Day 86 – Hike along the ridges

This morning I hit the trail around 7:45am. The first mile of walking was through the streets of Duncannon, which provided an easy warm-up for the day.

up to the ridge

A little over a mile later, I took a slight detour to a Pilot gas station for a coffee and breakfast sandwich. After spending an hour there with Shooter and Big Stick, we finally moved on. We crossed the Susquehanna River on a bridge and then re-emerged into the forest. The first two miles were all uphill as we climbed 1200 feet to reach the ridge. Once on the ridge, the terrain was fairly flat for the next 14 miles. There also weren’t many water sources in this section without taking a steep side trail. So I started today with plenty of water. The ridge turned out to be quite rocky, which made for a slow hike.

But little by little it improved over time. We’re definitely in snake territory right now, as Big Stick saw a Copperhead slithering under a rock and I heard a rattlesnake as it passed a pile of rocks not far after. Which was unsettling and definitely made a certain part of me frown a little. All things considered, we made decent time on the first stretch of the ridge.

At about 8 miles we reached a parking lot and met Twizzlers, providing trail magic from their vehicle!

This was a pretty sweet moment since we were planning to stop for a snack anyway and gladly accepted a banana, banana nut bread, and some Twizzlers. Not to mention the two sodas I had too! After sitting and chatting with him for 45 minutes, we decided we’d better keep moving if we were going to go 20+ miles today like we had planned.

Cruise

Fortunately, the next section of the trail along the ridge was easier than the previous section, with few elevation changes and fewer rocks. Along the ridge it occasionally opened up to one side or the other with some good views of the valley below. Probably the best one is Table Rock.

I made great time as I traversed the ridge the rest of the afternoon, eventually catching up to even Birdie. However, I eventually descended the ridge steeply to a road and stream crossing. I then transitioned into a climb, the second and last major climb of the day. It was only 1200 feet in 3 miles, so not too bad. A little further up the climb I ran into a guy on the trail and he motioned for me to stop and look. I looked where he was pointing and saw a large black rat snake on the side of the trail slithering across the trail. I stopped and watched him cross the path and continue on his merry way.

A short time later I arrived at the water source that I was planning to pick up for my last water shot of the day, since we were dry camping tonight. Unfortunately, the water source was just mud and puddles. However, searching the comments on FarOut, another water source within 0.8 miles was mentioned, so it’s not a big deal. The next water fountain at first glance looked quite rusty, but upon picking it up a bit, it didn’t look too bad. So I filled my bag, strained some and it tasted good. So I filled up the rest of my water bottles and continued the last mile or so to our goal campsite. As I walked the last two kilometers of the day looking uphill, there were tons of rocks along the side of the mountain, which was interesting to see and shows how rocky these mountains are in this area.

So many stones…

In the tent there was a family of 4 with two girls already there, who were joined by our group of 4, as well as Fritoes and Sandman. We all ate together around an unused campfire and listened to the two young girls, Clumsy and What, tell us stories of their walk. In addition to asking us many questions about what type of animals we have seen, among other things. It was great entertainment for all of us, with lots of laughs for all! Chatting with the girls reminded me of my nieces and nephews at home!

Statistics for day 86:

21.2 miles

3,825 ascent, 2,549′ descent

Duncannon Assembly of God Church: From Shelter to Tent

32 DSLC…

Stove use times: 14

Snakes seen on the trail: 13

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