Month: July 2016

Today is our hiker friend’s birthday. We met him on day 1 and have hiked on and off with him ever since. (He was the one starting fires for us every night during week one). We decided to celebrate with …

The main feature of today was rocks. Big rocks, little rocks, medium sized rocks, unstable rocks, deeply embedded rocks, ankle breaking rocks. After 22.4 miles, we are tired and sore. This terrain is supposed to continue a few days, and …

We left the hotel this morning with plans for errands around town after which we would call Steve, the guy who gave us a ride yesterday, to take us back to the trail. Turns out, he was already in the …

Today was one of those days that was almost a total disaster. It rained in the night and into the morning, so we packed up in the rain and headed out on the rocky trail. We made it to the …

The shelter we stayed at last night actually has a caretaker who lives nearby, and this morning he told me about a swimming hole about six miles up the trail. It’s still hot and humid out, and we were there …

Today we realized we passed another milestone: officially less than a thousand miles to Katahdin. We are also halfway through PA now. Today was so humid even the rocks were wet. I’ve set a new bar for how much I …

We spent two full days in Harrisburg over the 4th and 5th of July. We enjoyed a rainstorm from indoors, what a luxury. Not to mention air conditioning! We had good times with good people, and got back on the …

Pennsylvania is legendary among thru-hikers for the rocks. It’s often called Rocksylvania, and although we haven’t hit the really bad part yet, today we hit the beginning. The mountains here are low, we are only at about a thousand feet, …

Our day started with a rock maze before we dropped into the Cumberland Valley. We went through Boiling Springs, stopped at the tavern for lunch and a beer, then hiked through farmland for about 14 miles. It was flat with …

We hit the midpoint of the trail early this morning. Because the official length of the trail changes from year to year, so does the halfway point. There is a really cool sign that was made for the midpoint in …

3 months ago today we started the trail. Tonight we are camped 2.6 miles from the official midpoint. Today we hiked 19.6 miles. In the middle of the day we passed through a state park with a pool and snack …