Calling Dutch Doctor

Last night me and and an old friend took a hike to Dutch Doctor shelter. We hit the road about 6pm and we're on the trail by 6:45. First off, this was the easiest hike I have ever done to a shelter. We were 2 miles from Dutch Doctor and got there in under 45 minutes. We started at Johnsontown Rd and took the White Bar trail to the shelter. 

Dutch Doctor Shelter

 We arrived at the shelter and no one but us were there. Dutch Doctor is the biggest shelter I have encountered in my hiking tenure. It was huge. The ceiling at it's peak was like 10-12 feet high. The overhang stretched 7 feet over the shelters wooden floor.  After our inspection of the shelter we searched for firewood. Rare indeed. We found a good stash about 300 yards from the shelter beyond a big patch of mountain laurel. When the fire was finally up and going we both set camp about 50 yards ahead of the shelter. My friend Steve pitched a Hammock while I pitched my BA Seedhouse SL2. We drank some beers and bullshitted for a few hours. 1am came and we both called it a night and went to sleep. It was a pretty windy night, strong gusts every now and then.  We woke up around 6am and heard wild turkeys nearby. I fell back asleep and stayed in my tent till 8:30.

We decided to hike to Claudius Smith's Den then onto Almost Perpendicular and back to the car. It was a really nice hike to the Den. Very little in ups and downs and when there was one, it was never too long. I don't think I sweated once on this hike. Hour or so of hiking and we reached Claudius Smith's Den. From the way we came we were on top of Claudius Smith's Den rock and had to descend to get to the actual "den". The views on top were pretty awesome.

 On the way down, there was a small cave I guess you could say that you could squeeze into and it lead to giant crack on the other side, directly above the Den.

 

Claudius Smith Den

When we reached the Den we decided to hangout there and eat some chow. A group of 10 or so hikers passed through while we were there. 45 minutes later we packed up and hit the Blue Disc trail to get us back to Johnsontown Rd. Again, the hike was not strenuous at all. Nice and easy ups and downs through out.

We reached Almost Perpendicular around 11:30am. It was pretty windy up there but the views were pretty good. We just took some photos and continued on the trail.

Views from Almost Perpendicular

Views from Almost Perpendicular.

Another half hour on the trail and we reached the car. It was a really good hike and probably the easiest I have ever done. The weather was great throughout as well as the company. If any of you are looking for a hike that isn't backbreaking, try this one. I think you'll thoroughly enjoy it as well as your knees.