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.

Waynesboro, July 4th

Around 3am I awoke to the noise of rustling outside my tent. I barely got any sleep after that, hearing branches crack and twigs fall, the sound of crunching leaves. I sat in my tent flashlight in hand listening. I think it was just the wind knocking branches off of trees but it resulted in an ill nights sleep.

Black Rock Cliffs

While filtering water I heard this noise off in the distance and it turned out to be hundreds of black birds. They slowly flew closer with this menacing noise as they flew from tree to tree staying low to the ground. The sheer quantity of them was mind blowing. If they decided to attack me, they would win. It was really startling when large groups of them would suddenly take flight together. It put me on edge for awhile.

Raven Rock Cliffs

The trail was incredibly flat and even. It was wide and without rocks for a good section of the morning. It got rockier and trickier as the day went on until it looked like a mine field of rocks with no distinguishable trail. The trail was also ill marked. The blazes were placed in misleading locations. I found myself at a number of forks where there were white blazes were going both directions. I did however make it to Waynesboro, PA eventually.

Art I drew in a log book

I found myself in a group of new hikers. There are a handful of people that I do know in this bubble including GI Jane, Theory, Fresh, Bean, No Chill, and Dungeon Master isn't too far behind. GI Jane hooked me up with a ride into town with a guy named Chris. He is a real trail angel. He did so much for all of us hikers today. Heel-toe joined in on the ride and we ended up splitting a hotel room for the night at the Days Inn. Fresh laundry and a nice hot shower was amazing. We went to dinner at a local sushi restaurant. It was a quirky place, mostly due to the very odd service that we experienced there.

After dinner I joined the rest of the hikers in town at the field where the fireworks were to be held for the night. I had no idea if the town was going to be putting on a display or not when hiking in so I really lucked out. There was a mini carnival set up in the parking lot too. I haven't sat down to enjoy fireworks on the 4th of July like this in some time. It makes me think of home and the incredible display that Glenview puts on every year. It was a pretty fantastic night and Chris drove everyone back to their hotels or back to the trail.

Tonight in Waynesboro I'm at mile 1064.3 with 1125.5 left to go.

Anthrocon Adventure, June 29th - July 3rd

I packed up in the morning and hiked 2 miles down the trail to a road where I had arranged my friend Kyle to pick me up to head over to Pittsburgh to attend Anthrocon for the weekend. Anthrocon is the world's largest furry convention, I've been to it twice in past years. The best way to describe furries are fans of anthropomorphic animals, or just fans of animals in general. A ton of my friends came from all over and it was amazing getting to see everyone that came.

Me wearing Minx

My friend, Cy, let me borrow one of their bran new fursuits that they just got. The suit hadn't even been worn before! I was a bit too tall for it since it was made for Cy and I'm taller than Cy but it was amazing being able to suit around with everyone. The character's name is Minx, he's an aquatic creature called a manokit.

At Fernando's

I found a delicious salad place that offered grain bowls too

My Canadian friend Alu serving gay bacon

An awesome badge I saw

I got to eat at some really awesome restaurants too.

Chicken and waffles with watermelon that was just too spicy 

Dinner with my friend Kai

My friends Kai, Orthello, and Chris

A bar called Tonic got replaced with a taco joint which I ate at on Friday and had 3 tacos then got really sick. I spent most of the next morning running to the toilet to unleash brown waterfalls upon the porcelain.

It was really sad having to leave. The city reminded me a lot of home. I haven't felt this homesick in a long time. Kyle and his friends stopped at a Bob Evans for lunch after we got back, I had never eaten at one before. Then we went to the South Mountain Creamery next to the trail where I left off. It was an ice cream shop in the middle of a dairy farm. I got to watch cows being milked while eating my ice cream. It was absolutely delicious too. I got a scoop of peach and a scoop of orange pineapple and each were filled with their respected fruits as well.  After that, it was time to hike on.

There was a fantastic view down the trail in the campsite to a cliff with a  overlook to the sunset and the town below. I sat there and ate my dinner. The temperature finally cooled so it made the rocks super warm and comfy to lay on. It was a fantastic way to end the day.

I'm sitting in my tent writing this with the background noise of a chorus of fireworks. I can't see any of them but they keep on going off. I bet it would be great viewing from that cliff but it's a bit of a walk in the dark and I'm tired.

Tonight at Annapolis Rocks I am at mile 1048.2 with 1141.6 left to go.

Maryland, June 28th

It was hard leaving Harpers Ferry, I didn't end up leaving until noon. We hiked the 16 miles to Rocky Run shelter. The terrain was pretty flat and easy but there were a lot of rocks the second half of the day and I started having second guesses on my new shoes. I still feel the rocks more than I would like to through them. They are better than what was left of my last pair but still not enough. I look forward to when my Hoka's come in the mail.

The trail crossed a giant bridge over the river right outside Harpers Ferry. It was beautiful. It was the same bridge that the train took when we rode over to DC so we were crossing over on a footpath next to the railroad tracks.

We had a long stretch, a few miles long that was along a creek covered in the thickest duck weed i've ever seen. There were an incredible amount of turtles in the water too. They were really fun to see as we were walking.

I made it to the state of Maryland! The 5th state on the trail. Unfortunately there wasn't an obvious sign for it. We passed many civil war remnants and memorials, signs that announce various battlefields and makers that state where those important had died.

Dirty Duck

Suddenly Maryland

The shelter was really nice and the bugs weren't bad so I stayed in it. The floors were finished and shiney too. The lightening bugs were so active and they even entered the shelter having an awesome light display as I was falling asleep.

Today at Rocky Run shelter I'm at mile 1039.1 with 1150.7 left to go.