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:

Well, we hiked a solid morning and became entranced by the magic of the town. Now that we are officially in the North, there are towns everywhere! And the towns know what hikers want, or more to the point, the towns know how to get our money.

This is the second town that the trail goes directly through in two days. It’s pretty hard to avoid ice cream and burgers when you have to walk right by them. And, of course, pool!

So we ended up playing for most of the day, and hanging out with other hikers.

Later, we ended up visiting a brat food truck, the greatest brat food truck I have enjoyed, topped with delicious sauerkraut. Richard, the owner, was very kind, giving me a free brat! Schnitzel’s Brat Stop is a must see.

But it is our last stop for today. We are getting tired, and we have a lot of hiking to do tomorrow.

In order to avoid the heat AND the worst of the thunderstorm, we left town at 10pm. From what I have heard, a lot of our weather has been from the hurricane on the coast. We are so far inland that hurricanes can only affect us indirectly, but it still means a lot of rain and wind.

What made it even more adventurous was this: the first 14 miles out of town were mostly farmland and did not allow camping. We wanted to make it to the shelter anyhow, which was the end of those 14 miles. We finally did, early in the morning, in a thick cloud. I could only see about four feet in front of me, so hiking had slowed quite a bit.

We slept. Until about 2pm. I read an entire book: The Little Prince. We slowly woke up, talked, goofed around. Other hikers came and thought us strange.

Finally, we packed up and began to hike again. Many were going into town for July 4th, but we opted for the shelter nearby. I don’t think we missed much in the way of fireworks or celebration. We had our own festivities.

Well, the heat and humidity has gone beyond intense and has reached a level of difficulty I did not expect. Part of this is the danger of sunburn, as Pennsylvania has more open trail in pastures and less tree cover, but it is also the amount of sweat. It’s not healthy!

My group has decided to focus on doing night hiking and hiking when the shade and temperatures are optimal.

Otherwise, the hiking has been great. There have been fun sights, and it feels great to be in the groove of hiking.

We are now in the town of Boiling Springs, enjoying the town. When it cools down, we will hike out.

Today was a warm one, and humid! Wow! All of me was wet the entire day. Even my shoelaces were wet. How does that happen?

Elevation definitely does not help, causing me to drip with sweat immediately. When the warmer part of the day arrived, we stopped at a store near the trail. The store had sandwiches, drinks, and air conditioning. It was dreamy.

Hopefully, the heat and humidity cools down for a while. It makes hiking quite a challenge. In hammock now, swatting away the bugs. Goodnight!

It’s official. We have made it halfway through the Appalachian Trail.

So far, Pennsylvania has been great: reasonable terrain and quite pretty. Teabag and I have fallen in with a new group of hikers for now, and they are fun to be around.

The excitement of the half-way point I also Pine Grove. This little area, right on the AT, has the Appalachian Trail Museum, as well as the home to the half gallon challenge, where every hiker that can stomach it eats one half gallon of ice cream.

“Peanut Butter Cup” turned out to be a bit much, but it all worked out. We enjoyed looking at the museum and playing cards until dark. It’s a good day to live in the mountains.

As I mentioned, I have been picking up my pace and focusing a bit more on hiking. At the same time, I want to make sure I am having fun.

We have been hitting some cool milestones the past few days. To start with, we are officially in the North! (Winter is coming).

And the shelters have been very nice, maintained by generous caretakers, some areas having both a smoking and a non-smoking shelter.

I have made it through all of Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland. Now, I am headed through Pennsylvania. There has been talk of visiting Hershey Park while we are here. Why not??

We stayed in town, under a tarp-shelter that may or may not have been for hikers. Though we were excited about hitting the trail, we still had to take care of a few things in town. Namely, my care package, with the essentials:

The first day, after visiting the Appalachian Trail Center and hanging out with hikers, we felt again a part of the community and ready to get back on the trail. Just a few miles was good enough for the first day back.

It turned out that there was not a good water source for ten miles or so. The next morning, I was ready to put in some more miles. After some calculations, we discovered that we should be doing a 15-mile average day. This is not too physically challenging, but it will be difficult. We will do it.

I’m enjoying the trail. I’m enjoying life. Everywhere is a view.

I apologize for the recent absence of posts. My adventures kept me occupied, and I only now found the opportunity to write about them. As I am moving into the North, I will often be closer to civilization, have better reception, and posting should be easier. I will miss some things about the South.

Teabag an I reached the historic town of Harpers Ferry, the figurative halfway point of the trail. We have completed over 1000 miles, and with over 1000 to go, we are all feeling the excitement and power of the Appalachian Trail. 1000 miles! It’s even hard for me to understand that distance.

Since the trail goes directly through the town, we imagined it to be a hiker-friendly town, catering to the basic needs of thruhikers. It was soon obvious that this was not the case. There was no designated spot to camp, so we invented one that was fairly inconspicuous and woke at first light to avoid confrontation. Teabag had some family friends to meet for lunch and invited me along. During the meal, they asked if we wanted to visit the Capitol. They live fairly close to Washington, DC, and invited us over.

I must say that this was a true example of trail magic, and one of the greatest and certainly most hospitable experiences I have experienced. Rob and Deb Burger took me – a complete stranger, not to mention a dirty and smelly one – into their home and treated me and Teabag to our wildest dreams.

We were able to explore DC, where I had not been, and spend some time relaxing with Rob, Deb, and their awesome children. Seeing the memorials and grandeur of the city really left an impression. I found myself contemplating a future living and working in the Capitol. The Burger children reminded me how much I enjoy the company of children, the rewards of working with them. And we spent a good chunk of time watching Mad Men. Yes, it was a lot of leisure time, but I thought it well deserved at the halfway point. It was such a great opportunity to see the city.

At risk of sounding too cliche, it was a reminder of the freedom that I have. I am pursuing my dream, doing exactly what I wish to be doing. I don’t suppose everyone has this luxury, and I am very grateful for it. I am also very grateful to have met and spent time with the Burger family.

1,000 miles, baby.

To rise at first light and leave camp by 6:00 a.m. It is a wonderful thing, and I hope to make it a habit. I spent most of today hiking solo again. It was a nice change of pace, so to speak, but I did miss my fellow hikers.

I took a nap, and was rewarded by hikers coming up to meet me. In my hammock, I was surprised to see quite a few familiar hikers come to the shelter. I hung out with them before hiking on.

I reached a section known as the “Roller Coaster,” where the trail goes up and down quite a bit in 13 miles. After the first hill, I caught up to Teabag. It was great to see my hiking friend again. We reminisced about video games late into the night.

The next morning, we got a late start. So late that we were passed by a Boy Scout troop. We hiked near them most of the day, sharing some spectacular trail magic and steep climbs.

We couldn’t believe how organized they were. Perhaps we should take a lesson from them and plan a bit more… but then again, maybe not.

Continuing on, we hiked to a hostel, watched Big Fish, and kept going. We had heard of a dinner (or “hiker feed,” as they called it) and arrived just in time for the food! It was so far the best meal on the trail.

Chicken, rice, fresh vegetables from the farm. Afterwards, pie, cake, and tea. We all slept there, our stomachs content.

The next day was only a 12-mile hike to Harpers Ferry, where I am now!

The Potomac River was an impressive sight and a good welcome to the town. I’m excited to be here, as this is the figurative half-way point of the trail. 1,000 miles down!