YOU NOW HAVE A FRIEND IN PA

Hello all. I'm sitting in an internet cafe off the trail - waaay off the trail. I'm back in Philadelphia, spending a few days at home. I'd say its rest time, but we're walking around a ton and the distractions of the city are many to someone who has grown used to the quiet of the woods. But it is nice to spend time with Elizabeth at home, as we (well mostly me) eat our way across town today. I left Harpers Ferry fairly quickly - while it certainly is a very beautiful and historic place, it is not a very hiker-friendly town. No groceries, no drug store, no laundromat, no hostel, no central meeting place. The Appalachian Trail Conference has its headquarters there with a small lounge, but most hikers spend a half-day at best in town because there's no place to stay. Pushing on did give me the opportunity to race to Duncannon, PA and take a train from nearby Harrisburg to Philadelphia on July 4th, surprising Elizabeth, who didn't plan on seeing me until the 5th. She was quite surprised when I called her, described how I missed her, said I wished I could be there, then knocked on the door. Despite moving fast, I was able to celebrate a few milestones and traditions. I didn't do the 40-mile 3-state challenge by getting through all of Maryland's 40 miles in one day. But I did do my longest day yet, going 30.8 miles through most of Maryland, making it across the Mason-Dixon line into Pennsylvania, and stopping 8 miles later at 10:30PM. Very exciting that I've hiked back to my home state, very exciting to be out of the South, very exciting to cross roads I know (Route 30, PA Turnpike, etc), and VERY exciting to find decent cheesesteaks and hoagies. The next day was a lighter 15 miles, and I got to spend a few hours relaxing by a pool at Caledonia State Park. Also met a couple of young guys who are skateboarding from Chicago to New York - their link is shredamericafilm.com. The next day we crossed the physical halfway point, at mile 1088.1, which was pretty emotional. Everything is now closer to Katahdin than Springer Mtn, and its a reminder that this adventure will end at some point. Traditionally, hikers celebrate the halfway point by downing a half-gallon of ice cream at Pine Grove Furnace State Park in PA. I doomed my attempt early on when I ate a hot dog right before the ice cream, and also chose Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough as my flavor which is not a smart choice. But I did manage to eat half of it (2 pints worth), followed by a cheeseburger, while watching the others groaning as they finished off the last soupy spoonful. The trail went through Boiling Springs, PA the following day, and I would've hit the internet, but the town has no library that I could tell. It did have a public pool with twisty slides though, which was welcome on a hot day. This was the beginning of the Cumberland Valley, where the trail crosses 14 miles of flat farmland before climbing onto PA's Blue Ridge. The rest of PA will be on this ridge - those of you who travel the PA Turnpike NE Extension (I-476) might know the Blue Ridge as the mountain the highway tunnels under right north of Allentown. I left the trail in the middle of the valley to hitch into Harrisburg, and will begin again there on Monday afternoon, probably arriving in Duncannon on Tuesday. Elizabeth and I drove out to Duncannon where there was a big hiker feed on the 5th, and got to enjoy the atmosphere at the Doyle Hotel and Bar, probably the friendliest hiker bar on the AT. Lots of fellow hikers sped up or slowed down to hit the feed, and its nice to see faces I haven't seen in a while. However, its definitely clear that there are nowhere near the numbers of people on the trail as there were only a month ago. The miles and time are taking their toll. Still, the folks left are strong and I'm with a solid group of swell friends who will be fun to hike with, once I catch back up with them. One other thing for any friends and family who want to do a nifty day hike - I am suggesting meeting up at the Delaware Water Gap and hiking up the NJ side of the gap where there are amazing views from the Kittatiny Ridge. Probably about 7 miles round trip, with a 1200 foot climb, so plan a half day. I will post later about time and date, once its clearer to me....