Hot One Today

We did 23 miles today in the scorching heat (90's). The bugs were out, the spider webs hung across the trail, and we got pizza. Despite the hard day, we ordered pizza and 4 two liters at the shelter for all of us here (us, Chino, and Norseman). 

Life is good. Enjoy the jerny. 

Roller coaster of a day

We had a great time at Coffee Pot and Tarzan's house in New Jersey and were happy to get back on the trail but sad to say goodbye. Luckily we got to see Patches and Tarzan because they came to the house even though they are a few days back on the trail. The trail was very steep and rocky in parts today. 

And we saw a rattlesnake. 

Then we took lunch at a visitors center by the highway we crossed and I took my wallet out to get a Coke. Later I was looking for my wallet and after searching everything I came to the conclusion that I left it at the visitors center. But I had some great luck. No one stole it, someone turned it in to the police. And the best part is that the police station was very close to the trail, a few miles north of where we were! 

But we also had some bad luck today. Our only chance of seeing a bear was shot down when we hit the trail side zoo and it was closed for the evening. The AT literally goes through this free zoo and we missed it, such a bummer. But then we crossed the Hudson on a sweet bridge and now we are camping. Oh and it finally got hot! It hit over 90 today and I quickly realized that 90 is better for chilling at the pool than hiking the AT.

 

An Unexpected Zero

We didn't hike today. After 24 straight days of averaging over 19 miles a day, we finally took a zero. When we got picked up by Coffee Pot yesterday, it never crossed my mind that we would zero today but somehow she and Camaro convinced us. 

It was a great day! Our bodies were definitely glad to take a day off and Coffee Pot and her dad have been incredible hosts. We've had incredible food, a shower, a place to sleep, and we washed our clothes. What a great hostel! We even got to see Patches (Panch) and Tarzan who we hadn't seen in over a month! They got picked up today from mile 1289 to zero at Coffee Pot and Tarzan's house tomorrow. 

We'll be getting back on the trail tomorrow with Chino and Norseman looking to make it to Kent, CT on the June 2nd. 

8 States Down, 6 to Go

We have had a great couple of days, we did a 24 and a 22 and made it into New York! Yesterday we woke up early and made it into Unionville to get a sandwich, and then everyone started lining the streets and we realized there was a Memorial Day parade! It was sweet!

New Jersey was really pretty, but we are excited to cross another state off of our list and hit New York!

 We went through an awesome boardwalk.

Here is the border!

And we got some sweet ice cream at the Heaven Hill Market right by the trail!

And this is some hobo we have been hiking with called Chino.

We got off the trail at mile 1379 and are staying at Coffee Pot and Tarzan's house in New Jersey, we are planning on taking a zero here and a well needed break! The last zero was before mile 900.

Happy Memorial Day

Today we finished our second day in New Jersey. It has been great!

This state is beautiful, we have been passing by serene lakes, great views, fire towers, and a ton of day hikers out for Memorial Day Weekend. 

As a result of those day hikers, I got some sweet trail magic of homemade apple pie and some fresh fruits, so it was a great day! We have been with Chino and Tosh these past couple days and are having a good time. Last time we were with Chino he put spare change in our shoes in the morning, so this time we got two rolls of pennies and dumped both of them in his shoes so that when he put the shoes on he felt all the pennies. The only down side lately is how cold It has been. Last night and tonight are low 40's high 30's so in my ~50 degree bag I have to put on all my clothes and curl up as tight as I can. It is the end of May it should be 80 degrees at least! The days have been chilly and it rained most of yesterday. But we are still loving it and can't believe we have over 1300 miles done. 

Here is a sweet selfie of Matt!

Peace Out PA

We woke up today. It was kind of cold and rainy. Michael said alright I'll leave at 8:30. It was 8:30 and he was still in his sleeping bag so he said alright 9:00. So we left at 9:30.

It was colder out of our sleeping bags, and then it started to rain and got even colder. It felt like winter in Hotlanta! We had to stop to put on our gloves! We traveled 20.2 miles over our last day of Pennsylvania rocks. We hustled the last 6.5 miles (actually, pretty much the whole day) in order to make it to the post office before it closed 4:45. We made it there at 4:41! Thank you so much Clean Bert and Claire! We really appreciate the packages! They motivated us to get through the cold, wet day. 

We're at a church hostel in Delaware Water Gap with Norseman, Chino, Larryboy, Giuseppe, and a couple others. We can't wait to leave Pennsylvania tomorrow in the first .3 miles!

Uh...I can't see my eyes. 

 

Dante's Inferno

Hiked out today up a very rocky and steep section called Dante's Inferno!

It was a pretty cool climb with a rewarding view.

Then we got poured on today but I don't really mind because it was nice and warm today. The only bad part was that we pulled off about 20 ticks each today. They were everywhere! We are sleeping in Leroy Smith Shelter with Larryboy and Giuseppe.

Tomorrow will be our last day in Pennsylvania and I'll be glad to be done with these rocks!

Spending the Night in Jail

Things can get a little crazy on the trail. We walked about 18 miles to the road today and it didn't look like we would be getting a hitch in to Palmerton, PA. So we decided to walk the 2 miles into town, and let's just say, we definitely won't be walking back to the trail tomorrow. 

We'll wait as long as we can for a hitch because that walk was awful! We're spending the night at the Jail House Hostel in Palmerton. It's the basement of the borough hall that was never used as a jail. We're here with Guiseppe, a couple section hikers, Corona who we met last night, and Norseman who we finally caught up to last night after not seeing him since Damascus!

It was a hot day today and yesterday, and I think we might of smelled bad. Fortunately we got to shower today after 12 consecutive days of going without one (our new record). We also got some ice cream on the way into town!

Sun came out today!

We did an easy 24 today to make it to Port Clinton, PA. I didn't expect to be running into so many towns but I can't really complain! They have a pavilion for hikers here that we are sleeping under. When we got here we hitched to town with Passover and did some laundry and got some groceries. It was the local barber who gave us a ride. But by the time we were done it was dark and we were a few miles away from the pavilion. We didn't think anyone would pick us up but we got lucky with a hitch (it helps to have a girl) and a guy drove us out if his way here! Matt hadn't taken any pictures today so I had to resort to this awesome selfie I just took. Enjoy...

Pennsylvania Rocks

It's been tough past couple of days. We said goodbye to Moose and Wide Load for a while after resupplying with them in Duncannon. 

We then slept at the same shelter with Ayce for the last time for a while. The next day we hiked (I don't remember how many miles). We saw some springs that reminded us of good ole Georgia!

It rained last night and was cloudy all day. There were rocks on the trail almost the entire way. Pennsylvania's harder than I though it'd be (mentally). I kinda wanna go back to the mountains, but I know I should enjoy the flat terrain while we've got it. We've kind of got the Pennsylvania blues, and too make things worse, we've even got wet shoes. 

Today ended on a good note though. We're in a four-sided shelter with Guiseppe, Passover, and Larryboy and we all ordered pizza to the shelter tonight! Also, thanks to the new blogger app, we can insert pictures within the text now!

Beautiful Pennsylvania

After taking a nice break by the beautiful pond in Boiling Springs, we finished our 26 mile day through some awesome (and flat!) farmlands. We passed by silos and cows and country roads.

 
Today we made it into Duncannon, and Ayce and Moose had a great idea on a new food challenge. The Duncannon Dozen Dunkin Donuts challenge where you eat a dozen donuts! But then we figured out there were no donut shops here much less Dunkin Donuts, so that challenge didn't pan out.  Right now we are at the Doyle Hotel, famous among hikers for its cheap rates and history-rich rooms (meaning they are notoriously run down). We are going to push on to the next shelter and keep on movin!

YOU HAVE TO READ THIS

We are in Boiling Springs PA right now, enjoying a nice hoagie lunch. We woke up this morning and decided to take a walk. I think after lunch we might walk some more.

Less to do than we've done

It's been a nice past couple days. It's been a little colder than it should be but the rain's held off during the day. Yesterday, Michael set an unprecedented record for an early start for hikers under the age of 60. He left at 6:30 in the morning! (Chino's normal start time). He finished his 23.6 mile day at 2:15 in the afternoon!

Today we hit two big milestones. We crossed the halfway point and competed in the half gallon challenge! There were nine of us thru-hikers that made it to Pine Grove Furnace General Store to attempt to eat a half gallon of ice cream. Unfortunately the store was closed, but Blue Moon got someone to drive him to another store to buy 9 half gallons of ice cream. When he got back, we all got out our eating utensils and dug in. At first, it looked impossible, but slowly but surely people began to finish. I'm proud to say I put down the ice cream in a little over 30 minutes, but even more proud to say that I beat Michael in a food challenge! He finished his 15 minutes after me and was strugglin'. Nobody threw up and 8 out of 9 of us completed the challenge! To give you an idea of the calorie count, Moose put down 2,520 calories of moose tracks, I put down 1,920 calories of chocolate chip, and Michael put down 1,800 calories of strawberry.

We're doing a pretty short day today, but plan on going through Boiling Springs tomorrow and doing 26.3 miles. Also, I've been pretty impressed with my shoes. They're the only shoes I've worn for the past 2 and a half months, and they've gotten me through over 1,100 miles of the AT!

Only 1,081 miles to go!

We're not in Kansas anymore

We got a normal start this morning. It was hard to get out of bed since it was a lot colder than it's been in a while. We went in to Rouzerville, PA to resupply and pick up a package from Ted and Jenn. Thanks so much for the gear, food, and Girl Scout cookies! It was great getting to meet y'all before we left and we appreciate the support!

Today we accomplished one of the hardest things we'll have to do while hiking the AT...we crossed the Mason-Dixon Line. We sat at the line for a while wondering if it was worth it to leave Chickfila and Waffle House territory, but we decided we had to go to Maine. Immediately we missed the South. It got a little colder when we crossed, tonight's supposed to be the coldest night in the past few weeks, and nobody would pick us up to take us 1.6 miles to the post office. I don't really like this place so far. The people talk funny and they don't have any sweet tea. But because we went into town some of our friends caught up, blue moon, Larryboy, wide load, moose, and Ayce. So tonight we are at Deer Lick Shelter.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! We had a pretty easy 25 mile day. It was pretty much flat the whole way. Unfortunately LarryBoy and Blue Moon didn't go the 25 miles today, but we're staying at a shelter with Chino who we met yesterday. He hiked for a while with Justin in 2005! We saw the Washington Monument today and some other pretty cool historic stuff. Maryland is pretty much just a large museum.

Also, thanks to my dad's cousin Charles for helping us in Harpers Ferry and for the homemade beef jerky. It tastes incredible!

Harpers Ferry

We have been chilling in Harpers Ferry today. We are going to head out to the next shelter once this rain dies down.  Matt had some relatives that came and helped us resupply and got us lunch at Chickfila! Also, we saw Carjacker today! he was with his family in town, but on the trail he is still a couple days behind.  They aquablazed (canoed) on the Shenandoah River but we had so much rain that the river was running super high and it was pretty intense and they had to get back on the trail. We signed in the register at the ATC today as number 64 and 65 for the year. Also we looked through the records and found Matt Marcus's old picture and Justin Smith's old picture. 

Here's to 1000 more!
also, check out some of these blogs:
terrybliss.com
hikingthegoodhike.blogspot.com
prettyeasytoremember.blogspot.com
trailjournals.com/rash
www.postholer.com/andrewrice7
trailjournals.com/BruceSparks
trailjournals.com/chino2013
trailjournals.com/punkinpie

1000 miles!

We had a great day. Woke up this morning and celebrated 1000 miles with Blue Moon, Larryboy, Wide Load, Moose, and Ayce! I packed in a bunch of Yoohoo's and we all had a party. It doesn't feel like it has been that long, the miles have flown by. I still only half believe that I am on this trip! It has been a great journey, and I am happy to think that it is only about half way done. We are in Harper's Ferry tonight, and just had a great dinner with my cousin Elizabeth and her roommates. Also we are done with Virginia, the largest state on the trail!