Unionville, NY

Don't worry I'm still going strong and on the trail, I've just never had time or energy to write. Since getting back on the trail on the 27th it's been 12 days and 282 miles. This post will be about Port Clinton- Unionville the rest will be up shortly. 

   Did not get back on the trail after my time home until around 4:30 on Tuesday the 27th, so only did the 5.6 miles to the first shelter. 2 miles in it started thunderstorming, not fun. During one of the higher points lightning struck making me instinctively dive on the ground. Got to the shelter early around 6 and was alone the rest of the night. Started early the next day and did 17.5  rocky miles to a shelter where I took a nice long siesta. Pushed 10 more miles to the next (very old looking) shelter. Had to walk about half a mile downhill to the water source which had to be the furthest yet. Next day was surprisingly cool, in the 50s all day. Coming out of Palmerton I had a very hard climb made up entirely out of rocks, it was a fun challenge for 5 minutes... then it just got old. Got to the shelter almost limping from all the rocks about 4:45 and was beyond done for the day. Tried to make a fire with damp wood, it did not work out. Did 20 miles to Delaware Water Gap the next day and arrived around 3. Tripped baldly over some boulders just a few miles short of town. Shortly after when asked if okay I'm pretty sure I just growled at them. Stayed at the Church of The Mountain Hostel, resupplied at Wal-Mart,  and ate chicken fingers and ice cream at Friendlys. Left late coming out of DWG and entered NJ but still had a big rocky day with alot of views. Made it to the Murray Property the day after, which is just an old cabin on a farm. Took a freezing "shower"on the side of a building. (Shower is in parentheses because i believe a shower is supposed to be hot and involve soap, but it was still fine) Got to Unionville early the next day, spent a few hours sitting on a porch and a fortune on resupply

Hamburg, PA

Writing from the comfort of my own bed, in my own house and it feels awesome. Got off near Hamburg in Port Clinton yesterday, I'm guessing for about 5 days but we'll see how that works out. Since my last post (which was only put up yesterday) in Harper's Ferry I've walked about 200 miles and took 10 days. Pennsylvania has only recently lived up to its rocky reputation, most of it has been fairly easy terrain with a few rocks scattered here and there, like most of the trail. I have heard from several southbound section hikers that the rest of PA (which is about 75 more miles) gets considerably more rocky so I guess that's where Rockslyvania really begins. The 40 miles of Maryland were no problem other than the fact The Blair Witch Factor (which is set in Maryland by the AT) keep playing in my head. My first day out of the Harper's Ferry Hostel I stopped to eat dinner at a shelter and decided to push 8 more miles to the next, ended up making a wrong turn and finally arrived at the shelter around 10 pm with my headlamp almost completely dead. Took a few shorter days because of rain which in return made the trail one long stream. Got to Pine Grove Furnace General Store where the infamous Half-Gallon Challenge is supposed to go down but alas...it was closed despite what our guides said. We were told about another General Store 7 miles away which also sold massive amounts of ice cream and completed the tradition there, without getting a cool little half-gallon challenge spoon. Passed through Boiling Springs which seemed like a very cool, relaxed town followed by a few farm fields which were a nice change of pace. Made it to Duncannon at the end of a 30 mile day which is not exactly what I was looking forward to. The town is just a typical out-of-luck depressing mountain town. Stayed at The Doyle which despite all the rumors wasn't half bad, especially for $25. Took a bunch of shorter days out of Duncannon which were nice for a change. Made it to Port Clinton 4 days after Duncannon finishing on a 31 mile day (would have been around 25 but I somehow got turned around and 3 miles going the opposite direction. Glad to be home and recharge my body for the rest of my hike. While I'm home I'm debating on buying a new pack as my current one just has too much volume which effects how weight is distributed quite a lot. Turns out I did not measure my torso length properly so instead of a 24" my torso its actually 20". My current hip belt is also become too big, not hugging my hips very tight anymore. I'm also contemplating going cookless, I found that while sometimes its nice to eat a hot meal I'm fine with just eating wraps and granola bars until I get to town. Only 970 more miles to go!

Harpers Ferry

Well I've made to the physiological half way point a little over two months into my hike. Been 162 miles since Waynesboro, decided to move right through Front Royal after resupply and lunch. Blew through the Shenandoahs in only 4.5 days and only saw one bear which was at night, so I'm guessing it doesn't really count. If it wasn't for the 2.5 days of rain the Shenandoahs it would have been great; terrain was realitivily level (a little boring at times), not too many rocks, and at least 1 Wayside (or restaurant) every day. The Waysides of course over charged on all there foods, which seems especially so when traveling thru small towns. The much fabled blackberry milkshakes were very good but the almost $5 price made them somewhat less appetizing. Stayed in a shelter every night in Shenandoah mostly for easy pack-up in the morning and rain. Thankfully the park was not nearly as crowed as I feared it was going to be, only seeing about 2 -3 groups of day hikers a day. Thankfully the weather was fairly cool most of the days before getting to Front Royal which made bigger days much easier. After leaving Front Royal around 5 we had a fairly steep climb in 90○ with about 800% humidity, I guess you could say I got a little sweaty. Stayed at the lovely Jim and Molly Shelter which like all shelters since the beginning of Shenandoah are very well maintained and generally look very nice, thanks PATC. This particular shelter had a solar shower where I had a solid 20 seconds of freezing water followed by a bunch of dribbling. A bunch of people decided to stay at Bears Den Hostel a few days later but since it being only 10 miles in and 12:00 I moved on to The Blackburn Center. Rained about 6 of the 8 more miles to Blackburn, but for once welcomed it due to the heat. Thankfully a group of friends rented out the cabin and invited us to dinner.Got to Harpers Ferry 3 days out of Front Royal every day being very hot and humid. Got to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy in Harpers Ferry around 12 the next day and registered as thruhiker number 90. Stayed at the Teahorse Hostel which was very nice to sleep in a bed and take a real shower again. Harpers Ferry seemed like a very interesting, historical town but also extremely touristy, would have been cool to do a little more exploring while there. Walked only 4 miles the following day almost entirely on the C/O Canal Path which was very nice change of pace and flat. Stayed at Harper's Ferry Hostel (technically not actually in Harpers Ferry) because I still needed a break from a week worth of 20+ days, pretty much slept from when I got there at 6pm to when I left at 7:30am and still woke up tired.