The last couple of days have been focused on moving and making miles. In order to make it to Maine by a reasonable time, we have to average 15 miles a day. This is not physically all too challenging for us, but I is challenging to fit it in with all the fun we need to have!

The hiking has been very pleasant recently. Yes, it has been hot for a northerner, and yes, Pennsylvania is rocky, but not unreasonably so.

When I hiked through the Smokey Mountains, everything was pretty miserable: rain, snow, fog, cold, crowds, itineraries, and generally low morale. One hiker jokingly said, “Well, at least there’s no bugs.” And that’s exactly right. A lot of people tend to dwell on the negative things that are happening instead of the positive.

Even so, the rocky terrain is not all that bad. And there have been more views recently too.

Aside from simply enjoying life as a mountain man, I have been kicking around ideas of what adventures to pursue after the Appalachian Trail. Teabag said he would thru hike the North Country Trail with me, which would be quite the trip. We would be somewhere around the 3rd and 4th thru hikers.

I’ll close with a poem I left at the most recent shelter: