06/10/2017
Oh my gosh I am staying at a church hostel tonight, the church bell chimes on the hour every hour...
Believe it or not I actually made it out of this bakery without purchasing anything.
06/08/2017
Above and below are photos of part of what is known as The Knifes Edge, you are the highest point except for the trees...
06/07/2017
Suppose to be nice today!!
Chasing the milkman today, he gets an early start, 5:00 am but stops early... we normally camp at different camp grounds, going to make sure that happens in the future for he snores, one of those extremely loud snores... I call him the milkman because he wears white out here in the mud and has a 1/2 gallon milkjug strapped around his neck with rocks in it... can hear coming
Suppose to be nice today!!
Chasing the milkman today, he gets an early start, 5:00 am but stops early... we normally camp at different camp grounds, going to make sure that happens in the future for he snores, one of those extremely loud snores... I call him the milkman because he wears white out here in the mud and has a 1/2 gallon milkjug strapped around his neck with rocks in it... can hear coming
Trail this morning, the 7th
06/06/2017
Stayed at a pavilion in Port Clinton, nice pavilion but next to a highway, no sleep
Enjoyed todays hike, got wet, rained on my parade, raining now matter of fact. 9:15 pm and it is suppose to rain for the next 4-5 hours so I should get some much needed rest... Did 15-16 miles today, stopped early because the forecast was calling for rain, also wanted to utilize the solar shower this place has... Wonder about the name... solar shower... place a couple barrels on the top of a building and call it a solar shower... no hot water, especially when the building is in the shade... oh well, I feel better anyway... hiked on a lot of rocks today, then the last five miles was on a muddy dirt road which was better than the rocks... thinking the rest of Pennsylvania will be rocky, only have about 60 miles left in this state, those 60 may get done in four days or six if the rocks give me any major issues... purchased some supplied at Walmart last night, not a whole lot because the trail will pass by a few towns over the next fee days... the bubble that I have been trying to stay in front of is catching up... several reasons for this, the main one being a lot of people starting at Harper's Ferry... shelters are filling up quickly in the evenings, thankfully I prefer a tent... even tent sites are becoming scarce... feet are sore, the constant pounding on the rocks and rocks that form a V shape, compressing my feet as I step on them...
Stayed at a pavilion in Port Clinton, nice pavilion but next to a highway, no sleep
Enjoyed todays hike, got wet, rained on my parade, raining now matter of fact. 9:15 pm and it is suppose to rain for the next 4-5 hours so I should get some much needed rest... Did 15-16 miles today, stopped early because the forecast was calling for rain, also wanted to utilize the solar shower this place has... Wonder about the name... solar shower... place a couple barrels on the top of a building and call it a solar shower... no hot water, especially when the building is in the shade... oh well, I feel better anyway... hiked on a lot of rocks today, then the last five miles was on a muddy dirt road which was better than the rocks... thinking the rest of Pennsylvania will be rocky, only have about 60 miles left in this state, those 60 may get done in four days or six if the rocks give me any major issues... purchased some supplied at Walmart last night, not a whole lot because the trail will pass by a few towns over the next fee days... the bubble that I have been trying to stay in front of is catching up... several reasons for this, the main one being a lot of people starting at Harper's Ferry... shelters are filling up quickly in the evenings, thankfully I prefer a tent... even tent sites are becoming scarce... feet are sore, the constant pounding on the rocks and rocks that form a V shape, compressing my feet as I step on them...
Not to bad!!!
Confusion!!! One on the left is an AT blaze...two on the right are game hunting area markers... notice they fail the perfect blaze test 2"X6" 6 feet high
06/05/2017
Late start but the good night of sleep is worth it... Trying to make it to Hamburg Pa... Walmart (which i hate) and Cabela's (which i wish i could spend the night in the store)
Late start but the good night of sleep is worth it... Trying to make it to Hamburg Pa... Walmart (which i hate) and Cabela's (which i wish i could spend the night in the store)
06/04/2017
Happy birthday Gabe!!! 4 today
Happy birthday Gabe!!! 4 today
Finally, the perfect blaze!!!
Sometimes ferns seem to go for miles which is OK
AT is 2190 miles this year, i am at 1182... can not even think of the end of July... 1008 miles left... would have to do almost 17.5 miles per day... that is not happening
06/03/2017
Bear in the belly... was finishing up for the day, did 17 miles when I stopped at a parkin lot for hikers, sitting in the grass checking the distance to my campsite... was a couple hundred yards... a man stopped and asked a few questions, he ended up taking me to a store a few miles away... while I was at the store I purchased enough food to shut the bear up...
Rained this morning!!! Think Amazon is moving the hire date back to mid October for campers :-(
Sometimes my stomach sounds so much like a bear I reach for my camera..
Bear in the belly... was finishing up for the day, did 17 miles when I stopped at a parkin lot for hikers, sitting in the grass checking the distance to my campsite... was a couple hundred yards... a man stopped and asked a few questions, he ended up taking me to a store a few miles away... while I was at the store I purchased enough food to shut the bear up...
Rained this morning!!! Think Amazon is moving the hire date back to mid October for campers :-(
Sometimes my stomach sounds so much like a bear I reach for my camera..
Visit from the Trail Angel last night
Sure was a good orange
Some rocks on the trail today but not a lot
High iron maybe???
Boardwalk over a swamp/wet area
Trail crossing
Really nice shelter
Small privy
Doe
Reflection on a stream
Stream close to my campsite
The trails have been pretty nice these past couple days
06/02/2017
Duncannon Pennsylvania...not sure of what to make of this town???
Duncannon Pennsylvania...not sure of what to make of this town???
Somedays a person gets up and thinks 20 miles today... then reality hits and the trail looks like these photos and you change everything...
Then you come opon a view like this and you forget the bad parts
Then it gets easy again
06/01/2017
Farmland trails today in Pennsylvania
05/31/2017
Pennsylvania has been different than I was led to believe from talking with SOBO's. The land is flat, fewer rocks than expected, lots of mud from the rains. Trail has zigzagged in farmers fields. Do believe we may be hiking around Amish country. Shelters and water are in short supply along this section of the trail, water may have high concentration of pesticides from the farmlands.
Pennsylvania has been different than I was led to believe from talking with SOBO's. The land is flat, fewer rocks than expected, lots of mud from the rains. Trail has zigzagged in farmers fields. Do believe we may be hiking around Amish country. Shelters and water are in short supply along this section of the trail, water may have high concentration of pesticides from the farmlands.
The butterflies were everywhere
Field was full of white butterflies
Old stone fence
Farmland
Old barn
Crops are in
Farmers field
Old home overlooking the lake inBoiling Springs Pennsylvania
Little trouble with the 1/2 gallon of ice cream challenge at the half way point... sad to say
If you look real hard you can see some of her babies, the only reason I got this close
I am easily amazed, these trees get meevery time
OK, yes the sign is great but to have a new or almost new toilet seat... now that is something to smile about... almost rather just look at it then set on it
care taker of this shelter goes way out... thought it was pretty good, still I can understand people getting upset... some want to leave all the nice stuff at home
28/2017
Raining, a gentle rain, the kind that is so relaxing to listen to as it hits the tent... a secure feeling as long as the tent does not leak... I have ordered some stuff to put on the seams, pick it up on the 31st...
The rain reminds me of a couple days ago when it rained... I got the tent up just as it started raining... was a chilly evening, crawled into the tent and wrapped myself up in the sleeping bag... that was one of the few evenings I did not hang my food up in a tree, dozed off and it was late and dark when I woke up. I remember I was still chilled so I had my sleeping bag pulled up under my chin, laying against my backpack hungry as heck... lol perfect, the food was in my tent, where it should not have been... I grabbed some pop tarts... started eating them slowly, just enjoying the taste of the chocolate... was so good... put the wrappers on my right side and felt around inside my food back and found another pop tart... it was good also... now I was craving food, think much of my craving was created from the fact I had the food right beside me... found a bag of chocolate bars with nuts, the miniature kind... bought them for an energy source, suppose to grab a handful and eat them as I walked, a sugar boost... that bag of chocolate did not last long... leaning against my backpack, sleeping bag pulled up under my chin I ate every one of those miniature chocolate bars, they were good also, maybe even better than the pop tarts... trash pile building on my right side, food bag on my left, rain pelting the tent... I had it made... finished off the pop tarts after I finished the chocolate bars... some rice crispy treats, not just one or two treats but several... trash pile had grown... you know how those little wrappers are, like pillows, stay open taking up a lot of space... pop tart wrappers... surprisingly I slept well... the next morning I found a bag for all the trash, looked in my food bag to see what I could have for breakfast as I hiked... several packages of instant rice in the bag... they would not work... raisins... the little boxes... 100 calories in each... I needed close to a thousand calories to get me to dinner... had 12 little boxes of raisins, I put six in my lunch bag... saved the other six for the next day... had my rice for dinner, cup of coffee I was good to go... food bag in the tree... next morning I packed the other six box of raisins... little low on energy, two days in a row now I had shorted myself on calories... rice tasted good for dinner... yesterday I got up... the only thing I had in my food bag was rice... rice for breakfast... rice for dinner... rice again this morning... 1/2 gallon of ice cream at the half way point challenge and rice for dinner... three more days of rice... wow!!! So now I understand that hanging my food each night is not only to keep the bears from smelling it and paying me a visit but it also keeps me out of the bag at night
Raining, a gentle rain, the kind that is so relaxing to listen to as it hits the tent... a secure feeling as long as the tent does not leak... I have ordered some stuff to put on the seams, pick it up on the 31st...
The rain reminds me of a couple days ago when it rained... I got the tent up just as it started raining... was a chilly evening, crawled into the tent and wrapped myself up in the sleeping bag... that was one of the few evenings I did not hang my food up in a tree, dozed off and it was late and dark when I woke up. I remember I was still chilled so I had my sleeping bag pulled up under my chin, laying against my backpack hungry as heck... lol perfect, the food was in my tent, where it should not have been... I grabbed some pop tarts... started eating them slowly, just enjoying the taste of the chocolate... was so good... put the wrappers on my right side and felt around inside my food back and found another pop tart... it was good also... now I was craving food, think much of my craving was created from the fact I had the food right beside me... found a bag of chocolate bars with nuts, the miniature kind... bought them for an energy source, suppose to grab a handful and eat them as I walked, a sugar boost... that bag of chocolate did not last long... leaning against my backpack, sleeping bag pulled up under my chin I ate every one of those miniature chocolate bars, they were good also, maybe even better than the pop tarts... trash pile building on my right side, food bag on my left, rain pelting the tent... I had it made... finished off the pop tarts after I finished the chocolate bars... some rice crispy treats, not just one or two treats but several... trash pile had grown... you know how those little wrappers are, like pillows, stay open taking up a lot of space... pop tart wrappers... surprisingly I slept well... the next morning I found a bag for all the trash, looked in my food bag to see what I could have for breakfast as I hiked... several packages of instant rice in the bag... they would not work... raisins... the little boxes... 100 calories in each... I needed close to a thousand calories to get me to dinner... had 12 little boxes of raisins, I put six in my lunch bag... saved the other six for the next day... had my rice for dinner, cup of coffee I was good to go... food bag in the tree... next morning I packed the other six box of raisins... little low on energy, two days in a row now I had shorted myself on calories... rice tasted good for dinner... yesterday I got up... the only thing I had in my food bag was rice... rice for breakfast... rice for dinner... rice again this morning... 1/2 gallon of ice cream at the half way point challenge and rice for dinner... three more days of rice... wow!!! So now I understand that hanging my food each night is not only to keep the bears from smelling it and paying me a visit but it also keeps me out of the bag at night
Mason Dixon Line!!!
Double shelter in Pennsylvania... the caretaker really takes pride in this place
Pretty face!!! Wonder how long the piece of metal has been there?
I have more difficulty with roots than anything else... account for 2/3 of my hard falls
Kalmia latifolia, commonly called mountain laurel, calico-bush, or spoonwood, is a broadleaved evergreen shrub in the heather family, Ericaceae, that is native to the eastern United States. Wikipedia
Scientific name: Kalmia latifolia
Higher classification: Kalmia
Rank: Species
Symbol of: Pennsylvania, Connecticut
Did you know: The Mountain Laurel plant was originally brought to Europe as an ornamental plant during the 18th century.theflowerexpert.com
Scientific name: Kalmia latifolia
Higher classification: Kalmia
Rank: Species
Symbol of: Pennsylvania, Connecticut
Did you know: The Mountain Laurel plant was originally brought to Europe as an ornamental plant during the 18th century.theflowerexpert.com
Rough trail... this is not the rocks I keep hearing about for Pennsylvania. Supposedly I will hit those in the last half of the state, still expect to see more of the above prior to that.