5/24 Tentsite to Crampton Gap Shelter (14 miles)
In my last blog post I discussed my time in Harpers Ferry, so I’ll pick up from when I left town. The first few miles out of town were flat as I crossed the Potomac River and then hiked along it. The Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers around Harpers Ferry are so much wider and more powerful than the streams that I’m used to hiking past every day. It’s cool to think that I could follow the Potomac to our nation’s capitol.
There was a decent climb, as there always is after towns, but then the trail mellowed back out and was super flowy for the rest of the afternoon; the way that I expect it to be until the rocks start in PA!
Tonight’s shelter is absolutely packed. I could not believe my eyes when I arrived. There must be at least 50 people here on weekend camping trips. I had a hard time finding a flat spot for my tent. To be honest, the loud weekenders were an unpleasant shock to the system! No hard feelings towards them. They just don’t share the campsite manners and camaraderie which thru hikers share. I do, however, feel like a total hardcore badass compared to these people out for their three day jaunts in the flat woods of Maryland.
5/25 Crampton Gap Shelter to Ensign Cowall Shelter (20 miles)
I got incredible trail magic from Joe and Carla; a couple from Ohio who do trail magic at Washington Monument State Park every memorial weekend. For breakfast they served fresh eggs, biscuits and gravy, bacon, sausage and fruit salad. They welcomed me to stay and hang out as they transitioned to their lunch menu: barbecue pulled pork sandwiches fresh off of Joe’s smoker, scalloped potatoes, coleslaw, and corn salad. I walked away so full. Thank you Joe and Carla for your generosity and for all of the effort that you put into your trail magic!
The Maryland section of the trail has lots of historical structures and information boards about battles and events from the Revolutionary thru Civil War era, which are interesting to see and read. There were also some surprisingly rocky sections towards the end of the day today. They required my total focus to push aside my usual end of day tiredness to safely navigate the rocky terrain without rolling an ankle.
I went two for two on hitches in and out of Smithsburg, Maryland at the end of the day today. I resupplied at the food store there. Harpers Ferry didn’t have a food store.
At camp tonight I chatted with a section hiker named Nolan. He’s currently studying engineering in college and interning at NASA. He’s also interested in thru hiking one day. Keep rocking on Nolan!
Joe and Carla doing trail magic at Washington Monument State Park!
The Washington Monument.
5/26 Ensign Cowall Shelter to Tumbling Run Shelters (18 miles)
On top of my left achilles being sore, today the muscle in my right shin felt like a cross between sore and cramped. I’m looking forward to taking a much needed zero soon. Luckily the terrain has been pretty easy still.
My friend Cobey met me at Pen Mar Park today. We were friends as toddlers and probably hadn’t seen each other in at least 15 years. We’ve stayed connected on Instagram over all these years. He’s an avid backpacker too and was eager to bring me some trail magic and hike with me. He stopped at a deli on his way to the park and brought us sandwiches and beer for lunch. He also gave me freeze dried meals and snacks to bring out on trail. We spent a while eating and catching up in the park, and then we crossed the Mason-Dixon Line (where I officially entered Pennsylvania) and he hiked the first couple miles of PA with me. Thanks for coming out Cobey!
At a road crossing right before today’s shelter, a man stopped his car, rolled down his window and handed me two slices of pizza as trail magic. He was slack packing his wife; Goldilocks. I really appreciated the pre-dinner snack.
Today’s shelter is awesome! It has two separate shelters labeled “snoring” and “non-snoring.” It also has an eating pavilion with flowers on the table, and a stream nearby. It’s been a while since a shelter that I stayed at had a good water source close by. I took advantage and soaked my legs in the cold water for a while. When I got out, my feet and legs felt noticeably refreshed.
Cobey and I at Pen Mar Park.
5/27 Tumbling Run Shelters to Toms Run Shelter (25 miles)
The terrain today was conducive to it being my longest day so far – it was mostly flat with a few short climbs. I had planned on camping at the shelter 19 miles in, but it turned out that that shelter is currently closed due to a bat bug infestation. I had to push on because I wanted to be in a shelter tonight. It’s supposed to get cold and rainy overnight into tomorrow.
I hiked past Quarry Gap Shelter today, which was the nicest shelter I’ve seen on the AT. It had historical pictures of when it was built in the 1930s, board games, and flowers planted all around the shelter.
Today I hiked through a cool pine forest where you could see far through the gaps between trees. I also passed the halfway mark and hit mile 1,100, although I won’t take my “official” halfway picture until Pine Grove Furnace State Park tomorrow morning!
The pine forest that I hiked through.
5/28 Toms Run Shelter to Alec Kennedy Shelter (19 miles)
I passed the official halfway mark this morning. It was cold and rainy all day. I stopped at the Green Mountain Deli, not far from a road crossing, and had a pretty disappointing sandwich for lunch. They microwave sandwich ingredients which is a sin to me, being from NJ and an avid cook.
The official halfway sign!
5/29 Alec Kennedy Shelter to Sherwood Drive Lot to Natalie and John’s House (16 miles)
15 of the miles today were flat or downhill which was very nice. Many of the flat sections were through farms. I met 4 Ply and Magenta along the hike into Boiling Springs; a very nice father-daughter duo who are thru hiking the trail. We chatted for a while at the cafe in Boiling Springs before I left town and continued my hike.
Natalie and John are trail angels local to this section of the trail. They are kind enough to host thru hikers every year. They found me and reached out to me through my platform on the Trek, which is definitely a perk of being a blogger! John picked me up from the trailhead and drove me to their beautiful home. I cannot believe that they let dirty, smelly thru hikers into their home!
They are the most generous trail angels that I’ve met on my journey. They have a full pantry dedicated to resupplying thru hikers, for free. They prepare home cooked breakfasts and dinners each day, for free. They think about the finest details of how they can meet thru hikers’ needs, including having a large container of Dr. Bonner’s soap and extra fuel canisters for refills. Dinner today was a pot roast, swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes and green beans. Dessert was berry pie and chocolate cake with ice cream on top.
I was very interested in learning why Natalie and John are so eager to help thru hikers and ask for nothing in return. Natalie said that she learned from her grandmother; who always made room for one more person at the dinner table. Additionally, Natalie and John aspire to be beacons of positivity and generosity in the wake of the pandemic.
Flat farmlands were a relief from mountainous terrain!
5/30 Zero at Natalie and John’s House
Natalie and John were more than happy to let me stay for a whole extra day and take a zero at their house. I was pretty sore for the past few days and my body definitely needed the rest.
For breakfast, they made eggs, bagels, bacon, sausage, blueberry coffee cake, and fresh fruit. During the day they drove me to Trader Joe’s and Wegmans to resupply. Wegmans is my all-time favorite grocery store (I remember always going there as a toddler when I lived in Maryland). My favorite part about Wegmans is their bakery. I got a bunch of cookies and muffins to pack out on trail.
Today’s dinner was a beef and vegetable stir fry. All of the food was delicious! Staying for two nights in their home was an absolute privilege. They made me feel at home. Natalie and John – thank you so much!
Natalie, Softserve, John, Iceman and I.
5/31 Natalie and John’s House to Cove Mountain Shelter (10 miles)
I was excited to get back to the trail, because my friends Eli and Kevin met me at the trailhead to hike a two day section with me! It was so much fun sharing this experience with them, and they truly got to understand what thru hiking the AT is like. They were both very enthusiastic about learning the ropes of backpacking.
We took our time all day and took lots of breaks. It was nice not to be in a rush. Miles passed quickly while we engaged in personal conversations, the type that you can only have with long-time friends. It can be a little tiring constantly meeting new people on the AT and having the usual surface-level conversations. At camp we managed to start a fire despite much of the wood being damp, and they brought along s’mores supplies which was awesome!
Eli, Kevin and I!
Making s’mores!
6/1 Cove Mountain Shelter to Peter’s Mountain Shelter (15 miles)
We started the day with a descent into Duncannon, PA. The trail goes right through the town. We stopped at Goodie’s for a filling breakfast. Eli and Kevin got an authentic AT experience: varied terrain, time hiking through forest and farmland, good views, and time in a trail town.
Leaving town, we had a few flat miles and walked across bridges over the Juniata and Susquehanna Rivers. Next, we had a steep climb up Peter’s Mountain. Once we reached the top, we hiked over very rocky terrain on the ridgeline. Eli and Kevin got a taste of Rocksylvania too. They got picked up to go back to their car 12 miles into the day. I’m stoked that they made the trip out here. I know that they both appreciated escaping the city and spending time in the mountains. I cherished their company and we made great memories.
I met a bunch of new hikers at camp today. I really connected with Mama Turtle, who is absolutely crushing her fourth thru hike and aspires to inspire other senior citizens to stay active. I hope to live a similar lifestyle to her at that age, and we talked about some of the keys to her athletic longevity. I also met Jessie, who I share a lot in common with! We chatted for a while over a campfire. She’s done a lot of solo traveling and has some awesome plans coming up to travel abroad!
The view from above Duncannon.
6/2 Peter’s Mountain Shelter to Tentsite (22 miles)
Today I returned to my usual pace and distance. I missed having Eli and Kevin’s company. The terrain was relatively easy – just a few climbs, and lots of flat ridgeline. I expect the terrain to become very rocky and live up to the nickname “Rocksylvania” starting tomorrow. I’m curious to see how much the rocks slow my pace.
Two other thru hikers, Tad and Erin, taught me how to identify poison ivy today. I also recorded videos because I plan on making an Instagram reel about everything that I do while I’m not hiking. A lot of people have been asking me about that. They probably think that once I’m done hiking every day, that I’m chilling by a campfire. The video will show that there are lots of chores to complete around camp.
The trail crossed a creek which is currently flooded due to beaver activity!
6/3 Tentsite to Hertline Creek Tentsite (18 miles)
I walked over the Swatara River on a cool bridge built in 1890, and then there was a steep climb. Right as it was approaching lunch time I got to a trailhead where two generous locals, Tom and Wayne, were doing trail magic. Perfect timing! As a New Jersey native, I’ve been missing deli sandwiches. Much to my delight, part of their trail magic was made-to-order sandwiches with salami, cheese, lettuce, tomato, mustard and mayo. They also had watermelon, oranges, bananas, apples, chips and freshly made brownies. Thanks for the trail magic, Tom and Wayne!
In the afternoon I hit mile 1200, and started encountering rocky terrain. I’d describe it as similar to stepping on legos strewn across a floor. The entire width of the trail is covered in rocks of various sizes. It definitely slowed me down a little bit.
I camped next to a nice creek which I soaked my legs in. I also camped with Firebreather, who I hadn’t seen in almost 700 miles! It was great catching up with him.
The bridge over the Swatara River.
6/4 Hertline Creek Tentsite to Port Clinton St. John’s Church Shelter (17 miles)
Today was the first very hot day in a while (temperatures in the 80s) and the rocky terrain continued.
I had great timing, because four friends happened to be starting their “24 hours of trail magic” at the Port Clinton shelter today! Their names are Pat, Mike, Rich and Jerry. They section hike the AT together. They set up camp at the shelter and served hikers a ton of food. When I arrived I had two hoagies for lunch. For dinner, they cooked sloppy joes. They had lots of snacks for in between. The Port Clinton shelter sits on the Little Schuylkill River, which I swam in. I enjoyed cooling off on such a hot day.
Cooling off in the Little Schuylkill River!
6/5 Port Clinton St. John’s Church Shelter to Tentsite (19 miles)
The trail magic crew made me three breakfast sandwiches to eat before heading back onto the trail. Thank you guys so much for the trail magic! They were practically shoving more food into my pack as I left; they wanted to make sure that I was fully stocked up on food. They saved me from having to resupply at a store in Port Clinton.
Today was another hot and rocky day. I stopped a record three times to filter water during the day. I probably drank 6 liters while hiking. There were three long climbs too totaling 3,800 feet of elevation gain. There were cool rock ledges with views at Pulpit Rock, The Pinnacle, and Dans Pulpit.
So far, “Rocksylvania” isn’t as bad as I thought it might be. I didn’t think that there would be any respite from the rocks. In reality, I’d say that roughly a quarter of the trail is fully covered by rocks. I slow down significantly in those sections. But there are still some nicer sections of dirt trail where I can open back up my pace and get some relief from the rocks.
The view from Pulpit Rock.
6/6 Tentsite to Lehigh Gap to Hank and Shawna’s House (21 miles)
In the morning I traversed a feature called “Knife’s Edge,” which lived up to its name. It was probably a quarter mile section of trail where you are walking along the pointed edges of rocks thinner than the width of my boot. It was really tough terrain to navigate. My poles were a huge help. I had several close calls to falling.
My family friends Hank and Shawna live in the Palmerton area and they picked me up from the trailhead in the afternoon. They cooked a delicious dinner of burgers, sausages with onions and peppers, potato salad, cucumber salad, and fries. I also got to watch game two of the Stanley Cup finals. Thank you so much for hosting me, Hank and Shawna!
A cool view of the Lehigh Valley along the descent to Lehigh Gap. It reminded me of the balds down south, since there were great views unobscured by trees.
Hank, Shawna and I!
