Caledonia State Park PA

On Friday, I hiked over many rocky paths to end up in the Caledonia State Park, 10 miles away, where I got picked up to go to a family gathering. The hike was great, besides the rocks, and I had to remind myself several times to stop gazing and start walking to prevent missing my ride. I'm not used to deadlines on the trail quite yet, other than sunset!

Birch Run Shelter PA

I hiked a mere 9.9 miles on Thursday, ending at 2pm! I decided to do this because I was only going another 10 miles on Friday before getting picked up to spend the weekend with family. I am starting to see the arrival of fall in the forest, as the picture hopefully shows. I just don't want winter to arrive too soon!

Gardners PA

On Wednesday, I participated in the half-gallon ice cream challenge as a group of us crossed the half way point of the AT! I finished over 9/10ths of it, but was overcome with common sense and didn't make myself sick! I was close, though! I ended up doing 15.5 miles, which was nice to do on a sugar rush, and ended up staying at the Pine Grove Furnace State Park. The place where I stayed was the Ironmasters Mansion Hostel, which was actually a part of the Underground Railroad! It was cool too see the false floors where escapees actually stayed and take in some history! Sorry for the delay, I haven't had a good signal to send a pix message until now!

Boiling Springs PA

Today, I hiked across the Cumberland Valley, for a total of 18.2 miles! This involved a lot of open sky to gaze at, lots of roads to cross, and tons of farms to meander through! It was a long haul, but I was trying to keep pace with another hiker who has been hiking since Maine, and Succeeded! Tonight, I'm staying at the Alec Kennedy shelter.

Hawk Rock PA

This pic is looking down on Duncannon, PA, and the Sesquehanna River. I ended up not hiking yesterday because of blisters I got from racing to the post office on Sat. But I am off again with a new found stamina! I will end up in the Darlington Shelter tonight, which will be a 11.4 mile day! Not bad for having bad feet! At least my new shoes arrived and they fit fine! I finally met some other hikers heading the same direction as me, which is cool because I may not always be camping in solitude! I hope you are enjoying the internet, because I am going through some major withdrawl right now!

Pine Grove PA

It has been a very interesting past few days! On Thurs. night, I saw that my right shoe was starting to fall apart, so I got on the phone and had REI ship me a new pair in Duncannon, 70 miles down the trail from where I was, in Port Clinton. But first, I had to make it to the Pine Grove post office by noon on Sat., which was 28 miles away! To make it, I hiked 18 miles on Fri. and 10 miles on Sat. morning to get my food shippment just 15 minutes before the PO closed until Mon. morning! Unfortunately my shoes didn't last, so I was stuck in Pine Grove without trail-worthy shoes! Luckily, my parents were attending a wedding less than an hour away. They graciously picked me up and took me to my new pair of shoes in Duncannon, which is where I am going to pick back up again on the trail! It has been a very exciting past few days!