Month: October 2013

Miles today: 22.9
Total miles: 1091.9

We were up early due to the sounds of the taunting ducks. It was supposed to be super hot today– a predicted high of 87. I was anxious to get the miles out of the way for that reason and also to get to Pine Grove Furnace before the store there closed. Why you ask? Pine Grove Furnace is where hikers do the half gallon challenge. It’s located right near the halfway point of the trail and hikers eat a half gallon of ice cream in one sitting as tradition. People time themselves and try to do it as quickly as possible. In the summer the store is open everyday but since its October it is only open on weekends now. It just so happened that I was passing by on a weekend so I took that as a sign I must do it.

It was almost 20 miles to Pine Grove Furnace and they were very hot and sweaty miles. I don’t know how I walked through a heat wave back in Maine. I guess since I didn’t know anything different at the time it didn’t feel so bad. But now, having hiked in cooler weather, the heat (and humidity) is tough. Im glad it is not like this everyday.

Blondie, Flaco and I got to Pine Grove Furnace by 3 or so to find Delta had already successfully completed his half gallon challenge. They didn’t do actual cartons of ice cream. Rather, the girl working at the store had to scoop the ice cream by hand into two cups. It definitely seemed like less than a half gallon but oh well. Unfortunately since its so late in the season they only had vanilla left. That probably would’ve been my last choice flavor. But I took it as an added challenge to do a flavor I dislike. While waiting in line at the store I talked with some teachers in town for an ATC training about how to incorporate the outdoors in their classrooms. I talked to them very briefly so I was surprised when one of them offered to pay for my half gallon for me. So nice. I ended up eating mine fairly casually since it wasn’t really a half gallon and we all were a little disappointed by that. However I was sure not to eat TOO casually… I made sure to beat Blondies time of 17 minutes by doing mine in 15. Flaco claims he beat me but he didn’t time himself so who knows. We were obviously all still hungry after so we got burgers and fries. Then a nice day hiker gave us leftover food she had: marshmallows and pumpkin praline brownies–which were SO good and tasted like fall (I got made fun of for saying that buy I stand by it).
After all that eating we then had there or four miles to hike to the shelter. I was actually full of energy and the miles flew by. We passed the halfway point which was so exciting! Or well it was a halfway marker from 2011… The mileage of the trail changes slightly each year so our “real” halfway wasn’t for a couple more miles but this was the only spot with a marker so I celebrated as if it were our actual halfway.

We got to the shelter.. Or rather set of shelters, there were two smaller ones next to each other.. As it was getting dark. There were two other sobos there, sumo (a girl!!) and mr blue sky. I’d met them way back in Rutland VT before I got off trail. It felt good to catch more people and see familiar faces.

I’m writing this a while after this day actually happened and I just recently found out one of the two shelters burned down right after we stayed there! Crazy. I don’t think they know how the fire started but it burned totally to the ground only a day or two after we left.

Miles today: 21.6
Total miles: 1069

It was so hot out today–mid 80s. An much of the trail went through fields and farmland, which was nice but especially hot with the sun beating down on us without trees to block it. About 17 miles of the trail passed through the Cumberland Valley. Here the trail is nice and flat so the walking was pretty easy and flew by. I really love the field walks and walks through corn fields–it’s a nice change of pace and seeing the farms is a glimpse into a life far removed from what I’m used to. The trail goes right through Boiling Springs PA where there is an ATC branch office. It was closed though due to the government shut down. Oh well.

Blondie, Delta and I went to get food at a local pizza place (Flaco was behind us bc he stopped at an earlier road crossing to get a milkshake). On the way into the restaurant a couple asked where we were hiking and when we said to Georgia they grew so excited and wished us the best of luck. We only talked to them for a minute or two so we were surprised when the man came over to our table a couple minutes later and gave us $20 to use for our hike. It was so unexpected and so incredibly generous. Seriously, I cannot say it enough, I am amazed at the selfless generosity of strangers throughout this hike. We decided to use the communal $20 to spend solely on appetizers. We got cheesy bacon fries, garlic bread, pizza fries, and onion rings. Flaco showed up just in time to help us eat it all. Then we ate our meals. Hiker hunger at its best.

Flaco, Blondie and I needed to resupply so we walked a mile to the grocery store as it grew dark out. Delta didn’t need food so he set out three miles for the next shelter. After we got our food, it was late, around 8 or so. We had planned to go to a campsite only 0.5 miles away but we saw a note in the trail register that said freight trains WILL wake you up. Soo we slept in a gazebo right next to the ATC building basically in the town center. Nearly definitely against the rules but oh well. We regretted our decision in the morning when none of us had slept well due to geese honking the entire night. To make matters worse their honks sounded exactly like taunting laughter so it was like we were being made fun of all night. Rough life.

Miles today:4
Total miles 1047.4

We planned to go about 11 miles today after resupplying and doing laundry in town. We got up and had some delicious breakfast where we ran into even more SOBOs: Han SOBO and Noodles who had just gotten back on trail after a wedding, skipping ahead to Duncannon from CT. it’s great to be catching up to more people after feeling behind for so long. As is usual in town we were being lazy and slow moving and took a while to buy the food we needed and do our laundry. It was also so incredibly hot out for October–mid 80s and humid, so we were less than motivated to hike. I looked up what time the ice cream place opened and when we found out it was 2 we decided to wait around for it. I had a delicious two scoop cone. Both Blondie and Delta had a milkshake AND two scoops of ice cream. Then we had to hike. Which started with of course a nice big uphill out of town. It was so humid and hot that we all got so sweaty immediately, almost defeating the purpose of us doing laundry in town. Oh well. The guys all convinced me to give in and only do four so we stayed at the first shelter rather than walk seven more, arriving at what would have been a late time, after 7.

Miles today: 22
Total miles: 1043.4

Happy birthday Blondie! Our destination for the day was Duncannon PA. In particular, the Doyle hotel in Duncannon. We’ve been hearing since Maine about how the Doyle is gross and falling apart but how we have to stay there. Apparently it’s a thru hiker tradition. So that’s where we were headed. The day went by pretty quickly. Passed on guy sitting in a sleeping bag on a rock at around 10:30 am and he said hello to me and I said hi back and asked how he was doing and he responded “well I just woke up on this rock so I’m doing great”. Interesting sleeping location choice.

After about 19 miles I got to a road and then had a few miles of road walking to do into town. I was curious what Duncannon would be like. After crossing a bridge over the Susquehanna River, I saw my first glimpses of Duncannon: a gun shop and a strip club. This would be a fun place. Got to the Doyle and found out I was the first to arrive. After 15 minutes during which I chugged water at the bar, Blondie (who’d treated himself to ice cream on the way), Flaco, and Delta showed up. We got rooms and took showers and then got dinner in the restaurant part of the Doyle. The Doyle is over 100 years old and definitely is not the nicest place. We had sheets as our curtains HA. But I really didn’t mind, I was happy to feel clean after my shower and enjoy a nice big burger and fries. After dinner delta and I of course wanted more food so we walked down the street to get ice cream. Delta was super impressive–he ate two huge scoops of ice cream and a milkshake. After dinner the four of us and another new SOBO friend, Potter, hung out on the Doyle’s balcony. We had a good time laughing at some local teens throwing a stick at each other across the street for entertainment.

Miles today: 20.7
Total miles: 1021.4

We originally planned to do about 18 miles today. The terrain was almost entirely flat and way easier than we expected.

It was pretty hot out which made the couple of uphills in particular especially tough. A weird thing happened as I reached a road crossing. A state parks truck pulled up and asked if I’d seen a hiker with a hat on. When I confirmed they meant a straw hat, I told them yes, that was my friend delta. Then then asked if I knew if he was carrying a gun. They had reports of someone carrying an AR15 (which, knowing nothing about guns, I didn’t know how intense a weapon that is). I told them definitely he definitely does not have a gun. That answer seemed to be enough investigation into the matter as they seemed to take it as confirmation absolutely no one was carrying a gun. No idea what ended up happening with that but delta had a good laugh about it when I told him later.
We’d already gone 12 miles or so by 1 pm. Which would mean we’d do the 18 by 3pm. We decided to push on a bit further to the next water source. Blondie, Delta, el Flaco and I camped there and enjoyed finishing a bit earlier than usual. Went to bed looking forward to getting to Duncannon tomorrow and for Blondies birthday.

Miles today: 19.2
Total miles: 1000.7

Not too much to report today. Beautiful fall day hiking. Today marks three months since the day I climbed Katahdin. I guess it’s kind of not a true three month anniversary since I took off two weeks but still it’s an important milestone. I also hit the 1000 mile mark today. That felt so great. I can’t believe I’m in quadruple digits. And that I have walked so far. These last 550 miles since getting back on trail a month ago have flown by. The first 450 seemed to drag on. To be fair, the terrain was much tougher in that first section.

This afternoon we caught up to another SOBO El Flaco. This was particularly exciting for Blondie as Flaco started the day before him and Blondie has been chasing him ever since. Recently he has become obsessive as we got closer and closer and he was so excited to finally meet him. Flaco, who is in his 50s and origibally from MA but lived basically his whole life in the Carolinas, has thru hiked twice before in 2010 and 2011.

Anyway, it was a good day and I’m going to bed feeling proud of having accomplished so many miles.

(I forgot what happened on day 77 that’s worth writing about so I’m skipping it. I’m a bad blogger)

Miles today: 14.7
Total miles: 981.5

We planned to go into town in Hamburg PA to resupply today. We had a pretty easy five or so miles to the road going into Hamburg. I got there to find Blondie sitting waiting. I stood talking to him and not two minutes later a car pulled up asking us if we needed a ride into town. When hitching we always joke that we should just put down our thumbs when fancy BMWs and such drive by as they are unlikely to stop. Well we were proved wrong because this car that stopped for us when we weren’t even hitching was a Mercedes! Score. The guy was friendly and a little rough around the edges (as we put our packs in his trunk with his fishing stuff he said “break the pole and ill bash your head in…. Hahahaha”). We were also told that we smelled worse than a mule. And he said he used to work with mules so he would know. What a nice guy! He dropped us off at Walmart where we resupplied. I was ecstatic to discover a Five Guys in the same plaza as Walmart. I am a five guys fanatic so I freaked out about it. It was Blondies first five guys experience which was exciting too. I was surprised and also disappointed in myself when I could only manage to eat one burger and a regular size fry. We spent some time in town and then headed out around 330 to hike nine miles to the shelter. Like any day that includes five guys, it was a good day.