian Trail hiker found 
- Lebananon Daily News - part of the USA Today network

 John Latimer, s.com2:13 p.m. EDT July 7, 2016

A 24-year-old North Carolina man who got lost after wandering off the Appalachian Trail Wednesday was found dehydrated but otherwise unharmed around daybreak Thursday morning.

The search began about 12:40 a.m. in Union Township after state police were notified by a family member whom the hiker had texted after wandering off the trail and becoming disoriented. The trooper hiked about four miles on the trail before giving up the search and notifying the Pennsylvania Game Commission, which has jurisdiction in the area, state police said.

Wildlife Conservation Officer Brian Sheetz, the state game warden in charge of search and rescue operations in Lebanon County, said he was contacted about 4:45 a.m. and given the GPS coordinates that had been obtained from the hiker's cellphone.

Sheetz said he contacted his neighbor, Wildlife Conservation Officer Scott Frederick, who covers Dauphin County, and the pair searched the area near Rausch Gap for about 30 minutes without any luck.

"I went back and checked his coordinates with my GPS and found we were about a quarter mile off," Sheetz said. "We went back and eventually found him in his tent, which he set up near the railroad bed. He was severely disoriented and severely dehydrated. His speech was slurred and things like that."

The hiker, whose name was not released, told Sheetz he was on a through hike on the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, when he became low on water and left the trail to replenish his supply. When he crossed over the mountain, he became disoriented.

"He was thankful to see us," Sheetz said.

After giving the man some water, the officers drove him about five miles in a pickup truck back to a parking lot on Gold Mine Road in Cold Spring Township, where he was taken by a First Aid & Safety Patrol ambulance to WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital for evaluation at 6:40 a.m. Also assisting during the search were crews from Greenpoint and Lickdale fire companies.

"We are wardens. That's what we do," Sheetz said. "Our track record is 100 percent in Lebanon County."

Sheetz said he offered to take the man back to the trail to resume his hike if he felt up to it but had not heard from him by 1 p.m. Thursday.