Day 80 – Entering Pennsylvania

Man, the bunk room got hot last night! Unfortunately he was on a top bunk, which made things worse. So when I needed to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, I would take the opportunity to sit outside on the balcony and cool off for 30 minutes before going back to sleep.

Slow start

The bunk room was up and moving at 7:30am and I joined the rest in getting up. I had a couple of nice cups of coffee outside at the patio table while others ate leftover pizza. I didn’t and couldn’t join them in this endeavor, as I finished off all my pizza last night like a champ! But I wasn’t hungry either, since I ate the aforementioned entire large meat lovers pizza last night… We wouldn’t be back on the trail until later that day, as the shuttle driver wouldn’t be picking us up until noon. So I slowly gathered and sorted my things, packed my bag, topped off all my charging devices, and made tentative plans for the next few days of hiking. After a while, I headed to the post office to return the shorts I ordered online since I didn’t like the fit and then went to an early lunch with Big Stick, Blueberry Turtle and Queso. Our first stop was Caracol de los Appalaches, where I picked up a fancy grilled cheese and an iced coffee.

Followed by a stop at Bolivar Bread Company, where I intended to purchase a cinnamon roll, but unfortunately Queso and Blueberry Turtle got the last two. So I decided on a biscuit and a cheddar cheese bun, which I made for tonight. We then returned to the lodge and finished our trail preparations in anticipation of our transportation. I took this time to work on a couple of blog posts and before I knew it, it was noon and our shuttle had arrived. Our shuttle driver was once again Rachel, who picked us up after we completed the 4 states challenge two days ago. Once again, she was very fast and very friendly, offering to stop us anywhere we needed along the way to buy supplies or run errands. I can’t recommend her enough! After a 50 minute drive, we returned to the Pennsylvania/Maryland border and got back on the trail.

two shoes

Along the way we were blessed with excellent weather, although a little hot for my taste. It was a sunny day, with a light breeze around 70 degrees. After a couple hundred meters of walking, I stopped in the shade because I was feeling a little nauseous from the car ride. It seems that my lack of motorized transportation has increased my susceptibility to motion sickness. Unfortunate consequence of my walk. After that subsided, I started walking slowly. Today is the first time in 6 days that I walk with the shoe on my left foot! They taped my heel and there is still some rubbing, but it’s not that bad. Hopefully that continues to heal and I can retire my only Croc hiking roadshow. At the beginning of Pennsylvania, the hike was fairly hilly, without much elevation change or steep ascents or descents.

Although at times it was a little rocky. Since we didn’t start hiking until after 1:00 pm, we didn’t have any big miles planned for the day, covering around 10 miles. After 6 miles, we met at a picnic area in a state park, where we filled up on drinking water and had a snack. We took a long break and relaxed knowing we didn’t have much else to do during the day.

Returning to the trail, we had a fairly significant climb, at least in the context of this region, of over 1000 feet in 2 miles. The climb was a little steeper than expected, but I made it thanks to the excess calories provided by yesterday’s pizza. At the top, I took a small blue blaze to Chimney Rocks to check out what a comment on FarOut said was «the best view of Pennsylvania on the AT.» And I have to say, it’s a pretty cool sight!

After spending some time there, we continued and walked the last two easy kilometers to our stealth spot. Walking through groves of rhododendrons in bloom.

For dinner I had a Spam Single with the rosemary cheddar scone I bought earlier that day and it was just fantastic! 9/10 stars, it would only have been better if it was heated!

Day 80 Statistics:

11.2 miles

2,438′ ascent, 1,617′ descent

Halfway Hideaway Hostel to stealth site

26DSLC…

Stove use times: 14

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