New Jersey and Hikers. .. Perfect Together.

A morning update from our intrepid hiker... I find it hard to believe, but today will be their last day in NJ! Apparently NJ has been a big hit with the hiking crowd, especially after the rocks of Pennsylvania. According to Shawn, "PA is the old and busted, and NJ is the new hotness." Of course, as a former Jersey girl, I could have told him that.... His NJ adventures included a send-off from his family at the Delaware Water Gap (photos to come), a call to me from the top of the trail near my favorite camp, Fairview Lake (my LTC folks will appreciate that), and dinner and a grocery store run last night with my parents in Vernon, NJ. Yesterday, during the hottest part of the day, Shawn and Zen sat in an air-conditioned hotel room watching very dated movies, and making a couple calls to me to search IMDB for casting information... Today, he and Zen will hike 10 miles and be in NY, and one state closer to Maine!

DELAWARE WATER GAP, PA

Hi all from PA's last stand. I'm writing from my sister Kim and her husband Daryl's house a few miles from the trail, enjoying the first home cooking I've had in months. Lots of food to fatten up with and a little rest period while another heat wave rolls through - temps are supposed to get into the mid-90s today, with high humidity. Not the best weather for hiking, so Zen and Donny (two fellow thru-ers with me) are saying the word for today is "swimming." As in swimming in the Delaware River. The river flows parallel to the trail through the picturesque Delaware Water Gap National Rec. Area, the last of the Natl Park Service units we will travel thru on our way north. The federal government bought up the lands along the river in the 50s and 60s in anticipation of putting a large dam at the Water Gap, but 30 years of sustained opposition to the project finally caused it to be killed in 1992. As a result, the Delaware remains one of the largest undammed rivers in the US, and it is a pleasure to tube or canoe. Also interesting to know that I could just stay in a tube and eventually float to the riverfront parcel in my Philadelphia neighborhood of Fishtown, where various forces have been trying to put a giant slots casino before encountering similar public opposition. Hopefully it won't take 30 years to kill that bad idea. But I digress. Speaking of pleasures, its nice to have completed PA, one of the longer sections of the trail. I feel like I may have given it a bad rap in my previous post, but 140 miles of rocks can really get your anger up. I can say that the Superfund climb out of Palmerton was really "super-fun," with exposed rock climbs and views all around. Maybe they should allow zinc smelting along other parts of the trail to open it up a bit. So after swimming, we will continue across the river and into New Jersey, hoping to stay near Sunfish Pond tonight. This pond is the southernmost glacial pond on the trail, visibly marking where the trail enters the area once covered by an ice-sheet. From here on out, many ponds and lakes and marshes (and mosquitos) will greet us, and instead of cobbles and loose rock that the freeze-thaw cycle gives PA, sheets of rock to walk on and exposed roots to trip over. But most thru-hikers are looking forward to another milestone New Jersey represents: the deli-to-deli hike that occurs in New Jersey and New York, where lots of delis and other eateries exist near the trail. So, bring on the reubens!

PAMLERTON, PA

Hi to all from Palmerton, PA, mile 1,245, and where the trail crosses the Lehigh River, for those of you Pennsy dwellers. The town is a delight, with lots of cheap restaurants, two grocers, laundromats, etc. And the borough's government is nice enough to let hikers stay and shower for free in the basement of Borough Hall (the former jail). Sitting here in the library right now, housed in a beautiful old bank building. All of the PA towns have been good stops, which is important for morale since the trail here has turned into a nightmare. After Duncannon, the AT climbs up the blue ridge, here called Blue Mountain, and stays on it for the rest of PA. And that's where the trouble starts. One word: rocks. Everyone knew PA would be rocky, but I don't think anyone guessed just how rocky it would be. Most of each day is spent walking, stumbling, hopping, and falling across endless piles of rocks of varying looseness and size. At its worse it's pure bouldering, walking on top rock ledges slanted 45 degrees for a mile or more. At best, the trail follows old forest roads that still have some minimum amount of loose rocks, usually with the pointy end facing up. My boots, new since Duncannon are already beat up. Add in the heat and humidity of July in southeast PA. Sprinkle with thousands and thousands of gypsy moths flitting around in your face. Then subtract the water, since the rocky soil drains so easily and the area is under-supplied by rain this year. Most decent water sources require walking a half-mile steeply down off the ridge, then carrying it all back up. The real high, or low, point will be the climb out of Palmerton - the toughest part of the trail until New Hampshire. It is straight up a rocky ledge, one thousand feet in a half-mile, without any shade. No plants grow there because of heavy-metals contamination by a former zinc smelting operation - its actually an EPA-administered Superfund site. All part of PA's industrial past, which is not a new thing on the trail. Last week, we walked through a ghost mining town, right past a few culm piles and mine entrances seeping out orange acid mine-drainage into the water system. The rocks and envrionmental problems aren't just the only thing intimidating about PA. The southerners amongst us are discovering that brusque curtness that Yankees are known for, and there's more garbage and grafitti along the trail than we've seen elsewhere. And then there's the gunfire - everyone is astounded by the amount we've heard since entering PA. There's been gunshots every day, both day and night, much more than heard in any part of the South. Its especially disconcerting given that the hunting season hasn't started yet. Some of the hikers took a side trip to Cabella's giant flagship store near Hamburg, PA and were amazed at this 250,000 square foot retail "experience", complete with an enormous gun selection and hundreds of stuffed versions of the animals we aren't seeing on the trail. No doubt about it, PA loves guns. Fortunately for the state's reputation, the views over farmland are truly beautiful and PA's town stops have been pleasant and quirky. Allen and Jeff, two friends from high school/college, joined me for 30 miles of hiking. After 14 miles of rocks and heat the first day, we stopped at little Port Clinton and its collection of lawn ornaments. Had the biggest cheesesteak I've ever seen at the Port Clinton Hotel. The next night we climbed and camped at the Pinnacle, which may just be the best viewpoint along the AT in PA. Had great fun watching a small town's fireworks display from 1000 feet above the town. After Jeff and Allen took off, I've been traveling with Zen, The Thinker, and Vashon, thru-ers who have never been thru PA except on foot. We stopped for beers and live music at a restaurant where the trail crosses Rt. 309, and landed here in Palmerton last night for more good food. So, from here its just 37 miles to Delaware Water Gap and the end of PA. I will be visiting with my immediate family there, eagerly anticipating home cooking and a place to rest before pushing on. Like everyone else, I know I'm excited about entering New Jersey. For me it means the start of walking away from home, but I'm looking forward to seeing places I haven't before and getting up into the bigger mountains of New England.

DUNCANNON, PA

Hi again. I've returned to the trail after my few days off in Philadelphia and am enjoying a beer and the free internet access at the Doyle Hotel and Bar in Duncannon, PA. This is a great town for hikers, a real town with laundromat and cheap hotel and a real bar. The Southern towns never had much in the way of bars. The first decent looking bar appeared in Boiling Springs, PA, but it was pretty upscale with lots of brass and country club furnishings - not exactly hiker digs. It was like being in that movie Caddyshack, and I'm Rodney Dangerfield. So, the Doyle is a great find. I took the train from Philly to Harrisburg and cabbed it to Duncannon. I will stay at a campground tonight on the edge of town and hike out tomorrow morning. The weather looks terrible for hiking - hazy hot and humid with plenty of thunderstorms all this week. Hopefully there will at least be a breeze on the ridgetops. Supposedly, the famous (or infamous) rocks of Pennsylvania begin after Duncannon. I've switched to my second pair of shoes and am feeling confident the new shoes will help the dulling pain in my soles that arose last week after my long mileage days. I know it may seem to some readers of this blog that all I'm doing out here is partying, but try and remember that its usually a week or more of solid hiking in between posts and when I get to a computer I tend to write about what I'm doing in town that day, which is often partying. Some folks from work asked me where is the introspection? Where is this alone-in-the-wilderness period? Well, I can honestly say it hasn't been that introspective yet. I'm discovering the Trail has several phases to it. The first part, the race to Damascus for the Trail Days festival was a physical challenge - 500 miles to toughen the body up. The second phase was the 500 miles of Virginia and this part was the mental challenge. Everyone is physically fit for Virginia, but the heat, less-than-spectacular scenery, never-ending forest, and lack of milestones was a trial for the mind to get through. I feel we've entered a third phase since Harpers Ferry, and I've yet to define it. It may be an introspective phase, it may not. Stay tuned. I can say that one challenge for me personally during this phase is visiting home. It was great to see Elizabeth and friends and my house and sweet kitteh Camille, and it was even fun to experience the disorientation of suddenly being in a huge city after being in the woods for so long. (We went out to a crowded restaurant for breakfast and all I could do was stare at all the other people.) And its such a nice feeling being at home and being able to relax and spend time with Elizabeth in a domestic environment - I could easily imagine saying I've had a great experience, hanging up my pack and calling it quits. But I want to finish this trail badly. Psychologically it will get tough. I've been walking towards home until now, but now that changes. I'll have to change my focus - instead of home on the horizon, it will be New England, and eventually Mt. Katahdin itself will rise larger and larger in the mind.

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....

As of today...

Shawn is in Pennsylvania! I spoke with him around 4, and he said he was about 10 miles from the PA border. That being said, he's running about 5 days ahead of his original planned schedule. Since I'm having a little trouble updating the excel spreadsheet with his dates on it, I'll post the update here for your mail-drop fun ... this is subject to change as he hikes along, but for now, here's the updated schedule from here on out. I don't think he'll be at the top of Katahdin on September 27th, as I know that he will be slowing down as he gets closer to Maine, but this should give you an idea of where he will be for the coming months (Any of the stops with ** have a planned mail drop - addresses are the same as the original list.).

7/5	1,135.3	Duncannon, PA **
7/10	1,205.3	Port Clinton, PA
7/15	1,281.6	Delaware Water Gap, PA **
7/19	1,344.9	Vernon, NJ
7/22	1,390.5	Ft. Montgomery, NY
7/27	1,453.7	Kent, CT
7/29	1,486.4	Salisbury, CT
8/3	1,556.6	Dalton, MA **
8/5	1,579.9	North Adams, MA
8/9	1,638.4	Manchester Center, VT
8/16	1,734.3	Hanover, NH
8/20	1,777.7	Glencliff, NH **
8/23	1,803.5	Franconia Notch / Lincoln, NH
8/30	1,878.3	Gorham, NH **
9/3	1,919.7	Andover, ME
9/10	1,988.4	Stratton, ME
9/13	2,025.0	Caratunk, ME
9/16	2,061.7	Monson, ME **
9/25	2,161.1	Abol Bridge, ME
9/27	2,176.5	Katahdin, Baxter Peak

BIG WRITE UP PART 2 - NORTHERN VIRGINIA

Back for a second post. So, naked hiking day completed, we had a nice stayover in Luray, VA with Elizabeth, Johnny Thunder and his girlfriend Theresa. The next day, I got my Virginia keychain, said goodbye to the ladies at Skyland Lodge. As Johnny and I entered the woods to get back on the trail, we came across Orion, and then the skies opened up. Luckily, Skyland's tap room was not far and we had a place to wait out a huge thunderstorm with marble-sized hail - while enjoying a few beers! By the way, those of you who are sick of Yeungling might find it curious that it's sold all over the South as a premium domestic beer. Finally got back on the trail and ended up stealth camping near a troop of boy scouts at a picnic pavilion. The next few days were more of the same, with easy trails, afternoon storms, and Skyline Drive becoming more and more annoying. Most of the thruhikers by this point were over Shenandoah NP - it is amazingly crowded on weekends, and having Skyline Drive so close to the trail really ruins any attempt at a quiet wilderness experience. In fact, the original creator of the trail severed his relationship with the Appalachian Trail Conference when they agreed in the 1930s to move the trail to make room for Skyline Drive (yes, the AT is older). He felt having a big tourist road right next to the trail would ruin the AT, while the ATC leadership felt it would give more people access to the trail. Both were right. If you are really interested in what happens when roads are brought through are National Parks, I suggest reading Edward Abbey's "Desert Solitaire" which is about his time in Arches NP in Utah in the 60's when a road was brought thru, completely changing how visitors experience the park. Anyway, most of us were glad to be out of the park simply because it means only 40 miles until West Virginia. As a buddy Wavepool says, "she's a moody lady, Virginia, tough to get along with. And despite trying a long term relationship with her, I'm ready for a brief fling with her sister." And what a last 40 miles. Very boring trail, lots of rocks, no views, completely overgrown and seemingly forgotten in parts, no good swimming holes. And to top it off, the "rollercoaster" - a 13 mile section where the trail climbs up and down over 13 viewless and rocky ridges. I had gotten only 10 miles into it and was in a foul mood when I came across Orion, sitting with a big smile on his face and playing his mandolin. "Keychain, so glad to see you - get ready to change your journey." Orion had been to Linden, VA to pick up a mail drop, and there he met a party of guys celebrating a friend's release from jail. A guy named Tom called Orion over, and in short time offered him the use of his canoe to paddle down 15 miles of the Shenandoah River. He just wanted gas money to come pick it up. So Orion went looking for me, and several hitches later, we had beer and a camping spot on the river where Tom would drop the canoe the next morning. True to his word, at 7:30am the next day there was Tom and his canoe, and there we were, "aqua-blazing" past the Roller Coaster, skipping over rapids, getting tan, drinking beers, and enjoying the fun the river provided. And the river kept on providing. Two hours into the journey, we found a dented aluminum canoe, abandoned on a mud island. It floated well, with only a slow leak, and so we commandeered her and gave her the trail name "Proud Mary." We caught up with Tom at the end of the 15 miles, returned him his canoe, and told him we were heading on towards Harpers Ferry in our own. So, Orion and I set off in Proud Mary for another 15 miles, stopping overnight at a hidden riverside camping spot that had a picnic table and clean-running stream for water and cleaning up. The only hitch was that our map showed five "falls" on the river below where we gave Tom his canoe back, and no one we talked to could tell us anything about those falls. So on the second day, we strapped everything tightly to the Proud Mary, and headed into the unknown. Luckily, the "falls" turned out to be minor Class 2 rapids, but they caused excitement and were fun to run. We ened up at Route 9 in West Virginia, unable to get around a power plant dam. One call to Tom, and he came to return us to the trail, taking the Proud Mary as payment. What a guy! What a way to leave Virginia! What an addition to this journey! So Orion and I did end up walking the last 6 miles into Harpers Ferry, West Virginia - our 5th state, our 1,000th mile, our halfway point in time, our near-halfway point in mileage. When we arrived this morning, we promptly got our photos taken at the Appalachian Trail Conference's headquarters for their record books. We are the 460th and 461st thru-hiker to pass through this year, out of an estimated 1,200 that started in Georgia. A proud moment indeed! I plan on staying overnight, but accomodations are tight since the major hiker hotel is closed for renovations. There is talk of doing all of Maryland's 40 miles in one day tomorrow, but I'm not sure I want to push that hard - plus I need to find a town in Maryland that sells keychains. We shall see. However, I can say that the next time I am able to blog, I will be in my homestate of Pennsylvania!

BIG WRITE UP PART 1 - SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK

Hello to all the faithful readers! I am sitting in the public library here in Harper's Ferry, WV - the halfway point (at least psychologically if not physically) of the AT! Since I didn't make any stops since seeing Elizabeth, I haven't had a chance to blog, and have a lot to tell you all. So I will try to write a couple entries - this one will concern Shenandoah National Park. After I last wrote, I left Waynesboro and my buddy Orion and I entered the Shennies, which I will describe as a thru-hiker's vacationland. The trails in the Park are nicely maintained and not very steeply graded - a decent hike for any weekender, but a breeze for anyone who's already walked 900 miles. Additionally, there are 4 waysides along the route that serve food and delicious blackberry milkshakes, as well as a few campgrounds and other places to get water and food and showers. Not very backcountry at all - I didn't have to filter my water at all. Not to mention, Skyline Drive is parallel and close to the AT at all times, so whenever you feel like blue-blazing around some pointless climb, you may. Orion and I were able to punch out a 27.3 mile day the first day, and I followed it with an 18 mile day in an effort to meet Elizabeth on time. Orion would've come with me, but fell in with a couple Germans who flew to DC and bought a cheap van and are traveling across the country, with Shen. NP as their first stop. They were feeding and drinking Orion up pretty well, so he was slow for day 2. I admit, I did blue-blaze on Skyline Drive a few times for these days, but only for a total of 9 miles. The road is simply too boring, and as the weekend drew near, the amount of traffic grew to be too much to want to walk beside. However, good things happen on the road - we hit two instances of trail magic when a thruhiker's mom gave us chicken strips and soda, and a fellow thruhiker named Bojangles, who is leaving the trail, picked us up in his pickup truck for an impromptu party at an overlook. It was this last trail magic event that Elizabeth found me at, and it was a sweet reunion indeed. Other hikers who weren't there said they heard about the lovey lovey going on. Unfortunately, the party reunion caused me to skip a 17 mile section of the trail that I didn't go back and do. This is a break of one of the three cardinal rules I have for myself - always walk in a continuous manner (no skipping), always walk north, and always carry my pack. Elizabeth's visit was a worthwhile break of the rules though, and as another hiker Burrass tells me, "at the end of the day we'll get a patch that says "2,000 miler" but since the trail is 2,176 miles, I figure we got a hundred seventy-six miles to play with." I broke my second rule with Elizabeth as we walked 8 miles south from Skyland Lodge to Big Meadows Lodge on Saturday. I should also explain that this day was the Summer Solstice - the longest daylight of the year and otherwise known as NAKED HIKING DAY. Well, I'm not one to break from trail tradition, even if it's on a Saturday in the most crowded section of Shenandoah National Park. Let's just say my entry in the trail register at the lunch shelter read something like, "Keychain is in ur woods, observing the solstice. Lady E saw a bare."

A Trip to the Trail

I am back in Philadelphia after a wonderful weekend in Shenandoah National Park with Shawn. Teresa and I drove down on Friday afternoon, and as their location changed from hour to hour (“we’ll see you in Elkton,” became “there’s nothing in Elkton… meet us in the park,” became “we’re at mile marker 65 having a party on the side of the road with some other hikers.” Yep, that’s how they roll on the trail…) Just before we pulled onto Skyline Drive, a small black bear ran in front of us … this means I saw a bear on the trail before Shawn, which he finds incredible unfair.

We pulled into the wayside off Skyline Drive, and words can’t describe how wonderful it was to see him across the parking lot. I almost forgot to put the car in park! It was just amazing. We got to meet a bunch of hikers, and finally can put some names with the photos I’ve seen and stories I’ve been hearing.

It turns out that shortly after Shawn wrote the previous post at 6:45 am, he hiked 27 miles (!), his personal best day, and then 18 miles the next day, in order to make it up to where we were meeting them in time.

We stayed at Big Meadows Lodge in the park on Friday night and listened to some live music at the Tap Room that night. We hiked an 8-mile stretch of the trail on Saturday afternoon – I had a full AT experience (except for the 30 pound pack) as it started to rain on us as we were nearing the end of the trip. We were able to get a ride with a park ranger back to Skylands to meet Teresa and Johnny Thunder, and then we all headed down into Luray, VA, for dinner and an overnight in town and off trail.

Sunday we spent some time hunting down a VA keychain for Shawn’s pack and some chicken sandwiches for Johnny Thunder. It was impressive and maybe a little gross to see the two of them polish off 5 KFC snacker sandwiches. Each.

Overall, a great, great trip. The last 2 ½ months have been rough, but this weekend made it all worth it. Luckily it won’t be that long again – believe it or not, they should be entering Pennsylvania in the next few weeks!!!

LEAVING NOW

I'm out the door - it's like real-time AT blogging!