Photo Album #1 | Photo Album #2
Sun 27
⁃ Camp near Leroy A. Smith Shelter
I’m so done with Walmart delivery. Not only did they mis deliver the order to an apartment on the other side of town (I ordered it to the hotel we were staying at), they also twice failed to redeliver it after promising to, then after finally giving up on ever actually receiving the items, the customer service rep outright said he didn’t believe me that the order could possibly be misdelivered, since “the delivery photo clearly shows the same house number as the one on the order” and was hesitant to transfer me to his supervisor, who “filed a request for a refund”, said it should be refunded within the hour, and gave me the worlds longest case number in case of any issues (as I couldn’t get a confirmation email). I doubt refund ever shows up. So I’ll probably just do a CC chargeback if that’s the case.
Great job Walmart, I spent almost 2 hours on the phone, gave you three chances to fix it, and at each one you gloriously failed. Seriously, I don’t know how this transaction could have gone any worse.
So yeah, I guess I’m resupplying at the gas station/convenience store. There, at least I know I’m getting ripped off before I check out.
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Patched the hole in the water filter w clear tenacious tape. Still need to call and get a replacement.
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⁃ CT smelled like sweet wildflowers
⁃ NY smelled like summer camp (dry grass fields, woods, etc)
⁃ NJ smelled like disgustingly, nauseatingly strong weeds/wildflowers
⁃ PA smells like rocks. Seriously, it smells exactly you banged rocks together. A sorta mineral-y, sorta fire like, electric arc like smell.
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So far, PA is impressively flat. Save for two small climbs (1000 ft, 500 ft), the last 20 miles have been practically flat—rocky, but flat. And thus far, the rocks haven’t been too terrible. Not dramatically worse than NY or NJ, and overall not much worse to walk on than the roots and rocks of Maine. Yay for resilient ankles and strong calves I guess?
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Finally trying cold soaking a Knorr pasta side. At least for the Fettuccini type pasta, 1 hr 15 mins is just about right, though a few noodles were still a bit firm/sticky (likely since they stuck together).
Mon 28
⁃ Camp at Sunny Rest Resort
Tues 29
⁃ Stayed at The Lookout Hostel
Had to literally chase/scare a medium size bear off the trail just south of the George W. Outerbrook Shelter today. Initially it was 100 ft away, but got as close as ~20 ft while it was walking down the trail seemingly following a smell. Shouting at it to go away and bluffing charging it while holding my trekking poles finally made it head for the woods (though I had to do so a few times before it finally gave up and moved on). Unlike most black bears, it wasn’t scared by the mere presence of a human (they typically act like big, timid deer and bolt at the first sign of a person), and instead required actively threatening it to get it to leave.
Just before my encounter with the bear, I’d ran into a large group of day hikers that was coming down, retreating from the bear (uh, bad plan, since as they say “food runs”). They were quite taken aback by me not following them back down the trail (and back to my nonexistent car to leave), and me saying I was going to press on and, if necessary, scare the bear away.
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Grabbed a pair of Line Peak insoles (size 11.5) from the hiker box. Planning to use them with my current pair of mont Blancs (size 10) untrimmed, then cut them to size for my new mont Blancs (probably a 10.5 W or 11 W). Yep, you heard it here first, I’m gonna stick with the mont Blancs. Literally just because of the grip (and my pair is still just as grippy as they were when new, and definitely way grippier than the Lone Peaks were, even new (and their grip deteriorated as the treads wore)). I’m not sure they’re any more durable than the lone peaks. The lone peaks had to go through a soaking wet Maine and the brutal section of New Hampshire, before being swapped out at ~450 miles. The mont Blancs are being nursed through the last of the rocks of PA, to make it a little over 600 miles on that pair.
Wed 30
⁃ Stealth Camp a little N of Furnace Brook (965.7)
New pinhole in my water filter bag. Still need to call Katadyn…
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Screw my stupid nitecore battery. Pulled it out of my bag and the thing was dead. Best I can tell, it doesn’t like my wall charger doing load balancing on the ports. So I have a dead phone going into port Clinton I guess. Glad it’s a small town and a pretty simple route.
Thur 31
⁃ Stealth Camp S of Auburn Lookout (982.1)
Met Doolittle and G Man at The Pinnacle Lookout.
After they zeroed yesterday, they’re slack packing via The Lookout Hostel since Doolittle’s air mattress is refusing to hold a patch (even including a therm-a-rest glue dot style patch). It’s a Big Agnes mattress and the hole is on a baffle. With how it’s designed, the baffle forms a sharp inward indent, making securing a patch to cover a hole in that indent basically impossible.
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I was definitely glad I had my camera with me today. Otherwise, I’d have missed out on capturing some amazing views from The Pinnacle. I didn’t manage to capture any good shots of the large birds circling overhead the two lookouts though, thanks to my sloth like reaction time. Likewise, last night, I let the beautiful sunset be captured only in my mind, as a photo through the trees wouldn’t hade done it justice, and instead would’ve only served to ruin the moment.
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It was a bit weird walking around Port Clinton without a functional phone (remember, dead phone and dead charger last night), but I was able to find the post office, hotel restaurant (which has water and outlets), and the peanut shop without issue. After picking up my resupply box and packing my food bag, I had linner (lunch-dinner) at The Port Clinton Hotel restaurant. Overall, kinda meh. I had the Port Clinton Burger, which has provolone and house (marinara) sauce. It was served with pickles and a bag of chips. The chips were pretty bland, as was the burger patty. The tomato sauce wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t anything special. Only real positive was the price. For ~$11, I got a 12 oz burger and chips. I later read a comment on FarOut that the cheesteaks and fries were quite good…oops.
At the peanut shop, I grabbed flavored cow tails (brownie, Oreo, strawberry, Carmel apple), and made myself a bag of jelly belly jelly beans. I’ve been craving the cow tails since I saw them in a convenience store in Palmerton (but they were expired and hard as a rock). The jelly beans are for adding to trail mix (and eating plain). I wasn’t in the mood for fudge or chocolates today, so I skipped those (I guess because of flavor fatigue of chocolate). Anyway, it was definitely worth the stop.
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Ugh, my bag is pretty uncomfortable with 2.4 L of water and 3 full days of food. It’s also not as well balanced when it’s so full (making walking on the tips of rocks a bit harder).
The water carry is pretty unavoidable since there’s no sources between town and where I’m staying tonight (nor for the next few miles either).
The food though, is probably overpacked. While it’s all from a resupply box my parents packed, the blame mostly rests with me for giving the wrong guidance.
Once I got to camp for the night, I laid everything out by day, and saw I had a pretty significant excess of food (not even counting the candy I bought at The Peanut Shop). The main issue is an excess of the non-day specific stuff, which is only becoming more of an issue as I add more variety to the boxes (growing the amount of non day specific stuff).
To resolve this, I’m going to switch to a fully day-based plan. Based on what I’ve typically eaten daily, I came up with ~2250 calories per day, with the following breakdown (there’s a photo of roughly what this looks like in the album):
– 2 meals (~400-500 cal each)
– 1 protein bar (20 g protein, ~300 cal)
– 1 energy bar (7-13 g protein, ~250 cal)
– 1 carb bar (0-5 g protein, ~200 cal) OR energy bar (see above)
– 1 carb-y snack (~250 cal)
– breakfast (one energy/carb bar or two oatmeals)
– fish/meat packet (10-20 g protein, 60-150 cal)
– 1.5 liquid IV (45 cal)
The above isn’t a significant departure from what I was doing before (aside from some additional granularity), but the switch from non-day-based items or “extra” items to a substitution-based system is, with the following substitution guidelines:
– 2T PB+1 tortilla ≈ 1 energy bar (double for a meal replacement)
– 1/2 pkg pudding + 1 scoop protein powder ≈ 1 protein bar (+2T PB and double for a meal replacement)
– cheezits/ritz bits/etc (~250 cal = 1 carb-y snack)
Fri 1
⁃ Camp at Hertline Campsite and Creek
Didn’t leave camp today till 1:30 pm. Ended at 7:20. Did 14.2 mi. So even including breaks that was a 2.44 mph pace. Pretty good.
Now, for why I left camp so late: woke up at like 8 am and had to poop. Ignored it, ate breakfast. Bad plan. Very bad plan. Had to dig the cat hole afterwards (finding a rock free spot is hard in PA) and transfer it. 0/10 would not recommend. Esp with nonsolid hiker poop.
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Man, screw dayhikers and weekend backpackers. A pair of backpackers came into camp late looking for tent spots at ~8:45. At this point. I was already settled into bed and They saw my tent, shone their bright lights all over and onto my tent, with an intent to possibly squeeze next to my tent on bare ground rather than use the other gravel tent pads up the hill. Thankfully, there weren’t any good spots left, so they finally went back up the hill and left me to get to bed.
Or at least until a group of day hikers (or I guess night hikers) showed up at ~9:30 PM and were admiring the pond and rope swing, and planned to return in the morning.
Sat 2
⁃ Camp 1.1 N of Yellow Springs Campsite
Did 26.55 mi today, even with taking two privy breaks, a long lunch, and a nap. Now to just do it again tomorrow to get into Duncannon.
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Between I-81 and Rauch Gap Shelter, the trail was practically rock free. Though the top half of the climb before Rauch Creek was completely overgrown with thorns, stinging nettles, and a little poison ivy. Also the beaver bog was dry enough I almost made it thru with dry feet (without a misstep I would’ve, nbd tho, just moist socks and insoles). And speaking of insoles, the Lone Peak insoles have been amazing in the mont Blancs. They also help to better cushion a bit of the stabbing pain when I step on the point of a sharp rock. Recall, I’d tried the default insoles and also a pair of superfeet insoles I already had, both with similarly poor results: foot pain/fatigue across the bottom of my entire foot after 2-3 miles. Further, the superfeet caused a pinch/rub point on the back of my heel that would likely have caused a bad blister after a day or two..
Sun 3
⁃ Stay at Kind of Outdoorsy
After mis-estimating that water carry yesterday, I thought I would share the process I typically follow to do so (along with a new modifier to hopefully avoid the same mistake).
⁃ 100 mL per mile
⁃ 200 mL per 500 ft of elevation gain (for any ascent of at least ~400 ft)
⁃ 500 mL per overnight
⁃ (new) 50% more if it’s especially hot or the trail is especially exposed (apply twice if both)
Questionable Culinary Creations pt. 2
⁃ Jelly Belly Jelly Beans in Trail Mix (better in theory than in practice (I like to eat trail mix by the handful and jelly beans one by one))
⁃ PB with chocolate Pudding mix (pretty darn great imo)
Universe hates me again today.
⁃ Broke a trekking pole
⁃ Super underestimated a water carry. Got pretty dehydrated. Maybe got heat exhaustion. In any case, the descent into Duncannon was with a slight mental fog (great for concentrating on rock scrambling).
⁃ Got a really bad hotspot above my left heel abt 12 miles into a 26 mi day. Tapping it helped, but it’s still pretty raw.
⁃ Chafe city. I’ll leave it at that. Ow every step.
⁃ And the pizza place I was gonna go when I get into town to is closed until the 6th (and everything else was closed as well).
Mon 4
⁃ Darlington Shelter
Tue 5
⁃ Carlisle, PA Airbnb (via Sheet Iron Roof Rd)
Wed 6
⁃ Zero
Thu 7
⁃ Carlisle, PA Airbnb (via Forest Rd)
Fri 8
⁃ Carlisle, PA Airbnb (via Pen-Mar Park)
Sat 9
⁃ Charles Town, WV Motel 6 (via Washington Monument SP (1151.0))
Nope-d out of the four state challenge. Made it exactly halfway lol (22 mi). I didn’t get much sleep last night, I wasn’t feeling it, it was going to pour rain tonight, and I was hiking slower than expected, meaning I’d have significantly more night hiking than originally expected.
I’m a little annoyed at myself for letting this stop me.
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After quitting the four state challenge, I didn’t want to think about hiking for a little bit. Also I took a nice long nap.
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So far MD smells like rotting leaves (in a bad way).
Sun 10
⁃ Ed Garvey Shelter
After thinking about it, I don’t have any regrets about attempting the four state challenge and then giving up on it. I would do it the same way again (save for doing it with a lack of sleep and bad weather expected). I didn’t compromise on stopping and enjoying the views along the way, didn’t push myself, and stopped when I wasn’t having fun anymore.
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Today, MD smelled like freshly fallen leaves (in a good way today).
Mon 11
⁃ Stay at The Town’s Inn (Harper’s Ferry)
Initially, I was planning to do a long day today and then nearo into Bear’s Den, but I got sucked in (vortexted) by the historical exhibits at Harper’s Ferry, and ended up staying with do-little at The Town’s Inn instead.
Tue 12
⁃ Stay at Bear’s Den
Today felt pretty good. The motivation of pizza and a pint of Ben and Jerry’s was pretty motivating to crush a 20 mile day.
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The trail out of Harper’s ferry was incredibly tranquil, as was having the 340 bridge to myself (as it was closed to traffic for construction further down the road).
Wed 13
⁃ Stay at Sam Moore Shelter
Didn’t sleep well at all last night. Ended up stopping to take a nap at noon today at the Sam Moore Shelter…slept till 4 pm. Prob gonna stay the night here at this rate.
Tbh I’m getting a bit tired at this point. Not quite burned out, but not really excited to be doing this right now. I’ve been about all the things I’m gonna do once I finish, and I’m doing the math on how many days I have left based on how many miles I do per day (somewhere around 2 months is my guess, so around Nov 15).
Thu 14
⁃ Stay at Manasas Gap Shelter
You know what, I could be convinced to do more shelter nights, especially if I get them to myself like I did tonight.
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Roller coaster wasn’t bad at all. If there wasn’t a sign or waypoint, I’d have no idea I was on it.
Fri 15
⁃ Stay at The Cabbin/Mountain House B&B
Sat 16
⁃ Stealth camp just N of little hogback mountain
Sun 17
⁃ stealth camp behind cliffs near Mary’s rock (1256.1)
I’m getting a little tired of being so close to (and continually crossing) skyline drive as we go thru the park.
Mon 18
⁃ Stealth camp behind an overlook just past the Blackrock overlook (1271.9)
Stopped at the skyland dining room for lunch today, since I sorta forgot to get any protein when resupplying at the wayside yesterday. Soo glad I did. The chicken sandwich, soup du jor (a tomato, basil, brie), and the fries were all excellent. The chicken sandwich was a perfect balance of hot (chicken), cold (cabbage and pickles), spicy (sauce), sweet (sauce), crunchy (cabbage), and acidic (pickles). The fries were perfectly golden and crunchy on the outside, while the center was perfectly soft and moist. They were also a weird (but awesome) mix of spiral cut and steak cut. I’m not normally one for tomato soup, but with the addition of brie, it was for a perfect balance, which was made even better by dipping the fries in it.
It’s not all perfect though: the blackberry cobbler was a letdown. First, it was an amusingly small portion, especially for the giant scoop of ice cream placed on top. Second, it wasn’t really warm (at least after being put in a cool dish and had ice cream dumped on top). Third, it was served in a small cast iron bowl, which added a slight metallic taste to the cobbler. And finally, the cobbler was just underwhelming, with it mostly tasting of sugar while being overly thick.
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I’d originally planned to stealth camp near the bearfence overlook, but after the long lunch, an urgent and unexpected poop/cat hole break, and some midday lethargy, my plan slipped. Initially to camp on Hazeltop, then near Milam Gap, then finally to behind an unmarked overlook just past the Blackrock overlook. Initially I’d hoped to only have 10 mi for tomorrow so I could get into town early, but I’ll instead have a 16.5, though the elevation gain shouldn’t be too significant, nor the terrain.
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I’m so done with looking up at viewpoints on skyline drive from the bottom of the clear cut from the AT (while having no view from the trail). It’s starting to feel like I’d get more, better views from skyline drive than from the Appalachian National *Scenic* Trail.
Likewise, I’m getting tired of the dumb concrete mileposts with the worlds smallest text stamped on a 1.5” metal band wrapping around it. Amusingly, they literally put one in at the Bears Nest #3 shelter just to mark the 15’ side trail to the (entirely visible) privy. Wth.
Oh, and also they really like putting non-kicked (non-directional) blazes at road crossings even when the trail goes straight across (where a single blaze should be). They also like to mark junctions with a non-kicked blaze, and leave you guessing based on the blaze on the other side of the tree, and the poorly oriented and slow to read concrete mileposts.
Tue 19
⁃ Stay at Small Axe Farms (via Swift Run Gap)
“Where’s all your stuff?” *lifts up bag* “right here”
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Grabbed a yogurt and ice cream sandwich from the Lewis Mtn camp store as I was passing thru. Nice addition to lunch.
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The hostel at Small Axe farms is pretty cool. It’s an actual farm, we’re staying in an actual barn that’s pretty much open air, and you can hear the sheep, goats, and dogs from the farm. Dinner was excellent as well, with orzo, grilled chicken, asparagus, and garden fresh tomatoes (amazing!!).
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Got stung by a yellow jacket abt a quarter mi before getting to the park entrance station. Back of my right knee. Probably my least favorite place thus far, since I pinch it each time I step.
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Wayne was a great shuttle driver, and recommended I shower and do laundry at the outfitters in town before going to small axe. A wise choice, as small ace only has a solar shower.
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