Welcome To Connecticut

June 16.  Up early and on trail by 7.  The guys who stayed in the shelter hadn't moved yet so I was back to spider web patrol.  Since I had been having late starts the past few days I hadn't had to deal with that!  New York has some pretty active squirrels.  As I walked down the trail and spooked them they would take off running and make so much noise through the leaf litter.  When they crunch through the leaves they sound a lot bigger than they are!  The squirrels are also very acrobatic.  I watched them shoot down falled trees, jump from tree to tree, and fly through the air like trapeze artists.  Around 11 AM I passed the Appalachian Trail Railroad Station that would take me directly downtown NYC to Grand Central Station.  I decided not to head into the city and instead took a break at the Native Landscapes Garden Center.  I sat on the front patio and ate lunch and enjoyed some time in a rocking chair.  The garden store offered free showers for hikers but with no soap or a towel, and putting dirty clothes back on, a shower didn't seem like a productive idea.  After my break I continued north and passed an old wooden water tower that was pretty cool.  I stopped at the next two shelters for short breaks and passed a big river as I made one last climb up a mountain to get to the shelter just before Kent, CT.  I hiked up the mountain and caught up to an older guy hiking up.  It is always hard when I catch up to people...I start hitting rocks with my trekking poles, breath heavily, cough, try to make noise so I don't scare them.  Finally, I was right behind the guy and I said "This is a tough hill!"  I must have startled him, he turned and yelled "Hey!" as loud as he could.  I may have startled him but he scared the pee out of me!  I walked past him, my heart beating fast, and continued up the hill.  The last 3 miles to the shelter up and over the mountain were tough ones and when I hit the shelter around 7:30 PM I was happy to be there.  Luckily one of the hikers had gone into town earlier in the day and picked up beer and I was happy to help him drink a few.  It was a tough 29 miles and I was happy to be off my feet and heading into town in the morning.  I had passed the New York - Connecticut state line, another state down and 5 more to go!

I recently heard from another hiker friend via email and he said he was at the Deleware Water Gap for the weekend.  Meat is in Pennsylvania as well, and I have a few friends ahead of me in Massachusetts.  It is interesting that every day we all wake up and walk on the same trail north, just in different locations.

June 17.  I slept in this morning, woke up at 8 AM.  The 29 miles had taken it out of me.  I was just heading into town so I was in no hurry.  I walked a mile or so to Kent, CT and stopped at a breakfast place.  Kent is nice, really nice.  Lots of nice cars, polo shirts and sweaters, and art galleries.  I ordered a 1, 2, 3 Special...1 piece of french toast, 2 pancakes, 3 eggs, bacon, juice, and coffee.  I was pumped!  But when the plate came I realized I was in a pretty ritzy town...it was one of those restaurants that serves small portions, good for me normally, but now I am a hungry hiker!  I easily ate everything and went to the IGA to get 4 days of food.  I stopped by the outfitter/ice cream shop to get hot dogs and call everyone to wish them a Happy Father's Day!  Soon it was early afternoon and I still wanted to make some miles.  I got some ice cream and headed back to the trail.  Kent was a nice little town, maybe a little too nice.  I had heard it wasn't a cheap area, I spent a good $30 between breakfast and lunch, not to mention the $40 resupply.  It made me miss the other small towns in the south where I could get a full meal for $6 and be stuffed!  I was looking forward to the next week of hiking...through CT, through MA, and hopefully into VT by the weekend!

I realized this morning that Amy dropped me off at the trail a week ago today...which means it had been a week, 170 miles, and 4 states (PA, NJ, NY, and CT) since I have had a shower or done laundry.  Maybe I should try to do that soon...maybe.  We will see!

Got My Mojo Back!

June 15.  Before we went to bed everything in the field we were camped in was covered with dew.  When I woke up at 5 AM one look at my tent and I knew it was soaked.  I was camped by several other people and I knew if I got up early like I had planned I would wake them all up.  That and the dew made me roll over and go back to sleep.  When I finally woke up and started breaking camp it was well after 7 AM.  I didn't hit the trail until after 8, a very late start for me.   I made it to a road crossing and a building with water spigots.  I stopped and made cold instant mashed potatoes for an early lunch.  I filled my water bottles at the spigots.  There were two of them and one had a huge dead snake under it...must have been bad water, so I got water from the other one.  Naw, I actually got water from the other one not because of the snake, but for a more functional reason, it was higher up and I wouldn't have to kneel down to get it!  I've learned to not make myself work any harder than I have to!  At the Clarence Fahnestock State Park I read a sign on the road that said 1.5 miles ahead a side trail would lead to a beach and consessions stand.  I didn't need more food, but a burger did sound nice, and I did need a bathroom.  I pushed on for 1.5 miles and when I hit the side trail I needed a bathroom for sure!  I took the trail, which happened to be a snowshoe trail, and it must be a lot easier in the winter with snow!  I stumbled .25 miles down the trail to an empty beach.  There was only one person there...an old guy with a metal detector.  I guess every beach has to have one of those!  I walked up to the buildings and first things first used the bathroom.  They also had showers and I considered taking one when I saw that someone had left half a bottle of shampoo in it.  I walked over to the snack stand to find out they were closed.  Another hiking couple from New York City had arrived and when two workers pulled up to stock the snack stand for the weekend the other hikers asked if we could buy anything.  There would be no hamburger, but they let us go in and buy ice cream and soda, score!  The hiking couple even bought me a lemon freeze as well!  We sat outside and ate our snacks and talked about kite boarding in NYC and surfing in California.  While we were there a few other hikers arrived and bought snacks as well.  I had eaten the rest of the sharp chedder I was carrying at lunch, and now I had more dairy in the ice cream, I needed to visit the bathroom again before hitting the trail for sure!  I went back to the mens room and found that the workers had locked it!  Uh oh...  Luckily I am a smart hiker and I checked the womens room...open!  I normally wouldn't do something like that but I really needed to go, and no one else was around!  I hiked on for a while longer and came to the RPH Shelter.  This place was nice!  It was like a little house with 8 bunks and had a nice patio with chairs and a table.  It was near a road and pizza could be delivered there.  I was at the shelter at 5 PM by myself and there was no telling if anyone else was going to stay and order pizza with me so I decided to hike on 9 miles to the next shelter.  I crossed under a freeway and noticed a lady with a flat tire.  I walked on and headed for the trail.  I missed the trail and had to walk back to find it and as I did I thought back to the times in Indiana when my step-dad Tom would see someone stopped alongside the road and he would stop and check to see if he could help.  I wasn't sure if that was the same in New York but I decided to walk back and see if she wanted me to try to change her tire.  She assured me that she had someone on the way to help but thanked me for checking.  I really did it to be nice, but also I had been thinking maybe if I change her tire she might offer to take me to the closest McDonald's!  Ha, hiker mentality!  I raced the sunset to the next shelter and passed over a mountain just as a fire red sun dropped below the horizon.  Just a tenth of a mile further and I made the shelter.  I haven't needed my headlamp for hiking since back at Fontana Dam!  I got in and had enough time to set up my tent and hang the bear bag before dark.  Today was a tough day but I was feeling good!  I felt like I had my mojo back!  With the late start and the breaks I took I had done 28 miles in just a little over 10 hours of hiking!  I think the biggest thing was the trail opened up a bit.  There was no boulder climbing and instead of playing hopscotch with ankle breakers, the trail was more dirt and level than rocks.  There was still a lot of ups and downs, but I was able to push through and have a good day.  Looking forward to tomorrow!

The AT Zoo

June 14.  Woke up in my tent.  Unfortunatley I had set it up on uneven ground and I was sliding down the hill all night.  I was pretty tired still but figured it was light out and time to get moving.  I packed up and hit the trail by 6:30.  It was another tough morning dealing with the rocks and ups and downs.  I made it up to a lookout point where if I looked far out to the east I could see the skyline of New York City.  It was pretty hazy, but I could see it!  Later I climbed Bear Mountain and went up in a big lookout tower and got some great views of the mountains and the NYC skyline again.  Down the hill from there was Fort Montgomery and the AT Trailside Museum and Zoo.  The guide book said AT Thru-Hikers got free admission to the zoo, which was good considering the trail goes right through it!  I headed down the mountain and envisioned the scernaro.  The hikers get free admission, I would walk up to the ticket line, they would see my pack and smell me and move me over to the special thru-hiker line.  I would be let in a special hiker side door where I would enter a woods-like setting.  All the while a guide outside the bear cage would be saying to the audience, "Now watch the thru-hiker in his natural habitat.  See how he tried to scramble up the large rocks and boulders?  See how he eats candy bars and drinks from the stream?  See how he goes to the bathroom behind the tree?  No!  Don't watch that part.  Now watch carefully has he runs in circles as the bear chases him around the cage.  This hiker didn't bring his bear spray because it was too 'heavy'!  Ha!  Funny hiker!"  And that would be how I would get my free admission!  It didn't do down like that though.  I came down off the mountain and into a recreation area.  I walked through a tunnel and directly into the zoo.  I don't know for sure but it seemed like everyone had free admission...not just smelly hikers.  The zoo was nice.  I saw bears, coyotes, snakes and frogs, and all of the other animals I have seen on the trail.  The only animals they didn't have were deer...not sure why they got skipped.  All morning I had been hoping for some good zoo food, but unfortunately there were no vendors.  In front of the bear pen I hit the lowest spot on the AT, 120 feet above sea level.  I passed through the zoo and walked over the Bear Mountain Bridge over the Hudson River.  Another 5 miles brought me to a busy intersection with a gas station and some great food and soda.  I ordered a hamburger, fries, and a vanilla Coke and plugged my phone in to charge and sat at a picnic table outside.  I talked to a local guy for a bit and after asking me lots of questions about the trail he said "You inspired me...it is 3:45 and I don't want to work any longer today...I think I will just go home now and spend the night grilling out with my family.  Work can wait, you only have one life to live and I'm gonna live it!"  So he took off and I went back in for a salad and orange juice.  I stayed there for a good hour and a half and then took off down the trail.  I didn't know how far I would go, New York had the rules about camping in designated spots only and I didn't want a ticket.  A mile later I hit a church retreat park that allows hikers to camp for free.  It was either this or another 9 miles to a 1 mile side trail to a state park.  It was only 5 PM but I had hiked 22 miles so I stopped and relaxed for the night.  I set up my tent in a wide open field and got off my feet to rest.  I figured we'd take another stab at getting up early tomorrow and putting in a nig mileage day.  We will see if the trail cooperates!

I may have forgotten to mention that when Amy came to visit I traded out some gear.  My Fly Creek tent (2 pounds 9 ounces) was replaced with a ZPacks Hexamid tent, 1 pound.  My shoes that made it 1,300 miles were replaced with Brooks trail runners.  These were lighter and breathable.  The other shoes had GoreTex but when they got really soaked they stayed wet for a long time.  I like the trail runners now, they get wet easily but they dry quickly and don't beat up my feet so bad!  I also sent home a few other items, including my second pair of underwear.  I only have one pair now, and since my running shorts have a built in liner I am not even wearing that pair of underwear!  We will have to see if I hang onto them as well or if I ditch them for the extra weight.

Hello New York!

June 12.  Happy Birthday to my wife Amy!  I woke up in my tent this morning in the back lawn of the local tavern...guess there is a first time for everything!  The tent spot was free, which was nice, but the thing about sleeping behind a tavern is that it is too easy to stay at the bar until late and just walk out back and go to sleep, and that is what I did.  I had a burger and beer on my own, caught up on some things, then when I was getting ready to head out back and go to bed at a decent hour a local guy offered to buy me a drink.  I turned down the shot but went with the beer.  I stayed in the bar until almost midnight talking and hanging out with a lively crowd.  It was really hopping for a weeknight, I was impressed!  I went out back and set up my tent and until everyone left and the bar shut down I could hear music and people having a good time.  Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep.  I was still up and moving by 5:30 though and heading back to the trail by 6.  The trail this morning took a walk through a nature preserve, a big swamp area.  It was early in the morning and really quiet and I had the opportunity to watch a doe and two fawns walk across the marsh, eating and playing in the water.  That was pretty cool!  I hiked on through the morning but by 11 AM I was not feeling well.  My feet hurt, my pack was heavy with 4 days of food, and I had already gone to the bathroom in the woods 4 times!  I stopped at a farm store 0.1 miles off the trail and ordered a 3 scoop cup of ice cream and a root beer.  Lots of hikers came pouring in behind me and the lady running the store warned us that the forecast for the afternoon was rain storms and she invited us to hang out and stay dry in their pavalion as long as we wanted.  I had only hiked 10 miles and I didn't want to stop but rain made me think twice.  We had noticed a sign for a church hostel down the street, it said "3 miles down the road, the church closest to Burger King."  Now that is some hiker targeted marketing!  Unfortunately, with the New Jersey hitch hiking laws (it is illegal) and the rain and a 3 mile walk on the road, Burger King was not enough to entice us.  I headed out and made the 5 miles to the next shelter by 3 PM.  It was raining a little and I had a choice...stop there and relax for the afternoon in a dry shelter, or press on and make the next shelter 12 miles away.  I decided to move on and started pushing it.  I hit the New Jersey/New York state line and was happy about that, but now I was on the top of boulders and the rain and wind was really moving in.  A note about the rocks.  After PA the rocks never stopped...and the start of New York was on the top of a mountain of rocks!  I don't know if I will ever get away from them!  With the wind and rain the rock scramble/boulder hopping was a bit dangerous.  I had to throw my poles up a few times and pull myself up ledges with my hands.  It was more like climbing through a kids jungle gym at the school playground.  I slipped and fell several times and this section was not one of my favorites for sure.  What made it worse is that I thought I could make the next shelter before dark hiking 3 miles an hour.  With this tough trail I was not going near that fast and I started worrying about losing daylight.  When I hit some flat sections I started trail running and ended up making it to the shelter a little after 7.  I had enough light to set up my tent, get water, eat dinner, and pass out!  It was around a 28 mile day and I was exhausted!

June 13.  It poured rain last night!  Sometime after I fell asleep I woke up to rain dumping on my tent, and the good news is that the new tent held up and kept me dry!  Everything else was wet in the morning...it was one of those mornings when the dripping trees made you think it was still raining but the foggy haze remided you that you were just in the clouds and the trees were covered in water.  I packed up and started hiking.  I was tired from the day before so I had a slow start and as soon as I hit the trail it was back to boulder climbs and dealing with slick rocks.  It was a long morning.  Yesterday on some of the tough rocks and boulders there had been blue blazed sections around as an easier trail.  Most AT hikers stick to the white blaze, but in storms or if you don't want to take the hard rocks there is another option.  In the morning I ran into a 69 year old guy who stayed at the shelter the night before.  We were at a white blaze/blue blaze intersection.  He said some other hikers had told him that the trail up ahead was rough and he decided he was going to take the blue blaze trail.  We parted ways and as I was on the white blaze trail I noticed that it kept curving away from the blue blaze trail, and that it was actually an easy section of trail, no need for a go around.  I pulled out my guide book and figured out that the guy had most likely taken a 5 mile side trail to a lookout tower.  Oh no.  I felt bad...I dropped my pack and ran back the quarter mile or so I had done and started running down the trail he took.  The blue blaze trail was very rocky and I couldn't run fast but I went a good ways and called out his name a few times.  I had no idea how far he had gone and the trail kept going down and my pack was laying beside another trail so I reluctantly turned back.  I hoped later on that he had figured out it wasn't a connector trail and made it back to the AT, or that he at least enjoyed the view from the lookout when he got there.  The trail did get more rocky and I scrambled over some boulder sections where I had to throw my poles up and pull myself up with my arms.  It was physically challenging and mentally though and zapped my energy.  Around lunch I came to some signs for "B Team Trail Magic" and picked up the pace.  I reached the parking lot and found 3 guys with a tent and chairs set up, taking care of hikers.  They said they had a couple of friends a day behind us and every year when their friends do a section hike these guys come along and give trail magic.  I had 5 pancakes, sausage, eggs, and 2 sodas.  It had been one of those mornings and I ended up staying at the trail magic for well over an hour.  I decided it was time to move on and made my was up the hill and through the "Lemon Squeezer", a section where I barely fit through between two boulders, let alone me and my backpack!  When I reached the next shelter around 4:30 PM I stopped, looked at the book, and called it a day.  I had been dragging the past couple of days and thought it might be best to take an evening off.  All in all it was 15 miles over some pretty tough terrain.  I hoped to get some rest and get up early the next morning with some good energy!  I went to bed after 8 PM and the sky was still bright.  Yesterday it started getting dark before 6 because of the rain.  I think the lesson there is I should have stopped early yesterday and hiked a longer day today in the nice weather...but oh well!

Jersey Baby!

June 10.  Amy dropped me off at the trailhead in Deleware Water Gap at 11 AM.  We snapped some pictures and then she was on her way to the airport and I was on my way to Maine, via 900 miles of trails.  I crossed a busy highway bridge over the river and passed lots of people cooking out in the park on a warm summer Sunday.  As I headed up the trail it was more like going to the mall or visiting Disneyland than hitting the Appalachian Trail.  It was the weekend and everyone was out enjoying the woods.  After spending 3 days off trail with Amy in big towns I was feeling like I was missing the solitude of the AT, and this was not helping get it back.  Along the trail in the hot afternoon sun I was making great time when I took a step and heard a rattling sound.  Once I touched the ground after jumping about 10 feet in the air I turned around to see a rattlesnake laying on the side of the trail right where my foot had just been.  I don't know if I just missed it, or maybe I kicked it or stepped on it but somehow it was laying right where I had just stepped but it didn't bite me.  I waited for a long time for any hikers behind me so I could warn them of the danger I had almost stepped on.  Eventually I tossed some dirt over it, hoping that once I left it would be uncomfortable with the dirt on it and leave too.  I knew there were more hikers behind me and thought it would be best for everyone if this guy was gone by the time someone else hiked by.   Not long after the rattlesnake encounter I passed a bush that was rustling.  I looked closely and saw a big, black, beady eye looking up at me.  I could see the outline of a turtle shell and as I pulled away the branches with my trekking pole the turtle jumped forward and bit it!  In just a few miles I was starting to feel like the wildlife was coming after me!  I passed a beautiful glacial pond and as I walked further into the woods the crowds started to shrink.  Before I knew it I was back to walking alone and after several hours I started to actually feel pretty lonely.  I felt like I really missed Amy's company and I wondered what I was doing out here in the middle of the woods without her.  I had worried this might happen after she came to visit me.  I pulled out my guide and decided I needed to push hard to make it to the next shelter before dark so I could see some hiking friends and get myself off being lonely and back into the thru-hiker swing of things.  After crossing a mountain road I started up a hill and heard some noise.  I looked up in time to see two bears running away from me, the first bears I had seen on the AT!  As I approached the shelter I heard another sound off to the side and I looked over about 30 feet in time to see a bear stand up on it's hind legs and look at me over the bushes.  He starred at me for a few seconds, plopped down, and headed off down the hill.  It had been one pretty incredible day for me and the wildlife, I even saw several deer!  I rolled into the shelter around 7:30 and saw some familiar faces.  I set up my new tent for the first time, fiddled with it a bit, and crawled in.  It had been a 25 mile day from 11 AM to 7 PM, and I was tired!  The rain had been spitting on and off all evening so I was back in the woods, in my tent, falling asleep to the sounds of rain drops.

June 11.  Woke up to a successful first night sleeping in my new tent!  I think tomorrow though I should be more careful to not set it up on rocks, and I needed to crumple up my Tyvek sheet so it would sound like a thunderstorm when I fold it up in the morning.  I slept in a bit today trying to catch up on rest.  When I was with Amy we were staying in towns where there was stuff to do after the sun went down.  We were in restaurants and lounges until midnight almost every night, and that is way past "hiker midnight"!  I packed my gear and headed north.  I ran into several hikers throughout the day and learned that Unionville, NY had a tavern where you can camp for free at night in the lawn behind the building.  The town would be about a 28 mile day for me, but I needed to resupply on groceries anyways so I made that my goal.  The resupply is interesting in NJ and NY since hitch hiking is illegal in these states.  I passed several towns today, but they were all more than 2 or 3 miles off the trail, and with no hitching that could be a 5 or 6 mile trip.  Instead I've been looking for towns closer to the trail and Unionville was only 0.7 miles away.  I know some other hikers who skipped a resupply box because of the hitch hiking laws...at this point I am enjoying the freedom to resupply when and where I want and can!  I hiked hard through the afternoon.  The New Jersey trails were not easy...most were way overgrown and full of rocks, and when they are overgrown it makes it really hard to see the rocks...awesome.  I passed lots of old stone walls in the woods too.  With the thousands of rocks they used to build the stone walls I couldn't believe that there were any rocks left on the trail, but there were!  In the late afternoon the trail passed through a marsh or swamp area and I was glad I could walk on an elevated walkway.  I made it to the road into town around 6:30, stopped and picked up 4 days of food, and headed to the tavern for dinner.  Today was a really tough day, I have been feeling pretty homesick since Amy left.  I really miss her company and wish I could be home with her and our dog Pre, but, picking up the groceries, planning to make it to Kent, CT on 4 days of food, setting a crazy goal to do four 30 mile days, thinking about gutting it out on the trail...I started feeling better.  I started feeling like I was getting back in the groove of things, putting down miles, and getting closer to home.  I was getting the energy back!

3 Days With Amy

June 7.  Amy called and said that she was at the post office waiting for me...unfortunately I was also at the post office, just in one town over.  Once we got that worked out she picked me up and we went to the Water Gap Diner for a big breakfast.  I was still in my wind pants and sleeping shirt, but at least I had showered and I wasn't wearing my smelly clothes.  After breakfast we drove to the town of Jim Thorpe and started walking around.  It is a nice old town with lots of history and Amy found an authentic English restaurant that served proper English tea.  We stopped in and she had tea and I had an IPA from a brewery in Breckenridge, CO.  The owner of the place came out to meet the guy who ordered his strongest IPA for breakfast and we started talking about weddings in England, the trail, and the town.  Another couple in the restaurant from Florida joined in on the conversation and we had a blast swapping stories and hanging out.  After breakfast we walked up to the Harry Packer Mansion and took the grand tour of the house.  If you ever have the chance to see it, do it!  We really enjoyed the tour and our guide was an incredibly nice guy.  After the tour we left Jim Thorpe but we really had fun meeting a lot of nice people there.  We drove over to Hamburg, PA and walked through the huge Cabela's store.  The place was giant!  There where stuffed animals all over the store and there was a whole room dedicated to deer and with more than 50 stuffed deer, some world record setting deer, I think I may have seen more wildlife in Cabela's than I have seen on the entire trail!  I looked over the camping and hiking gear...they had an ultralight tent, only 5 pounds!  Hard to compete with my new 1 pound tent!  If I was hunting and fishing along the AT I probably would have bought a lot of gear, but long distance hiking is a little different.  We stayed in a hiker hotel in Hamburg and I loaded up on a hiker hamburger and fries for dinner. 

June 8.  Woke up and headed to Potsville, PA to take a tour of the Yuengling brewery.  Before we left I did my laundry so the car wouldn't smell so bad.  The brewery tour was fun!  And, it was really Amy's idea!  I know what you are thinking mom, let Amy do what she wants to do on her vacation to see me...I told her I didn't need to see the brewery!  She insisted we should!  We actually did have a lot of fun, learned a lot, and met a guy who graduated from Ball State in the 70's, small world!  After the tour we headed north to Scranton, PA, which I guess is where the TV show "The Office" is based.  I am not sure what else the town does...something about an electric railroad.  We stayed in a hotel downtown and spent the night at a seafood bar with live music and great food!

June 9.  On our last day together we took it easy.  Amy drove me to Wal-Mart so I could buy groceries.  We went to a park so I could test out setting up my new tent, and we went back to the hotel and spent some time relaxing in the pool and hot tub.  This was the life...I didn't have to carry a backpack or hike anywhere...but I would tomorrow.  I thought that could be trouble.

June 10.  We woke up in Scranton and packed my gear and Amy's suitcases.  I had new shoes and a new tent.  I hoped to have a new backpack but the one I ordered just wouldn't work.  We drove down to Deleware Water Gap and had breakfast at the Water Gap Diner again.  Amy had a flight to catch so she drove me back to the trail.  I also had some trail magic from our friends Nick, Kari, and Kat...they sent me some Fairytale Brownies!  I grabbed the brownies and stuffed them in my food bag and got a picture with the box and the AT sign.  I hugged Amy, I wasn't ready to see her go, but every day we spent together now was one more day longer until I would be home.  I grabbed my pack and she got back in the car to head to the airport.  We both had to cross the same highway bridge, she in the car, me walking.  I saw her go by and she called me later and said as she drove by she thought "That looks like a pretty legit hiker...oh, that's Chris!"  So I guess that is good...at least I look legit, I was happy to see Amy for 3 days, and I had less than 900 miles to go.  Back to the trail!

Rocks + Rain = PA

NOTE:  This  blog post includes a lot of information...it is kinda long.  Since I know everyone has a busy life if you don't have time to read it all I totally understand!  I'll sum it up quickly...Rocks, Rain, and Pennsylvania.  PA was all rocks and a lot of rain...that's about it!  That state drove me nuts, I made the state line though and when Amy drops me back off at the trail I'll be hiking in New Jersey!  Before you close this, scroll down a check out a few pictures.  Have a fantastic day!

June 2. I woke up early and packed my gear and headed across the street to Goodies when they opened at 6 AM. I ordered another big breakfast and headed to the trail at 7. The trail takes the scenic route through Duncannon before crossing a large freeway bridge and heading back up into the mountains.  Lots of people were setting up for a city-wide garage sale and a few people were preparing for a Trail Festival later in the day to celebrate Duncannon as an official AT Trail Town. I crossed the bridge, ran through a ton of very sticky spider webs, and got squawked at by a big hawk that was sitting on a light pole. Every time I took a step forward it made noise, if I stopped, it stopped. Later in the day I found out that other people had worse problems as it nomrally dive bombs hikers as they tried to cross the bridge. It was a long climb back up to the ridge but the rain storm the night before had really knocked down the temperatures. I ran into Jeff, the guy I hadn't seen since Springer Mountain, at the first shelter and we hiked together for almost 30 miles, and he did it all in Chaco sandles!  Later in the day I ran into two hikers that I hadn't seen since Georgia as well and hiked with them. It has been a lot of fun to catch up with people now 1,000 miles later and see how they are doing! The day rolled along pretty easily, I sat down and took a break at 2 PM, wondering why I felt so tired. I looked at the book and I had already hiked 18 miles, that was probably why! We hiked on through the rest of the day and around 7 PM found a flat spot to camp. It was another 12 hour hiking day and a 30 mile day for me. My ankle hurt most of the day but I was able to push on. After dinner I crawled in my tent, happy to take some time to relax!

The gnats the past few weeks have started to become annoying. They like to fly in little circles in front of my face as I hike, which isn't a problem. Every so often though, one takes a kamikaze dive into one of my eyeballs...and that is a problem! The other problem is when the fly directly up my nose...they typically don't come back out!

June 3. It was chilly last night! I woke up twice during the night and added layers until I had on everything that I have with me, including tights and a long sleeve shirt I plan to give to Amy when she visits later this week! Maybe getting rid of those will be a bad idea... I slept in until a little after 6 and I got up and broke camp and filled water and was on the trail a little after 7. It was a chilly morning so I started in my wind pants, rain coat, and fleece hat, but it didn't take long to shed the layers. Not long after starting I passed a sign by the river showing how a new filtration system there helps to reduce the pH values of the water so it doesn't kill off the fish. So the water below the filter is where the fish can live...but I had been drinking the water from above it, where the fish die. I sure hope my SteriPEN works!

The trail was though today. Most of it was flat and boring. It was boring because we started to hit the rocks of Pennsylvania so I had to constantly be looking down to see where the rocks were and try to place my foot on a flattish spot. I was on a ridge and off to the side there were views of the PA valleys, but all I remember seeing was rocks and dirt as it passed under my feet. In the afternoon it got even worse! Now it was a flooded trail! The trail must flood often because there were numerous side trails blazed along both sides of the flooded trail. The problem was that with all of the rain recently even most of the side trails were flooded! I crossed one tough section and lost my footing and fell sideways. Somehow I caught myself with my hands as they sank a few inches into the muck and water. The weight of my pack shifted and I could hardly hold my face above the water! Luckily I got through that with only muddy shoes and a muddy leg...I am glad I didn't fall all the way in! After that I thought to myself maybe it would be better to deal with the rocks again. Well, soon I did have to deal with the rocks again, and the water, all at once! To add to it we were back in an afternoon severe thunderstorm warning, great! I did get rained on a little around 5, but I kept pushing on and at at 7:30 I arrived at the shelter, a 32 mile day and I was beat! I set up my tent and had dinner. I crawled in my tent and used my emergency blanket under me and layers over me, it was going to be another chilly night. All in all it was a good day though, I passed 1,184 miles (which means I have less than 1,000 to go) and I camped at mile 1,202!

It is a good thing Amy is coming to visit me this week! I think my gear knows it too, it is all starting to have problems! My watch has a leak and I can barely read the time through the water drops inside it. My shoes have 1,200 miles on them and have seen better days. My socks have all acquired holes in them in the past few days. My tent even has a few holes in the rain fly! It looks like burn marks from ashes from a camp fire but I haven't had a fire for a long time, so I'm not sure how they got there.

June 4. I woke up early and packed my tent and stopped by the shelter to sign the log before hiking on. When I got there Jeff was there as well, I thought he was in front of me! He told me that early in the afternoon the day before he took a 0.1 mile side trail to a nice shelter where you can order pizza...he decided to order a large and he walked back to the AT and put a note on his trekking pole that said "Tarzan, come down to the shelter for pizza!". Well, at some point another hiker picked up this guy's poles and took them down to the shelter and in the 20 minutes that the poles were gone I had passed by and my buddy got his large pizza and had to eat it all by himself! I thought for sure all day he was ahead of me, and he did too, but he eventually pulled into the shelter after dark after taking it slow all afternoon and waiting for me to catch up. In the morning we hiked out together but at the next town he was taking off east to go see a friend for a few days. I passed through the small town of Port Clinton around noon and thought seriously about walking 2 miles off the trail to go to McDonald's for a Big Mac meal. The trail leads under the freeway and then the book said that civilization (McDonald's, Wal-Mart, and more) was just a short 2 mile walk down the 4 lane freeway. I took one look down the highway and decided that I absolutely did not want to walk 4 miles today along the side of the busy turnpike. Instead I kept pushing on, besides, Amy would be here in a few days and I could get all the McDonald's I wanted then!

The trail was rocky again, and I suspected it would be for the next several days. Around 5 PM I passed a shelter, a nice shelter that was fully enclosed and had a caretaker, but I thought it was still a little too early and the next shelter was only 7.6 miles away. Typically I can judge my hiking speed around 3 miles an hour, so 7.6 miles would take just over 2.5 hours, putting me in camp just after 7:30 PM. The trail took off up a steep incline and almost as soon as I started up the rain moved in and dumped on me the entire climb up the mountain. I was soaked when the trail finally turned flat, and on the way up I realized that I forgot to take into account that I was in Pennsylvania and that the trail would probably be all rocks and boulders at the top of the mountain ridge. As I started slowly making my way along the rocks and boulders that were now wet and slick from the rain it started to really hit me that it was in the evening and I was probably out on this mountain alone. I was still a few miles from the shelter and most of these mountain tops were so rocky there were few flat places to camp. For some reason it was a really lonely feeling and I actually started to feel a little frantic and concerned that I might have gotten myself in too deep. But, I just decided that I would make it to the shelter tonight even if I had to dig out my headlamp and take it slow over the wet rocks. At one point I did slip and fall on one of the large rocks. I sort of did the splits a bit but ended up flat on my behind without hurting myself. There were so many rocks around though that as I turned to get up my feet slipped again and I ended up on my back, the getting up might be the hardest part! I eventually passed another hiker heading to the same shelter as I was, so that made me feel better. We leapfrogged a few times and I pulled into the shelter around 8 PM as the skies were getting dark. I headed down to get water and when I returned to the shelter J.D. was just arriving. We survived the pouring rain and rocks and made it to the Allentown Hiking Club shelter, a really nice shelter, where only three of us took refuge for the night, giving us plenty of space to spread our wet gear out. We all fell asleep pretty easily that night, for me it was another 30+ mile day.

On a side note, since I don't hike with and iPod or anything to keep me occupied I have recently been getting some random songs stuck in my head. It typically is one song per day, but it comes out of nowhere. Today it happened to be Will Smith's intro song to the TV show "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" that I sang over and over to myself, it got very old...

Random Trail Thought: That must have been a very expensive taxi ride for the Fresh Prince from West Philadelphia to Bel-Air.

June 5. Woke up in the shelter dry but a little cold. In the shelter I don't feel like I can keep as much heat around me as I do in my tent, but it is nice to start dry! J.D. was up early so I got moving and ate my breakfast on the go. I had a decent day hiking down into the Leigh Gap area. There were no services near the trail but I stopped in an old parking lot of an empty commercial building and took off my shoes and socks and had lunch. I could see a huge mountain of rocks and boulders across the bridge and I figured this was the crazy rock climb that I had seen in all of the YouTube videos before I started the tral. I crossed the bridge and started up, yup, I was right! It was a tough climb/scramble up the rocks and the only thing I was happy about was not doing it in the rain! There were some great views from the top and I got some nice pictures. The trail then crossed a ridge line and the Palmerton EPA Superfund Site where a century of zinc smelting in Palmerton had devastated the landscape. There were some smaller trees and grasses growing, but it was an interesting stretch of trail. Along this section I walked over a dead baby deer laying in the middle of the trail. At least I thought it was dead. I heard later from a hiker behind me that when he passed it the fawn was still barely breathing. We read some posts in the next trail log that a few hikers before us had the "most amazing day" when they got to play with and pick up and hold a baby deer. Of course, they must have gotten their human scent all over the fawn and the mother never came back for it...so it was the time of their life but it took the fawn's life.

The trail kept stretching on and I passed a guy I hadn't seen since the Smoky Mountains around 5 PM camped near a spring. The spring was a half mile down off the trail and the next shelter was still a few miles away, so I pushed on ahead. As it grew closer to dusk I started to feel delirious from a full day of hiking, constantly looking down at my feet and the rocks, and just being tired. My shoes were starting to dig into my ankles and rubbed the skin raw around the tops. Every step hurt, but every step got me closer to camp. The rocks had taken a toll on my trekking poles as well and now both of the metal tips on the ends were gone. I had lost one a few days ago, so instead of "tap, tap, tap, tap" it was "tap, thud, tap, thud". Well, now it is just "thud, thud, thud, thud", oh well! I finally rolled into the shelter around 7:45 PM and a trail angel had hiked in three 12 packs of soda! I drank one quickly, filled up with water, pitched my tent, and crawled in. I was exhausted, the day had been a 33.5 mile day! I was happy though, town was only 20 miles away and the next day Amy would be there to pick me up!

June 6. Woke up cold again around 4 AM. I put on the extra clothes that I would be giving to Amy tomorrow, that warmed me up a bit. Around 5 AM I decided it was too cold and I may as well get moving, today is the day I finish Pennsylvania! I had talked to the other hikers in the shelter the night before when I arrived and it was a common theme...we were all really looking forward to putting Pennsylvania behind us! We had heard about the Pennsylvania rocks for a long time and they were tough! Of course, the rocks probably would not just stop all together at the PA/NJ state line, I wish they would, but we would probably be dealing with rocks for the next 20 or 30 miles into New Jersey, but at least they would be New Jersey rocks! It would be a mental win to finish PA today! I packed my gear and hit the trail before 6 AM, 20 miles to the Delaware Water Gap and the New Jersey state line! A few minutes into the hike I came across a gap in the woods for a power line and had a great view of the sunrise. I relaxed there for a bit and enjoyed the view and had my breakfast of 2 packs of pop tarts and an orange soda from the trail magic the night before. A great start to my last day in PA with a beautiful views, clear skies, and a nice temperature. OK Pennsylvania, maybe we can be friends. The hiking was more of the same though. Rocks, boulders, and not much else. I was having a rough go of it until I made it to the last shelter before town when I ran into "Q", the hiker that Aunt Karen, Seat Belt, and I gave a ride to the trail in Waynesboro, VA before we started our hike a few weeks ago. I knew that "Q" was fast and I had been trying to catch him for the past few weeks. We ended up hiking together for the last 6 miles to town and that really helped make the time go by. When we finally hit the streets of Delaware Water Gap at 2 PM it was 20 miles done, and another state down. Jersey baby!

"Q" and I headed to the outfitter, he wanted to try on some new shoes. After that we walked down to the Doughboy Pizza place and got a slice of pizza, a big salad, and a big beer to celebrate the end of PA! While we were eating it started pouring rain and "Q" decided to stay at the Presbyterian Church of the Mountain Hostel with me for the night. The church hosts a hostel in the basement and an overflow shelter out back. Before heading there we ordered another 6 pack of beer and decided to relax for awhile. Around dinner a section hiker came in with a trail angel from Duncannon. At the same time my other buddy J.D. walked in and ordered a pizza and 6 pack of his own. It turns out JD did the same 34 miles as me yesterday and had put his tent up near mine last night but he arrived after me and I left before him this morning and had no idea he was there. He had also thought about hiking on into New Jersey but we all bought more pizza and beer and hung out there until they kicked us out around 9 PM. By the time we got to the church all of the bunks were full and everyone was asleep so the 3 of us took the overflow lean-to shelter in the back of the church parking lot...nothing like some good city camping! I had a lot of fun today with these guys, celebrating finishing Pennsylvania, talking about gear, and talking about other trails, so I will be looking forward to catching back up with them after a few days off with Amy!

Pennsylvania was 229 miles of the Appalachian Trail. I entered PA on May 29 and finished the state on June 6, 9 days (8 days of hiking, 1 zero day). My mileage through the state was pretty good as well, especially considering the rocky terrain! The first day was 19.5 miles and I had lunch in town and resupplied groceries. The rest of the days were 32.2 miles, 31.7 miles, 0 miles (Duncannon), 29.2 miles, 32.6 miles, 31.2 miles, 33.5 miles, 20.4 miles to the state line. Not bad! My feet and body hurt but I'm happy to be done and looking forward to a few days off!

June 7. We woke up early in the shelter behind the church. "Q" and I walked down to the gas station and had a gourmet breakfast of a cheese danish, gas station coffee, and orange juice. "Q" and J.D. both packed their gear and prepared to hit New Jersey...it was a weird feeling that I wouldn't have to hike today, and I was looking forward to a few days off! The church did not offer any laundry services and the town didn't have a laundromat so I would have some smelly clothes, but the church did have a shower and I thought I should probably at least do that before Amy picked me up! Amy called me and said she would be there in a few minutes so I said bye to the hikers and walked to the post office to wait for her. I waited there and she called back a few minutes later and said she was there...but I didn't see her! We tried to figure this out and it turned out she was at the Wind Gap post office and I was at the Delaware Water Gap post office, about 20 minutes away. So she headed my way and I waited on the street as the sleepy, small town woke up. I saw Amy drive past me in the rental car and turn up the street to the post office. I started walking towards her and I could tell that she didn't totally recognize me at first, but eventually she figured out it was me with the long hair and mountain man beard and she stopped and I threw my life's contents in my backpack into the back seat and we headed to breakfast to kick off a great weekend of hanging out together in Pennsylvania!