It’s been much too long since I posted a Trail update, so I’ll keep this kind of short even though it covers quite a few days and over 92.8 miles.
On June 27 I left the Free State Hiker Hostel and crossed some nice Maryland farmland and got my first taste of what the rocks would end up being like in Pennsylvania. I hiked a very short 5.7 miles this day to Devils Racecourse Shelter. Funny how it seems the shortest days are those when I leave town.
June 28 I finally crossed the Mason-Dixon line into Pennsylvania. I made it a short day again, 7.8 miles, and hitched into Waynesboro, where I holed up in a hotel again to try to finish some work. Wound up staying there two nights.
June 30 I finally left town and went back to the Trail. I wasn’t able to hitch a ride out of town, so I wound up walking the whole 5 miles back to the trailhead. Counting this, I hiked 17.5 miles to the Rocky Mountain Shelters.
July 1 I took another short day, hiked only 3.2 miles to Caledonia State Park, where I had lunch at the snack bar and then went to hunt down a motel room in nearby Fayetteville. Here I discovered that Pennsylvania has some bizarre laws about the sale of alcohol. You can only buy packaged beer from a beer distributor, in cases of 24 or more, or from a bar, where you can buy six-packs. There was a beer store but no bar that I could find, so I passed. I have no idea how you would go about buying liquor. I did get some more work done that day.
July 2 I left and hiked 10 miles to Birch Run Shelter. Along the way I passed Quarry Gap Shelters, which was one of the nicest setups I’ve seen yet.
Thursday I made 9.9 miles to Pine Grove Furnace State Park, where I took (and failed) the half-gallon challenge. Since this is the approximate midpoint of the Trail, hikers who come through here attempt to eat a half-gallon of ice cream at one sitting. I only saw one of four other people who tried it actually succeed. This night I stayed at the Ironmasters Mansion hostel, a former station on the Underground Railroad. Much of the Trail through Pennsylvania passes near or through private property.
For July 4th I hung around the state park that morning, waiting for the rain to let up, which ultimately it never quite did. I hiked out shortly after noon and made 7.4 miles to the James Fry shelter, where I got in from the rain. This aversion to getting wet accounts for a lot of my short days, though I guess I should get over it; it’s so hot that I’m drenched in sweat all day every day anyway. I saw the old midpoint marker (the actual midpoint is south of here now).
Saturday I left and, since it was raining on and off again, and this section was extremely rocky, went only 8.7 miles to the Alec Kennedy shelter. This section was the first time I had to throw the hiking poles up and climb rocks with my hands. I also saw a sign saying that the government had sprayed for gypsy moths, but ironically they have been everywhere for the last week or so and I’ve hardly been able to get them out of my face.
Sunday I passed through Boiling Springs and saw the (closed) ATC office, then hiked on to Middlesex Township, for 12.6 miles, where I got a hotel room, and stayed over Monday. Good thing I did since it rained virtually all day Monday, with lots of thunderstorms thrown in for good measure. This section passes through the Cumberland Valley and much of it passes next to active farmland. Hint to hikers: The Flying J truckstop here has an AYCE buffet at its restaurant.
Yesterday I left Middlesex after getting a late breakfast at the diner across the street from the hotel, and went 7.2 miles to Darlington Shelter. Along the way I ran across some bridge construction and chatted with one of the construction crew there about the Trail ahead. He advised me that the descent into and ascent out of Port Clinton were “knee-breakers.” I got in early in the afternoon, but minutes after I arrived the thunderstorms rolled in and kept on rolling, so I decided to stay. Wnen I arrived, there was a snake in the shelter. We had a chat and I convinced it that it would be best for it to leave, which it did. After it started raining I saw a frog hop by. As far as I know, the snake ate it.
Today I called it a short day again, getting into Duncannon early this afternoon after hiking 11.3 very rocky miles.
I’ll be spending tomorrow here as well, partly to dry out and partly to bleed off some time. There’s a method to my madness here: I have to be in New York City next Friday, and I’ll be catching a bus from Port Clinton to get there. But it’s only 70 miles up the Trail from here, so without the short and zero days, I would overshoot it, but wouldn’t make it far enough to get to the next town (Delaware Water Gap) where I could catch a bus into the city.
My next update will probably be from Port Clinton, or if I can’t find Internet access there, from NYC. Once this conference is over I’ll be back on the Trail and won’t have any other commitments to take me off the Trail, so I can get down to the business of hiking, and perhaps make up some of this very lost time.