Lickdale, July 11th

I got a later start than I wanted to, I'm always trying to get up earlier but it's so hard when the trail is so hard on your body. I was so beat from the day before. The flies were a struggle the whole day today and I ended up wearing my fly net over my head for most of it. The trail was just as rocky as the day before.

I found a couple orange water sources. I didn't drink from them not being sure what would cause them to be orange or if they were safe but they sure were interesting to look at.

Towards the end of the day I hitched a ride into Lickdale, PA to the Loves Travel Stop and Scout was there! It had been over a week since I've seen him. The air conditioning felt amazing. It was such a hot and humid day. I was just drenched. I cooled off and caught up with Scout as I charged my phone and ate Chesters Chicken then ice cream. We spent 2 hours in town before finding a ride back. It hardly took anytime to get a ride for both ways. It sounds like it helped scout out a lot, he had hiked all the way into town. It's not as easy for guys to get a hitch while it's relatively easy for girls to. We hiked until we found a flat space to camp. Uncle Puck was already set up. I'm not sure where Hobo is at but I'm sure he'll turn up tomorrow.

Tonight I'm camped at mile 1183 with 1006.8 left to go. 

Rocksylvania, July 10th

The cafe we had planned on eating at turned out to be closed on Mondays. I ended up walking a few miles through town to the pilot gas station for breakfast and to pick up a sandwich for lunch at the connected subway. The trail winds around town for a few miles before heading back out into the woods.

The trail was non-stop rocky throughout the day. It was brutal on my feet and it made me want to cry. It wasn't some insane rocks that I've been imagining for weeks from the rumors i've been hearing about, in fact I've experienced these rocks kind of rocks in Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland. They are just smaller and set at awkward angles that don't allow for you to avoid stepping on them effectively.

Some of the best views on the trails are provided by powerlines

The small rocks sucked by the views were nice!

I saw a mole and a ground hog today too, they went by so fast that I couldn't get photos but it was pretty exciting. I just finished the audio book Wild by Cheryl Strayed. It's about a girl who hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, another hiking book that recently got made into a movie. It also caused a huge surge in people inspired to hike long trails.

The flies were really bad, I actually inhaled one for the second time on the trail. I coughed up a lung thanks to the thing. By the time I made camp everything hurt and I was setting up in the dusk. I could have skipped dinner from exhaustion but knew I'd regret it so I ate anyways.

Tonight I learned that moths have reflective eyes.

Tonight I'm camped at mile 1164.9 with 1024.9 left to go. 

Duncannon, July 9th

I woke up to a chilly and refreshing morning. It's been quite awhile since I would consider the weather to be chilly, it's just been hot and muggy day and night for awhile. I really look forward to hiking today.

We had more farm land to cross then it was back into the woods, the trail not as flat anymore. The last 7 miles of today's hike is when the rocks started. It wasn't too crazy but annoying enough. We've seen plenty of rocks like these along the way so far.

Getting into town felt like a time leap back to a few decades ago or so. It felt like being in some sort of time warp. At least the trail actually went straight through the town for awhile. It's so convenient when it does this

Hobo and I stopped at a gas station while entering town. We got a bunch of snacks and sat on the sidewalk with a number of other hikers eating and watching the cars go by. Real hiker trash there. The next thing on the to do list was laundry. We met up with Uncle Puck and split a load of laundry together.

I'm staying at the Doyle Hotel. It has very strong reviews both good and bad, both ranting and raving about how hiker friendly and hiker unfriendly it is. I decided to try it out since it's something of a tradition to stay there. I got my own room for $25. It's a bit alarming but you truly get what you pay for. Also my first time staying in my own room on the trail. I'd rather be in town rather than at a hotel or hostel a ways away. Hobo and Uncle Puck decided to stay after all. Puck was highly uninterested in staying after reading the reviews so I'm surprised that he did!

The shared bathroom down the hall

It was nice being able to take it easy and relax. I was able to get a chunk of my blogging done too. It's pretty hard keeping up with this blog since I feel like I have hardly any free time out here to do so and hardly enough cell service or wifi to make it happen.

We ended the day by going to get dinner and ice cream. I tried a new flavor that I've never heard of before, Graham Slam, it's a Graham cracker flavored ice cream with graham cracker crumbles, marshmallows, and peanut butter cups. It was amazing and my new favorite flavor. I ran into Anvil again later on. I was really surprised to see him since he had been hiking so much faster than me miles ago and months ago it seems. Him and a handful of other hikers convinced me up go back to that restaurant with them to hang out. It was the only place open in the area, it's a small town. I had a good time. It was nice hanging out with people around my age again.

Tonight in Duncannon I'm at mile 1147.2 with 1042.6 left to go. 

Flat as a pancake, July 8th

 After Hobo, Uncle Puck, and I packed up in the camping area outside of town we headed down the trail officially into town. The trail sprawled out on a paved path next to a beautiful lake!

Uncle Puck and Hobo

Our first stop in town was Cafe 101 for breakfast. I really liked the place! Their danishes are shaped in a way that make them so easy to eat with a fork. They just fall apart into bite sized pieces and the filing was generous and delicious.

Next stop, the outfitters store. It was much more geared towards fly fishers and people using the lake behind the store. I did however get a new pair of insoles. I didn't need them that badly but they add better arch support and better protection from the rocks which is ideal.

Stop 3 was the post office. I picked up my resupply box and sent a number of things home including my now rusted and nasty rabbits foot and my opossum. I sent home my ibex clothing since the heat just really wasn't a good combination with them. It was just too hot.

4th stop in town was the gas station! I picked myself up a turkey sandwich, peace tea, and honey cheese curls. Peace tea is hard to find so I was really happy to pick up a can but what I was ecstatic about was the honey cheese curls! There's a restaurant in Pittsburgh called Fernandos. It's basically a sandwich shop and the honey cheese curls are one of their chip options. They are basically honey flavored puffy Cheetos and amazing! I had them there a few times over the years ago and have always checked various stores and gas stations ever since getting them, particularly when traveling and especially now as I've been getting closer to Pennsylvania and I have finally found the first store that I've ever seen in my entire life that carries them! This is such a huge deal to me and a major spirit lifter.

As soon as we got back into the woods the trail then turned into farm land. Unbelievably level and it went on forever. We just flew through the miles for the day. It was flat and pleasant. minus the lack of cover that the trees provide from the sun. It was a rather intensely hot day, but flat!!!!

Hobo and I stopped at this lovely picnic table next to a man made lake with cows and field surrounding us. We used this opportunity to take our shoes off and eat lunch. There was a large tree providing shade over the table and a light breeze. It was a really such a perfect day.

My addiction!

Best trail lunch ever

I had just finished listening to a goosebumps audiobook. I loved how they added an actual sound track to it. I haven't read any of the books since elementary or middle school, I remember them being really good back then but definitely not my age group anymore. It was a bit rough to listen to because of that.

A pleasant board walk

A very old car crash in the woods

Tonight at Darlington Shelter I'm at mile 1135.9 with 1053.9 left to go. 

Rock Maze, July 7th

I slept in late again today, my body needed it. I felt a lot better. I feel like my cold is going away, I'm still feeling cruddy but it's much better. The power kept going out which delayed breakfast at the hostel that turned out to be pretty awesome. I found myself particularly hungry after not keeping any calories from yesterday evening inside. A group of us arranged some last minute slack packing to the next town of Boiling Springs, PA. It kept raining on and off in the morning but now it seems like the rain will hold off for the rest of the day, but who knows. Weather reports are highly unreliable out here in the mountains.

The terrain has been lovely. We have just been flying down the trail. I just finished the audio book of A Walk in the Woods. It's about the Appalachian Trail. A lot of people are out here right now because of it's recent popularity of being made into a movie. It was a pretty funny movie too. I watched it right before I left. It was a lot different from the book though, still quite entertaining. I listened to it on my phone from an app called overdrive, Scout and Sun told me about it. It lets you check out audio books from your library for download with your library card and will automatically delete and return itself when it's due back so you don't have to worry about it being late, or not having service to do so in my case. I'm impressed on how little battery it uses on my phone.

Before listening to A Walk in the Woods my friend Axel gifted me a werewolf audiobook called the Amazing Wolf Boy which has gotten me hooked on listening to auidiobooks out here. It really helps pass the time and makes the day more interesting. It's been pretty rough out here with the heat so it's really useful.

The easiest section of this trail

It was so nice to hike these parts!!!!

We passed an interesting piece of trail called Rock Maze and it most certainly was a rock maze. It was challenging to get through and I am most grateful to have not have had my pack on for it. It was hard to follow in places and required actual rock climbing with your hands was involved. The trail had to make up for the easy miles earlier I guess.

The trail let out into an open farm field which was a refreshing change after being in the woods so long.

Some beetles doing their thing

The guy who slack packed us was waiting on a road between farm fields with our packs. We hiked over to the town's campground for hikers which was obnoxiously out of the way from town on the edge of a field and set up camp.

Uncle Puck, Hobo, and I set off for town after that. As soon as we hit the road a car stopped and offered us a ride. She had opened a new hostel this year that isn't in any books yet. She was trying very hard to convince us to repack all of our things and stay at her hostel. It was already starting to get dark and everything was set up so we weren't very interested. We went to a nice restaurant, probably too fancy for us, we were sat in the bar area in a corner. I ordered duck and it was the best, most juicy duck that I've ever eaten in my whole life. There was a delicious glaze, apricot I think, that complimented it so well. I finished it all off with an awesome vanilla bean creme brulee. We made some wrong turns on the way back with it being completely dark outside but did eventually find our way back to the tents.

Best Duck Ever!!!

Tonight in boiling Springs, PA I'm at mile 1121.2 with 1068.6 left to go. 

AT Midpoint, July 6th

Uncle Puck, Frank (now Hobo), and I arranged a 20 mile day of slack packing to the next hostel, Ironmasters Mansion Hostel. It rained lightly on and off all day and I was still sick but with the easy terrain and the promise of a warm bed and shower at the end of the day I had to push on.

Super easy terrain!

Now today was a special day, I crossed the halfway point. It was pretty misleading at first. There was a picture of the halfway sign, our books suggested that the thing might have been taken down temporarily.

Halfway????

Someone marked the ground with a 50%!!!!

We continued on and eventually came across the official sign!

We also crossed mile 1,100 today

The Iron Masters Mansion Hostel is some kind of historical site and they give tours and preserve the place. Two of their rooms were converted into bunk rooms, a mens and womans. I'm getting tried of the hostels that separate us by gender. I'd rather stay with my friends, the people I'm hiking with rather than be in a room by myself because I'm a girl. Either way, the place was clean and the people were nice.

Now the fun stuff. It is tradition for thru-hikers who make it to the halfway point to eat a half gallon of ice cream. I had really been kicking my ass to get here in time before the store that sells the ice cream closes. They did have an orange sherbert. Being lactose intolerant I thought that this would be a safer bet  for the challenge. It did have milk in it but the combination of being sick with this flavor sounding soothing, and the lesser amount of calories made this choice seem even better. I was told that I could only choose this flavor if I was lactose intolerant for the official challenge. They were surprised that it included milk when I pointed it out. Either way the challenge begins!

Yummm. The tubs are only 3 pints so I'll have to eat this, then buy a pint from them when it's gone. My second flavor choice will be Moosetracks.

Almooooost done with the 3 pint tub

I made my best effort at the half gallon challenge but ultimately the ice cream won. I had only taken one lactaid pill at the start. I should have taken more and continued to take them while eating. Lesson learned. It felt great on my throat at first. Hobo and Uncle Puck finished way before me and then finished their pints. Hobo had only just gotten on the trail too. I ended up rushing to the toilet 40 min in on the challenge. My shit was black and it leaked an orange color into the toilet bowl water. My insides felt awful, this was only the beginning. When I came out I was on a time crunch over the store closing and I still had to buy my pint.

I walked around the store while eating and found out that while I had been eating the owner was digging through their freezer to look into the sherberts. They discovered two more sherberts, both of which WERE dairy free. Oh great. I was struggling to finish, it didn't help that I just took off so much time for visits to Washington DC and Anthrocon. My hiker hunger just isn't what it was. Shortly after I found myself toilet bound, unable to leave as I had extreme pain and explosive diarrhea that would not stop. My ice cream had melted, the store had closed, and my stomach could not handle another bite: The challenge was over. I had almost eaten 3 pints, a good effort. Looking at the ingredients the significant amount of corn syrup in there probably made me sick as well as the dairy. I would have been better off with the regular ice cream I think. I spent the rest of the evening in the hostel visiting the toilet or laying in bed crying on the inside, feeling like i'm dying from the pain of it all. One day, i'd like to have a rematch.


 Tonight at the Ironmasters mansion hostel I'm at mile 1102.3 with 1087.5 left to go.

Pennsylvania, July 5th

Yesterday I bought some 2" foam tape in town to try on my back instead of the hiker goo that I purchased in DC. My pack rash is back again. I taped over the large red splotches of skin. I feel like it will rub and peal off as I hike but here goes nothing.

Right as I was ready to leave it started raining. Chris picked me up and dropped me back off on the trail. The rain eventually died down and I crossed the Maryland Pennsylvania State boarder. A new state! Having to pee, I chose to pee in 2 states at the same time by straddling the state line off of the trail. It's the little things that entertain you and keep you going.

Crossing into Pennsylvania 

Awhile later the rain started to pick back up again and continued to come and go for the rest of the day. I got a cold, it started with a light scratchy throat and ended in a full blown out nasty cold at the end of the day. I feel miserable. Uncle Puck caught up to me today and we both hiked together for the rest of the day and were joined by a guy named Frank. There were some nasty rocks along the trail here and there but overall I couldn't complain because the trail was mostly flat.

I passed double shelters that were connected and one was designated for snorers and one for not

A group of us staying at the Trail of Hope Hostel in Fayetteville went to a bar and grill for dinner. It was... disappointing. I ordered scallops and they were completely flavorless. Then there was the cranberry juice incident. I ordered cranberry juice and was almost done with the glass when the waitress fills my glass up with tea by accident since Frank, across from me asked for a refill. I asked to make sure it was cranberry juice and she apologized and took my glass away. Then she returned with another glass of cranberry juice. I never wanted anther glass but since it was there I drank it. My bill came back with 2 $3 charges for juice. I was pretty disappointed by this. Not only did she ruin my first cup and took it away from me but she made me pay for something I never wanted or asked for. I should have complained and argued with her about it. She never asked if I wanted a second drink... I just felt so miserable and I really wanted to leave. Needed to rant about this, it drove me crazy.

Later on that night I was bleeding out of my butt for a bit after going to the toilet, no idea why. It never happened again. In good news my taped back was a success. It all stayed in place for the most part for the entire day and I had no issues or worsening of my back arise.

Tonight at the Trail of hope hostel I'm at mile 1082.5 with 1107.3 left to go.