Pennsylvania Rocks cont.

And by rocks I mean geological not awesomeness.

Tue 31 May Day 82
Another hot night last night. No longer using the sleeping bag, just the thermarest and my sleep sheet.

Earl Grey and I left about 7.15am and headed for Duncannon. After a quick 11miles of normal ups and downs (plus a few rocky stretches) we arrived at a road...but it wasn't marked as the AT! crap! We'd missed a blaze, so we headed back up a hill, found the change in trail and followed the extra half mile up and over a rocky hill, only to be back at the road we were just at!!! THE MOST POINTLESS PIECE OF CHANGED TRAIL. We were a bit sour about that, let me tell you.

But we had made it into town and sat down in the Doyle Hotel (sweat still dripping from all over) and had a beer! Then a pork sandwich! Then had a shower.

The usual town things done and we were back in the bar having another beer and dinner (steak and blue cheese burger). Delicious!

At 8pm it was time for ice cream so I went and got a pint of Ben & Jerry's "Clusterfluff" (peanut butter ice-cream with caramel clusters and marshmallow swirls). My new favorite flavour. I'm glad we didn't have to eat B&J's for half gal challenge (it would have totaled 4800 calories). I don't think I could have processed that much.

We hit 100deg farenheit today (about 40). It's still going to be in the mid 30s for rest of the week. Lots of sweaty T-shirts and pack straps. Nice!

Time for bed. An actual one. Ah, life's luxuries.

Wed 1 Jun Day 83
What a great sleep! The fan was amazing.

Off to Goodies for breakfast - a blueberry pancake as big as a plate and an inch thick plus two pieces of French toast. Yum!

We started out at 9.30am and by then it was stinking hot and 35deg and the 3mi out of town was brutal. Then we hit a hill. It was a sweaty start to the day! So much for the shower!

We saw two perigrin falcons - one of which was dive bombing us as we crossed the bridge out of town and we nearly saw a bear. It saw us and hoofed it through the bushes. Earl Grey caught site of it's black bum as it disappeared.

The shelter tonight is very nice. It used to be the site of the Earl Shaeffer Shelter (he was the first person to hike the AT). It is now called Peter Mountain Shelter. The biggest problem is the 296 steps (downhill of course) to get water.

The wind has picked up and there is a breeze flowing through - fantastic. Hopefully the night will be cooler.

Trail miles to date are - 1149.8
Miles today - 11.3
I am going to start counting down. Bring on the "1000miles to go" mark!

Thur 2 Jun Day 84
Just as I had fallen asleep 3 people came into the shelter - at 10pm!! So inconsiderate as they were noisy. One of them was a thru-hiker and should have known better - they could have pitched their tents.

I had the worst nights sleep on trail so far. The noise, bugs and the fact that it was cooler than usual made the night awful. It didn't make the start of today very pleasant.

But 7mi into the day we got trail magic - a whole lot of sodas in a stream. It was just what I needed - sugar and caffeine. The next 6 mi was a breeze and we had a lunch break at the Yellow Springs campsite.

From there it was only 4 odd miles to get to Raush Gap Shelter. It only sleeps 6 so there are people camping tonight. Water is only 10m away and the privy is quite good. It could be a whole lot worse.

Onto 501 Shelter tomorrow, near Pine Grove,PA.
18 miles done today.

Fri 3 Jun Day 85
Just a smallish day to do today - 17.5.
Breakfast time was beautiful. The sun was shining through the leaves in the trees, it was crisp and cool and coffee was the first thing on the agenda.

The walking was fairly easy going although it involved fording a river and wet shoes with 8 miles still remaining before lunch. But I persevered with wet shoes and socks to see how they would go. (not too bad but 8mi is probably the limit).

Lunch break was at the 13mi mark (William Penn Shelter). It was the "1000mi to go" mark as well!! Yay - can't wait for them to tick by as these past two weeks have been hard. I'm sure that thinking will change soon enough though.

There were some sections of rough rocks today (small up-ended chunks that made it painful to walk on). But they didn't last too long. I hadn't strapped my ankle today as the tape had blistered my leg yesterday (!!!), so it was hard going for it today. It seems strapping tape and skin start to disagree after 10 days or so. Go figure! I've been changing it lots but I guess it has been getting a hammering. It is hard to rehab injuries out here though - much easier to tape and push on.

The shelter tonight is the "501". It was an old pottery shed with an amazing skylight in it. There are bunk beds and a solar shower (not warm though). We were even able to order pizzas. Between the 9 of us we ordered an extraordinary amount of food (and consumed it). I had a cheeseburger, half an extra large pizza, 1.25L mountaindew, a piece of cheese cake with strawberries, and a can of pepsi. I could still eat more bit I have to go to sleep. It's another 20+ miles tomorrow.

Sat 4 Jun Day 86
Today was the worst day I have had so far on trail. The distance wasn't so much the problem but the rocks took their toll today.

Parts of the trail were really nice but most of it was upturned rocks. It was stressful on ankles and leg muscles so as the day passed walking became sooooooo painful.

Lunch didn't happen until the 15mi mark either - that helped make the day longer! Plus the final approach into Port Clinton was steep downhill - even worse on the pain scale.

Eventually we plodded into Port Clinton. It is a quaint town with an old railroad and museum. It also has a Pavillion where we can stay for free.

Pyjamas and Billy Goat were in as well as 4 other section hikers - the place could have held 100. It was a very welcome sight. I'm hoping that I can walk tomorrow!

Sun 5 Jun Day 87
Yay sleep in! and yes i can walk. We didn't get out of bed until after 7am. The only thing we had to do was resupply and check out the biggest hunting/fishing store in Hamburg.

There was no rides into Hamburg so we walked the 1.5mi to Walmart along a highway. The outdoor store was called Cabela's and it was ridiculously huge! There was a mountain covered in stuffed deer and lions; an African animal exhibit and a pond/aquarium that you could test fishing rods in. Crazy! Plus it was packed with people.

We did manage to get a ride back to the trail and grunted up the hill (of course) with full packs. It was full of rocks (apart from a final section of grass) and the feet and legs were terribly sore on reaching the shelter (Windsor Furnace). Just a short day but feeling better because of it.

Mon 6 Jun Day 88
A rough and demanding day - more rocks! I was had it by lunch time. The constant pounding on uneven, upturned and wobbly rocks hurts.

Plus I missed the Pinnacle Overlook which was supposed to be a good one - I completely missed the sign. To top it off when we reached Eckville Shelter (after a 1.2mi extra walk 'coz we'd missed a turnoff) the hikers that were there had been behind us and had hitched a 57mi ride! That was disheartening. I had had enough and really considered staying, but had only done 9.1mi and only had 7.4 to go.

So I ate my lunch, scrubbed out my Platypus drink bladder, had a shower and lay in the sun for a bit until a scrap of motivation returned. We were able to take a shortcut back to where we had walked the extra bit so returning to the trail wasn't too bad.

The afternoon was much better and was along mostly road sections (fewer rocks).

We have 9 hikers in for the night at the Allentown Hiking Club Shelter. It sleeps 8 (2 are tenting), has a privy and a water source (at least 0.3mi down a hill and a small creek - needs a cup to fill a bladder or bottle). Have reached the 1231.6mi mark - 949.4mi to go.

Tue 7 Jun Day 89
A 18mi planned for today. After a hilarious night telling stories with Snifur (new hiker) getting up early was tough. But the day was good.

I am back! Still sore but have the right head space! We cruised over the rockiest section so far - so bad that I had to crawl along some parts! I just wished my leg muscles had rehab and were better so the I could trust my ankle. It doesn't really matter though as we made good time for the day.

The last two shelters that we past were very old school. One could have been used by Davy Crockett! Old logs and warped walls made it very 'rustic'. Earl Grey and I pushed on to make it to Palmerton, PA.

There is a county hall the has a basement that they let hikers use for free called The Jailbird Hostel. It has bunks, shower and toilet facilities. It's really good for hiker standards.

I ate too much tonight - it took a lot but I managed to eat a double cheeseburger, eggplant parmigana, a milkshake, large fries with gravy, a soda and a banana split!! Crazy.

It's late (10.15pm) and I need to get up early tomorrow to start hiking befor it gets too hot - it's supposed to be 40deg with 100% humidity! We will see how that goes.

Wed 8 Jun Day 90
We were very lucky today - as soon as we stood outside the 'Jail House' a BMW pulls up, I assumed was going to ask for directions or something - but no, she was offering us a lift back to the trail!! We climbed in cautiously, sat back and enjoyed the air-conditioned, soft leather comfort :) That was the last bit of comfort for the day.

We were on-trail by 7am to beat the heat. The rocks are still brutal, as are the uphill rock combos!! The slog out of Palmerton was straight up and over the largest rock pile I have seen so far. It took 50mins of climbing and crawling to navigate through to the other side. It was exhausting and painful.

The rest of the day was pretty much rock dodging on trail. It's the worst part - no chance of getting a stride going. 4 shuffled steps instead of one.

A grueling day but in by 3pm - it was still 92deg (35ish) in the shade until 7pm. Everyone is just dripping sweat. Nice!

Thur 9 Jun Day 91
Up at 5.15am. That when the birds and sun are up anyway! Plus it means walking in the semi-cool temperatures (or at least for the the first half hour). Earl Grey and I left at 6.15am and got straight into the rocks (of course). By Wind Gap, PA (4.6mi) I realized that my knee/quads weren't getting any better (all in response to the dumb ankle thing) so I decided to get off it. I arranged for an outfitter in Delaware Water Gap, PA to come and pick me up. Long story short - I had to wait 4.5hrs and it cost $35!! It was a bit sucky but thats just the way it is out here.

Plus the replacement pack I got in Harpers Ferry didn't show up - it's getting posted to Unionville. Let's hope this works out.

I am currently in the Church of the Mountain hostel. It's air-conditioned, has a shower and is putting on a free dinner tonight. The day just got a whole lot better.

I have been good and am self-physio-ing my leg. Hopefully some loosening of all leg muscles and strengthening medial quads will help too.

I will see how it feels tomorrow - only a 10.5mi planned.

- posted by enzed :)