Day 68 - 79

Day 68: Distance hiked: 25.7 miles. Left Allenberry at 6:30 AM and enjoyed flat farmland for the first 13 miles before climbing back into the mountains. It was another 100 degree day and I made it into Duncannon, PA slightly after 4:30 PM. I took a wrong turn on the trail, however, and then talked to an old thru-hiker who had hiked with Earl Shaffer, the very first thru-hiker. The guy convinced me to hike up the entire mountain I had just come down in order to see a spectacular view of Duncannon on a side trail. I hiked back up the mountain (at the end of a 25 miles day, am I nuts???!!!), then retraced my steps onto the Appalachian Trail where I had made the wrong turn, and finally made it down to and settled into the Doyle Hotel, an old Anheuser-Busch place.






Day 69: Distance hiked: 21.2 miles. Left the Doyle Hotel around 10 AM and the temperature was over 100 degrees yet again. Hiked over the bridge out of Duncannon and up the mountain on the other side. Stayed on the ridge for a while and eventually camped in a great place on top of another mountain. Saw a long blacksnake along the way.



Day 70: Distance hiked: 25.5 miles. I really enjoyed the first 10 miles walking through dark woods and along some rivers and old mining towns. I walked by a big rattlesnake coming down into a gap before re-entering the ever existent Pennsylvania rocks. I have not mentioned the rocks as much as I should have yet. The rocks have been constant and brutal since just after Shenandoah National Park. Pennsylvania is known as the place where shoes go to die. Every step hurts because the rocks are tipped sideways and have knife edges from where the rocks split in half millions of years ago (ask a geologist about PA). Anyway, by the end of this day my feet were complete hamburger meat. I made it to 501 Shelter in good time and ended my day by catching a shuttle into town (Pine Grove) for pizza and a movie.





Day 71: Distance hiked: 24.4 miles. After doing close to 100 miles in four days over those brutal rocks, my feet felt less like hamburger meat and more like mashed potatoes. I do not understand why anyone would ever hike in PA for enjoyment. AT thru-hikers hike PA because they are forced to hike it in order to complete their journey.  I barely saw any day hikers in these sections. Day 71 was a very hard day. There was no scenery, no thrills, no wildlife, only rocks and extreme heat. If anyone wanted to clone me, my DNA is all over those PA rocks. Half my soul is left on those rocks as well. Anyway, the day ended on a high note because after a steep descent into Port Clinton, Rhino's dad gave Rhino, Carver, and I a ride into Hamburg. Carver and I split a room at the Microtel and zeroed the next day for the 4th of July.





Day 72: Distance hiked: Zero. It was so nice to have the day off. Completed all the town chores (resupply, etc), lounged around the room in air conditioning, had some beers at the attached bar while playing trivia, and then BBQ'd off the back of the hotel with Rhino and his girlfriend. We grilled hot dogs, played Bags, and had a great 4th of July under the circumstances.

Day 73: Distance hiked: 21.9 miles. There were some nice views from Pulpit Rock and The Pinnacle. Rhino, Carver, LT Dan and I formed a wolf pack and started hiking together. It was another very hot day. I saw another blacksnake and a deer. Passed Eckville Shelter which was cool and ended up camping at Allentown Shelter, arriving around 8:30 PM. Big spiders in the privy again...





Day 74: Distance hiked: 17.7 miles. It was a hot, slow day. The sun really sucked the energy from me. I made it to Palmerton, PA and Rhino's girlfriend picked me up at the trail crossing and brought me to the Palmerton "Jailhouse." The Jailhouse is the basement of a city building in Palmerton where hikers are allowed to stay, shower, etc. The local police let you in and lock you in for the night, hence the jailhouse. It was a cool place and I enjoyed Palmerton. I ate a great meal at the Palmerton hotel with the wolf pack (Rhino, Carver, and LT Dan).







Day 75: Distance hiked: 20.4 miles. I loved the first climb out of Palmerton. It was more climbing than hiking and as most of you know, I love climbing! It was fun. Then, just after the climb, a large rattlesnake tried to take out Rhino, who was walking in the lead. We slowly removed it from the trail with our trekking poles as it rattled at us (we moved it several feet off to the right side and left a note so other hikers wouldn't stumble on it accidently). We then ate a great lunch at Blue Mountain Cafe (the Northeast is pretty awesome with all these deli's and resturants so close to the trail) and later had trail magic in the form of watermelon, lemonade, and water (thanks to Chameleon's and Roboticus' parents!). Made it to Wind Gap and camped in back of the Beer Stein, a local bar that allows hikers to camp in the yard and use their kitchen in the morning. Pretty awesome.







Day 76: Distance hiked: 15.6 miles. I walked a mile back to the trail from town and was slow to get going that morning. I took a small break on Wolf Rocks. I then took a small break at The Lookout, a place overlooking the Delaware Water Gap below. That night I walked into town, had something to eat, and split a hotel with LT Dan. Once again, the air conditioning felt pretty incredible.




Day 77: Distance hiked: 10.5 miles. Relaxed in the morning, ate a great breakfast, and then sat at Apple Pie Bakery for two hours talking to Chameleon, Roboticus, and LT Dan. Around 2:30 PM I started hiking again and crossed the bridge into New Jersey. I then hiked past Sunfish Pond (one of New Jersey's 7 natural wonders) and saw some great views before staying at the Mohican Outdoor Center.  The MOC had great deli sandwiches and a very clean bunkhouse. Great place to stay.







Day 78: Distance hiked: 17.9 miles. Left the MOC at around 10:30 AM (after eating more deli sandwiches and waiting on Carver and Rhino) and got to Catfish Tower two hours later. The view from the fire tower was cool and I chatted up the park employee manning it (Jersey is the last State to man all their fire towers). The afternoon hike was nice with several more views but the rocks continued to do wonders on my feet (Jersey is not much better than PA when it comes to rocks). Ate dinner at Gyp's Tavern in Branchville, NJ and then stayed down the street in a pretty crappy motel.







Day 79: Distance hiked: 21.3 miles. Trail magic in the form of a ride from the motel back to the trail in the morning. Ate breakfast at Joe's on the Go right next to the trail before heading back out. Unfortunately, Carver had to stop just after the first fire tower because his knee had popped the day before and was really starting to hurt him. As he choked back tears, fearing that his journey was over after making it 1300 miles, he shook our hands and hobbled to a nearby road crossing. That was a very tough moment and it's so sad that someone's journey can end so quickly and unexpectedly, especially after everything we have endured to get this far. Thinking of my own journey and thinking of how he must feel, I fought back a few tears myself as I walked away down the trail. Carver, I hope your knee gets better and we see you back on the trail. The rest of the day, after that sad departure, was fairly nice trail-wise and one of the high points (pun intended) was High Point State Park. Rhino, LT Dan, and I ate dinner at the concession stand near the beach and took pictures with several families (the further we go North, the more "celebrity" status a thru-hiker seems to have--it's pretty crazy and people want to take pictures with us, talk to us, etc, because they think it's pretty unbelievable that we walked to wherever we are from Georgia). We camped at the Jim Murray property that night which was awesome!