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September 24th, 2018, Pennsylvania and Maryland

It rained overnight which would be the start of a very wet day. I got another early start from my camp at the tentsite and was on the trail by 5:30am. I hoped to make it a ways before the heavier rain started in the afternoon.

It was misty all day and rain drops came down heavily from the trees whenever the wind blew. With the weather forecast for the night I knew I wanted to stop at a shelter somewhere. I passed a few early in the day then reached the Deer Lick Shelters around 2pm. This was a pair of small, older shelters and one person was already set up inside one. The area around the shelters was very muddy. The next shelter was 9.8 miles away which was a bit farther than I would have liked, but decided to head there anyway.

The trail over the past couple days has been pretty nice and this continued for a couple hours. I reached a marker for the “Mason-Dixon Line,” the border with Maryland.

Just on the other side there was an active train track. As I approached, a train as coming as well. It was a long train and I waited for a few minutes for it to pass.

Several miles later the terrain changed to very rocky and the trail climbed to the top of a rocky ridge. The afternoon rain and wind had started as well, making the progress slow. So the last few miles continued like this and took longer than I expected. I arrived to the shelter about 6pm and found it empty. I made dinner and crawled into bed exhausted. Then, just before dark another hiker arrived. He said his trail name was Big Ben and was a SOBO thru hiker. He is from Maryland and had been off trail a few days and had just returned today.

September 23rd, 2018, Pennsylvania

After a good night’s sleep I hiked the three miles to Green Mountain Store which was just a short distance off of the trail. From the trail itself it was about a ten minute road walk to the store. I picked up about three days of food to get me to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

A couple hours later I entered Pine Grove Furnace State Park. The park stone offers what they call the “Half Gallon Challenge” where you can attempt to eat a half gallon of ice cream in 30 minutes. I had already talked myself out of this some time ago. For one thing, even if you complete the challenge, you still pay for the ice cream and they give you a tiny wooden spoon stamped with half gallon challenge on it. I think this is more popular and fun for NOBOs who arrive in groups and egg each other on. As I stood there in the store alone, I didn’t see the point. I ordered a hamburger instead.

The park also hosts an Appalachian Trail museum but it wasn’t open as I passed by.

Then later I passed a marker for the half way point. I made an entry in the log book at the marker. At this point it seems like I started a long time ago…and there is still half the trail to finish!

September 22nd, 2018, Pennsylvania

After breakfast I said goodbye to Omega and her cat, MooMoo.

The trail started up on a ridge for a few hours then dropped down to a series of farm fields and road crossings. One field I crossed had two beautiful horses grazing in it, plus a man on a tractor cutting the grass.

Then in mid afternoon the trail passed through the town of Boiling Springs. It looked like a nice, quaint little town in great shape. There was an Appalachian Trail Conservancy office in town, right along the trail.

I wished I had allowed some time to wander around the town but was already feeling tired today and decided to sit for a while next to a pond full of ducks and geese. It was right in town and people walking passed me, children played, and a couple kids waded in the clear water.

The late afternoon dragged on and I figured I needed some more rest. I planned to stop a bit short today as soon as I could get water and find a decent place to stop. I reached a good site around 5:30pm and would have reached it much sooner but spent at least 30 minutes talking to Jacqueline, a lady of Jamaican heritage, on the trail. She was day hiking and stopped me to ask questions. It turns out she knew quite a lot about the AT and takes an interest in talking to hikers. She wants to do the whole trail herself someday.

September 21st, 2018, Pennsylvania

I was only a few miles from Duncannon and took my time departing this morning. I was the last to leave and took my time descending to the Susquehanna River valley below. On the way I came across a group of paw paw trees with fruit. I wasn’t sure what I was looking at for a few moments then, exclaimed, “paw paws!?!” out loud. I found a few ready to pick and ate them. They tasted sort of like a cross between banana custard and avocado. Really good.

I ran into Elsie and Autie J at the post office in town. They mentioned they were heading to Goodie’s Restaurant and asked if I’d like to join them. So we met there, just down the street, a few minutes later. It turned out this was a breakfast place and we were just 15 minutes before closing time. The gentleman invited us to come in and locked the door after us. He said he was closing but we were welcome to order and take our time. We ordered breakfast and charged electronics while we sat. After eating I headed out to the newly opened shop across the street called “Kind of Outdoorsy” which has some hiker supplies. As I walked around I noticed Duncannon is a bit threadbare and looks like it has seen better days. It is also home to the Doyle Hotel, a famous and old hiker hotel. But the trail goes straight through town and I was glad it’s here.

Then I continued through town on the trail, then back into the woods, reaching the shelter a few hours later. It was a nice afternoon and I got a couple views back toward town and the rivers.

At the shelter there was a hiker called Omega who was hiking to Boiling Springs then back to Duncannon, but with her 7 month old cat. Apparently, the cat hikes with her and sometimes wants to be carried. The cat, MooMoo was small and adorable and is the first cat I’ve seen on the trail. Then a couple weekend hikers arrived, then a group of maybe 12 scouts. So, in the end, the shelter and tent sites had a good crowd.

September 20th, 2018, Pennsylvania

Today I caught up to Du Jour, Heart Eyes, Sonic, and Babe. We all ended up at the same stopping point this evening, although I spent an hour or so hiking and talking with Du Jour. He and Heart Eyes are meeting her mother in a few days and getting off trail to visit Gettysburg and Washington DC. It turns out Sonic and Babe are catching a bus tomorrow as well—from Duncannon to Washington DC—for a few days as well. So I may or may not run into them again on the trail….I guess you never know.

I will stop through town for a minor resupply and to find somewhere to charge up my electronics. There are lodging options but I don’t think I need another night off trail at this point. Although, after two very long hiking days, I will see how I feel in the morning and reserve the final decision for tomorrow.

September 19th, 2018, Pennsylvania

For some reason I awoke early, maybe 5am. Feeling that I wouldn’t go back to sleep I went ahead and packed up. I got hiking just before 6am with my headlamp lighting the way.

It turned into another beautiful day on the trail and was so quiet that I began to wonder if I would see anyone all day. In the early afternoon I came across a 1000 mile marker made of rocks. And later I did end up passing a couple people hiking in the opposite direction but we didn’t stop to talk.

Late in the day there was a cool old iron bridge over the Swatara River. It was just a footbridge now but I expect it would have been a regular road bridge when it was constructed—in the late 1800s.

September 18th, 2018, Pennsylvania

I got back on my way from the hotel around 1pm. I walked along the road for a while then rejoined the trail which went through a neighboring town, Port Clinton. The trail crossed Reading Railroad property, complete with coal company logos and giant example boulders of their product. Each company’s giant lump of coal looked a little different from the others.

As I was leaving Port Clinton I came across another hiker. His name was Morris and he was hiking from New Jersey to somewhere in North Carolina. I noticed he had shoes tied to the back of his pack but was currently barefoot. He said he liked hiking barefoot and I didn’t get to ask him any more about it. We reached the point where the trail re-entered the forest. I took off my pack to rearrange some things and Morris continued on ahead. Later, up the hill, I caught up with him and passed by. He was proceeding slowly on the small, somewhat sharp rocks.

The trail went back uphill then leveled off and, by 6:30pm, I arrived to an unofficial tent site around 10 miles from town. The afternoon sky had cleared nicely after the rains and the next few days were supposed to be dry.

I hope to reach Duncannon, my next resupply point, within 3 days and, thankfully, the weather forecast appears to support that. I also heard that the number of rocks on the trail tends to diminish after Duncannon, which I’m looking forward to.

September 17th, 2018, Pennsylvania

From my camp near The Pinnacle it was about a four hour hike to the road to Hamburg. It was misty with occasional drizzle so the trail was almost empty. The Appalachian Trail allows dogs to be walked off leash. Quite a few people hike with well behaved dogs off leash. Some dogs run along with their owners. Others walk on a leash. Today I passed an older man on the side of the trail with his dog leashed and tied to a tree nearby. As I approached and said “hi” his dog started barking, then pulling on the leash, then growling and snapping as I tried to pass. They owner said, “he’s friendly, I swear.” The dog was now thrashing and twisting trying to escape the leash in order to be friendly to me. I hurried along. Almost all the other dogs I’ve encountered have been well behaved…

I reached the road and continued another mile or so to Walmart. I bought food for the next few days on the trail, enough for about four more days, plus some fresh food for this evening. I carried it all over to the Microtel where I had made an online reservation earlier in the morning. I was glad the Microtel had a coin laundry in house and got everything cleaned up.

September 16th, 2018, Pennsylvania

Today’s section of trail must be popular with weekend hikers as I ran into people all day long. Early on I came upon a guy staring upwards toward the trees with binoculars. “What do you see up there?” I asked quietly, now looking up myself. “A group of warblers,” he whispered back. “They are migrating during the day and must have stopped here for the night.” I thought that was cool but couldn’t see them myself so hiked away quietly in case they were still sleeping…

Then, at a section of trail called “The Knife’s Edge” I met a mother and son backpacking duo. She said this was her son’s first overnight trip and they were heading back to the car now. Her son was probably nine or ten years old and was making his way down the Knife’s Edge with his large backpack. After they were down I made my way up and along the sideways leaning rocks that give the feature its name.

Before I left the shelter this morning all the others said they were planning on stopping at Eckville Shelter for the night. This is a real cabin with toilet, shower, bunks, and a caretaker. But I reached the road for the shelter at 2:30pm and decided I needed to use the rest of the day. So I continued hiking for a few more hours. I ended up just over 9 miles from the next town. Hamburg has a Walmart less than a mile from the trail so I plan to walk there for resupply tomorrow, then probably straight back on the trail.

Late in the day I happened upon three people painting with what looked like watercolors. They were set up with portable easels and painting away. They were a good way from the road so hiked in to the spot they chose. The place didn’t look special to me but the late afternoon light was kind of dramatic.

Finally I reached “The Pinnacle” and took the short side trail over to see the view.

There were about a dozen others up there and the view of the rolling farmland below was beautiful.

There was also an enormous, man-made pile of rocks nearby. I had heard about this rock pile and that it was a tradition for people to each add their own rock to the pile. Most of the reasonable size rocks in the vicinity must already have been up there because I only found boulders, partially buried rocks that wouldn’t come out, and gravel-size bits and chips of rock. I picked a small piece and tossed it up. I don’t think there is a rock size restriction for the tradition.

September 15th, 2018, Pennsylvania

It was a bit of a slow start for everyone although I was the first to finish up at camp and depart. I said my “see you laters” and set off at 7:30. The trail today alternated between short nice sections and extremely rocky areas.

I noticed one water source was listed as “emergency only” in the trail guide because it was contaminated with “heavy metals.” Then I came across some signs that helped explain the story. It seems there is an old zinc mining operation that is now closed down. The sign explained that it is now an EPA Superfund Site and is undergoing reforestation. The trees in the area did look like they were struggling and many young trees were already dead.

Later there was a long descent down a rock slide with large boulders.

At the top I passed a middle aged lady in street clothes. I said hi as I passed and she joked, “that was so steep I’ve been praying for a bear to eat me up here so I don’t have to go back down!”

It was a good climb down and, about halfway, I came up behind another hiker. He said he was a SOBO thru hiker and was called “Du Jour.” We hiked together the rest of the day and I enjoyed the company. Du Jour was a youngish guy from northwestern Scotland and had come to the US to hike the AT.

At one point during the afternoon there was a copperhead snake hanging out in a leafy area below a rock on the trail. I was hiking ahead of Du Jour and we were talking as I stepped right over it. The snake started moving and thankfully Du Jour saw it and didn’t step on it as it started to move off trail. That was quite exciting and we found ourselves alert for the rest of the day.

I arrived to the shelter before 6pm. Another SOBO hiker called “Heart Eyes” was already at there and waiting for Du Jour to arrive. They had been hiking together for a while. Then a section hiker called “Shawnee” arrived. He is a surgeon from Pennsylvania who lives and works in Salt Lake City. And finally Griffin made his way to the shelter. He said he doubted the others from the shelter last night would make it this far today. There were lots of complaints of sore feet from the rocks this morning and Griffin thought they would probably take it easy today. In the end he was right and no one else showed up.