I’m dreaming of a garden again …

I missed having curtains full of blackout. My body did not wake up at light last night, just to respond to the call of nature. So, by the time the alarm of 8 o’clock sounds, my circadian rhythm was definitely confused. Why did I get up before the sun rise?

After shaking my eyes, I finally opened the window and confirmed what yesterday’s weather report said … rain. And much of that. As I could see that I dripped for the drain, I went to participate in the continental breakfast. Since the Apalachian hotel is essentially only a franchised or converted quality inn, they had the expected basic products. A gofres machine, toaster, some eggs stirred in box and sausage empanadas … enough to survive. The only complaint was coffee, it was thin. I am not even being a coffee snob here, it was thinner than the snapshots I do along the way. Yeesh is definitely not enough for him to go in the morning.

I checked and then took an Uber to the Running company Appalachian, where I met Cameron, a form specialist. Although Marty helped me ask for shoes the other day, I still felt bad yesterday. In addition, I wanted to see a specialist in form.

I have had the same shoes from Marion about 625 miles. That, in addition to my municipal trips and the days of trails, meant that my shoes were definitely a little beyond their best moment. Unfortunately, neither the Rei in Mechanicsburg, nor any provider of boiling springs or Duncannon carries the Altra Olympus 6, my current shoe of choice. But Tribunco was not far from the hotel, and I was in the historical city of Carlisle, so I decided to make the trip.

The first thing that I noticed immediately were my overpronation problems. As another reminder, I know that I have serious overpronation problems. In fact, I exploded a couple of Altra Timp in less than 300 miles due to my ankle angles. I thought I had fixed this by changing a firmer shoe at Olympus, in combination with Superfeet, but the test is in the shoe. You can see how the inner foam is the part that collapsed. That explains why during the last days, I have encountered resistance problems again in the second half of the day.

So we get hooked with a new pair of shoes, and this time we are going to try a more resistant template. There is nothing wrong with Superfeet! And after more than 600 miles, it is good for the shoes to run out. It’s just that I don’t want my overpronation to stress my small muscles that are not destined to be so stressed so much. Normally, out of the path, this could be resolved with a support shoe, or some strength training, but if it has worked for 1100 miles, it should work for another 1100 …

As apart, the last time they asked me why I don’t try the boots. Part of the reason is because my right foot is completely flat. Because of that, any shoe without a broad tip box is painful. Even the moles are too narrow to me at this point on my walk. After recovering from the walk, we will see what my feet can try again. The other big is that I don’t think I really solve my overpronation problems. My ankle would simply rub against the top of the boot, causing more stability problems.

Anyway, then I followed the post office, where a man outside offered me a trip anywhere. It turns out that this was Chop Chop, who walked Sobo until the end in 2000. He was surprised to see a trip in Carlisle, and I did not blame … I think I was the only one today. I sent some things to my parents, and then we jumped in the car to drink coffee and return to the road. He has been following John Kelley’s attempt at FKT, and we talked a little about the attempt and ultra running. Some great magic of trails!

Around 11:45 (UPS), left me near the catwalk that I went down yesterday on the Harrisburg toll highway … where it took me about 4 minutes to find the entrance to the forest. While it is not marked or anything, it is quite clear … UPS. It feels as if the «fu trail» that I have collected in the south has gone with Pennsylvania and the abundance of civilization and nearby Maryland fields.

Today it began with three hiking miles, followed by a little magic of trails, provided by French Fry of the ’21! I also returned to Vegemite here, an Australian who saw for breakfast at Harpers Ferry. He is always surprised to see me behind him … but man is a speed demon. I sat down for a while and discovered that somehow I am connected with many of the philadelphia suburbs of which the French Fry crew is mainly. And all this reminded me: now I am almost in the territory of Wawa. I am excited!

After about an hour, I decided to start trying to get to the city at a reasonable time. After all, it was almost 2, and I still had 15 to go to Boiling Springs! This is where I started finding problems again …

You see, what happens with overpronation is that the shoes reach a later cycle in life, I begin to use different muscle groups to maintain erection. Now that I have returned to the shoes and the proper arc support … different muscles are being activated again. So that is pain. Oh.

Combine that with heat and humidity, and that results in a very slow start. Even with a light package, I had to take frequent breaks just to breathe a little. The other thing that did not help is the increase in mosquitoes! Since they escaped cold spring, they have been out with revenge, but today it was very bad. I killed about 7 mosquitoes in my arms and legs that sprouted blood when I got them … and I knew I had to do something. My clothes are treated with permethrin, and it is supposed to be my cheerful team is relatively insect -proof, so I disappointed all my layers, I put on my insect head network and left. It should be a minor problem, right?

Mistaken. The mistakes were out with revenge. They bit me through my shirt, my pants, my socks. Somehow, one even put my back … Where is my pack! It was also very hot and wet, especially since the path returned to the mountains. All this, more ascent, meant resigning me an awkward day. However, the true kicking … was the beginning of the dreaded rocks.

Yes, I have already talked about my disgust for rock fields in the past. But this is Rocksylvania. In other states where he finally stopped, here, he never stops at some point. The rocks are mostly annoying due to the mental effort that is needed to find a flat place, combined with the light fatigue of the foot of reviewing all other pointed rocks, and the fact that trekking posts become a partial danger here. With the sliding in corners and cracks between the rocks, there is a good possibility of getting stuck. It’s how my last posts broke! As a last surprise, I dropped my phone today … and the screen protector on the Selfie camera broke. So while my screen is fine … the images will be difficult to do a little. Wow.

So, maybe today was not my best performance along the way. While normally, I love hearing podcasts or audiobooks, today I could only pass through showunes and sing. However, that’s fine, there were not many day hikers. There are not many views here either.

Around 8:20, I finally arrived at the parking lot in Duncannon. The last half mile of path was especially rude. Farout and some green flames showed where it was only one year ago, along a pleasant relatively soft descent along a dirt road. For some reason, the new path only happens … more rocks. Who decided that? Do you have good to see people injure? I’m missing the fields now.

The city of Duncannon is pleasant, if not extremely small. There is a 7-11, a brewery … And that’s all. I stayed in the shelter a little outdoors, so I first put my backpack, I took a shower and began to wash my clothes with Candyman, before heading to the brewery. Here I spent time with Vegemite, and then boy and cosmo! Apparently, I met the two in Neropaloaza, but because I was so in a hurry, I didn’t remember. UPS.

The Lindgren brewery was great. They give the first free drink of hikers, so I obtained a lemonade of blueberries and then made my way through a Bulgolgi cheese. Ridiculously, it was another day not to eat a single article from my backpack. UPS.

I called Mom, and then heads to bed. It’s late tonight! I need to plan again. I knew that heat, humidity and insects would always be my worst enemy. And everyone raised their ugly heads at the same time. Oh good.

(Title letter of: The Garden, Sierra Ferrell)