Blueberry Fields Forever

By the end of the night there were 18 hikers sleeping in the Jail House Hostel. Surprisingly, there wasn't a snoring problem.
When I got up I knew my first stop of the day was of course breakfast, so I stopped in the local diner and enjoyed a simple breakfast. My hunger isn't where I'd like it to be yet, but I won't overeat to compensate like I did last time, which just resulted in my puking everything up later in the night.
I walked to the edge of town and started looking for a ride back to the trail. The sun was quickly heating up my skin, and I was about to give up and walk the long rocky side trail, when a friendly gentleman stopped to give me a lift.
The moment I set foot on the trail I remembered what Gravy had said last night. He had already done this stretch, and he said that it by far the worst patch of trail yet. With that in mind I started up a harsh switchback, snaking away from the road.
Shortly after I began climbing, the trees receded, and I had to put my trekking pokes away. The ascent was too steep and rocky for the poles to be of any use, I needed to climb with my hands. The heat of the rocks was somewhat uncomfortable as they baked in the sun, but nowhere near as uncomfortable as I'd be once halfway up the mountain. I wasn't yet prepared for this kind of wide open, dangerous, climbing. I wasn't a full hiker again yet, and even if I was this vertigo-inducing view may have made me nervous. So after an hour of nerve-racking climb, scurrying from one patch of sparse shade to another, I finally reached a safely level stretch. The moment I hit the top I realized that there were blueberries for days all around me. Every time I hunkered down behind a rock for shade I'd grab a handful and stuff them in my mouth.
The next 5 miles were just one long stretch of sun-baking, tick infested, tall grass and rocks (with blueberries). I brushed a total of 7 ticks from my left leg, but none of them deer. It was too brutally hot and sunny for this bit of trail, but once you begin there's no turning back.
Once I finally made it to the road, it was 1:30, and I had already drank 3 liters of water. That left me dry, so I started down to Danielsville. It was another 11 miles to the next shelter and water source, and I wasn't up for that this early in my trip, after such intense heat.
My first stop was the town restaurant, where I had my first soda that lived up to last years hike. Nothing ever tasted so good. I also had a big bowl of chili and some water ice before continuing down the road a spell to the local B&B.
I met an elderly couple who were thru-hiking, but they were the only other people at the place that night. I believe their names were Shade and Shadow. The caretaker took my clothes to launder and I enjoyed a lovely cold shower. Tick check, clear. I relaxed for the rest of the night, getting some food delivered and watching the latest Family Tree on HBOGo. If you're not watching it, you should be.

In the morning I got up at 6:30am for breakfast. A bowl of cantaloupe and bananas with an apple cinnemon muffin, and wonderful tomato and cheese omelette with sausage and potatoes. Orange juice and tea as well of course. Having eaten more than I should, I retired back to my room to continue my sleep.
By noon I was ready to leave, and the owner gave me a lift back to the trail. It was a wonderful stay, and even if it was a bit pricey, it saved me from going a night without water.
The trail began with another harsh climb, but nothing like yesterday. The sun was also behind the clouds; good for the heat, bad for the bugs. Other than tiring me out, the climb was uneventful, and I was quickly up to level ground. From there it was a long flat stretch of trail, taking me all the way to the shelter I was making my home for the night. Unfortunately it was also absolutely blanketed in rocks. I spent the rest of my day wandering boring flat terrain, with nothing to see but the seaming bugs, walking like a marionette. By that I mean by feet never quite land level, and it doesn't truly resemble walking. I couldn't count how many times I cursed Pennsylvania today. Loudly. But my ankles are tougher today, and there were no problems.
I had started the days hike at 12:30, and finished at 4:30, covering a distance of 11 miles. I'm ecstatic that I can still make time like that, especially over such awful ground. Plus, other than my beat up feet I felt great. I feel like in at the end of week 2, instead of halfway through week 1. Good omens.
Just before coming to camp I passed a large gathering of hikers having a nice sit. Probably around 7. We made introductions, but it was too many names all at once.
I walked on to the shelter and met someone else new named Dino DNA. I of course asked him if the name had anything to do with Jurassic Park (I can hear that little cartoon DNA strand saying that every time I say his name). He said it wasn't originally because of JP, but it has of course morphed into that since the name was given. We all do love our references.. and acronyms.
Once I had eaten my fill, and met a few more hikers, I filled up my water and gathered my supplies set up camp at the campsite. We all decided the shelter was a little rundown, and there was more room uphill. Cut to me in my tent, finally free of slapping at a mosquito every 5 seconds. It's the simple things.
Tomorrow my hope is to make a run into town on my way to the last shelter in PA, and then the next day will be a short one into Delware Water Gap. I'll take advantage of this cluster of towns while I can, soon I'll have to up my miles, or carry more food. I'm not carrying more food.

Jail House, Rocks

I set up my tent to avoid the hornets, which turned out to be the right plan. I crawled into my little one-man bug net, and listened to mosquitos desperately buzzing outside. Hornets or no, bloodsuckers are worth avoiding.
I was joined by two hikers last night, one of whom I've seen a lot of since named Iced Tea. By morning both had of them had left, so I enjoyed some cold oatmeal and packed up, getting feet on trail at 9am.
My plan for today was still leisurely, since 9 miles brought me to Palmerton and their free hostel. Plus the next shelter is another 16 miles past Palmerton.. tomorrow could be a tough day.
Today's terrain was as rocky as its namesake. I found myself scrambling down a mountain of boulders under a power line, with cicadas bursting into flight all around me from beneath the rocks. It was deafening to the point that I had a tough time listening to music over the buzz. In other wildlife news, twice I stumbled onto a wild turkey with its babies before they'd fly away in all directions, scaring the bejesus out of me.
After six miles I came to a shelter where I stopped to hydrate and cool off. It was much nicer than the shelter I avoided sleeping in last night. I met a friendly Brit from New Castle, southbounding in a Where's Wally shirt. I say Wally instead of Waldo, because apparently that's his name in England. Who knew. He didn't have a trail name, and was only going from NY to NC, so I told him he should go by Wally. But I'll never know.
After shoving off, I quickly stumbled down to a highway. And I do mean stumbled. The parts that have gotten the weakest since my 10 month stint in the real world are my ankles and my hips. Currently I'm giving my ankles a pretty good beating, but nothing truly damaging. I'm pretty sure that the ankle strength I had before was built more on how stiff they had become than actual strength, so this is par for the course.
As I made it to the road I discovered that the trail went over a bridge for a while, which was a real shame since it was scorching under the sun. As I was crossing I noticed two hikers about 50 feet behind me. We met up once across the bridge and in the shade, and discussed hitching to Palmerton. The three of us spread out across the highway to be most visible, but someone spotted us getting into position and offered us a ride before we could pop out thumbs. It's great to accomplish something before you start trying.
It was a quick 2 mile drive to the Jail House Hostel, during which I learned my hitching companions names: Chaos and Timex. As we climbed the stairs to check-in, we crossed my German friend from the night before, Iced Tea. He gave us the rundown of the town before wandering off to do some food shopping.
It was now 2pm, and after checking in the three of us took turns using the open communal shower that none of us wanted to use communally. I may be only two days in, but it felt damn good to get clean.
The remainder of my day has been great. I was feeling a little weak at the end of my hike, but could have gone a bit further. So being able to rest with some excess energy is good at this stage of the game. After claiming my bunk in the Jail House Hostel, I wandered out to claim my first Subway of the trip. The foot long and soda wasn't as good as I remember, but as my hiker hunger comes back that should change. I came back to meet a bunch of other hikers. To name a few: Gravy, Puffy, Pig Pen, Captain Planet, Oreo, Quohog, and more whose names I'm forgetting. It's a pretty full house tonight, and we spent most of the day relaxing on the grass lawn in front of the hostel. Apparently people in this town like to drive up and down the main drag, and it was amusing to watch, particularly when a pickup full of locals shouted at us to "Get a job!" So I already feel like hiker trash again. It brings a tear to my eye.
Most of my fellow hikers went to watch the Bruins, and I wandered around town a bit. As it started getting dark I ran out to grab some buffalo chicken fingers and fries, and enjoyed them on the lawn while watching an episode of The Killing on my phone. Boy, it's good to be back in nature!

Welcome back, enjoy the plague

Hello true believers, it's that time again. It's been around 10 months since I took myself off the trail, but as of today I am back baby!
If you were reading my blog before, sorry about the abrupt ending. I wasn't certain I was leaving the trail until the day I did, and apparently I'm only good at motivating myself to write this when I'm trapped in the woods with little to do.
Anyway, here's a little backstory. In the past 10 months I got home, decided I had to come back out to finish the trail this summer, and was lucky enough to be offered a great job for a great company (thanks again Mo!). I've had a lot of possibilities when it came to hiking companions, but in the end I'm not sure if any of them will work out. So here I am, a lone wolf back in the woods, and so far it feels great!
I used this time between hiking to earn some money and upgrade my gear, which is how I got my base pack weight down to 11lbs, and I must say that is a serious upgrade to comfort.
After showering this morning I donned my old hiking uniform, the vague hint of sour reminding me of what I'm in for. Then I tossed my pack in my parents car at around 12:30pm, and we left toward Blue Mountain Summit B&B in PA. This is exactly where I left off last August, so I'm still on track.
Back at the good old trailhead, my parents dropped me off and took some pictures before I let the forest envelop me yet again. The trail definitely still has that vague feeling of home. I only had to take a single step onto the trail to discover what the loud buzzing I heard was. Locusts. I knew this was their year, and worried about them keeping me awake at night, but hadn't seen any all summer. Well that has changed as of today! I began my hike walking through a battlefield of fallen locusts. They make for crunchy hiking. 20 minutes in and I was sweating like crazy, but still feeling good. I had a lot of concerns regarding what kind of shape I'd be in after a 10 month break. My lungs are surprisingly strong, so that's a big plus, but my muscles have deteriorated quite noticeably.
I planned a short 6 miles today, seeing as it's my first day back. I started late (2:30pm), and the terrain was supposed to be very rocky. The trail didn't disappoint. After 3 miles of comfortable, confidence-building terrain, I hit the knifes edge. My pace slowed to a crawl because the trail was rocky, loose, and steep. The edge was absolutely one of the most dangerous sections of trail I've crossed. Leave it to me to start my journey here while I still have shaky legs. Obviously I didn't die, and even managed to finish without hurting myself. It's easy to forget how rocky it is out here, but once past it my pace picked back up and I made it to my shelter at 5:30pm.
Currently I'm sitting on a log gnawing on some pork jerky, watching the sun sink into the trees. I would like this shelter except for two problems. First, there's no reception, so I won't be posting this until tomorrow. Second, the shelter is chock full of wasps. So the question of the evening becomes simple: do I play it safe and set up my tent, or be lazy and risk it. So far I'm leaning towards risk.

Blue Mountain Summit

I'll attempt to summarize the last 2 days, as I wile away the time waiting for my ride in front of a B&B in Andreas, PA. Since I last posted I've fallen from a purist thru hiker, to a normal thru, or even section hiker. No point in waxing poetic before I explain the steps that have brought me here though, so let's go back to Thursday morning. 

I woke in the Eckville shelter, as damp with morning few as ever, even with the 4 walls enclosing me. The sun was shining, and I could hear Slow Joe outside mumbling to himself while the SoBo who was in the shelter last night did his best to ignore him. I broke my fast with a few bits of food, but my supply was severely low thanks to the lack of a shuttle in Port Clinton. 

Before I left, the SoBo and I shared details about each others upcoming hikes. He told me that the water sources continued to get more scarce, and that the only real option is to refill in each town I pass. This is bad news since most of these towns are 20+ miles apart. He tempered this bad news with a statement about how easy the climb ahead of me would be, and then the beautifully smooth ridge line that awaited after. At that, I filled my water bottles at the spigot, said my farewells, and walked back to the trailhead a third of a mile away. 

I didn't even make it into the woods before I started dripping sweat, and swatting sand flies. The worst of omens. It was 11 miles to the Blue Mountain summit B&B, and by the time I had gotten close the sky was darkening and I could see rain in my future. With my water running low, and rain on the horizon I decided to pull into the B&B for a hearty meal. 

As soon as I began downing my soda it started raining, and only intensified as I worked my way through a hot meal. With this downpour I decided to call it quits for the day and stay comfortable for the evening. This ended up being the right decision since it rained all night while I was cozy in the room I had procured, watching tv and reading through the night. 

Upon waking up I began wrestling with whether or not I should get off the trail. With the dwindling water supply options, the heat wave, swarms of biting bugs, and lack of a group of hikers to bitch with, I was finding that I no longer wanted to be out here. 

So I made the phone call I had been dreading making for my entire hike, the one asking for a ride home. Strangely enough I didn't feel downtrodden about my decision. So I'm relaxing here, on the summit of Blue Mountain, and thinking back over my trip so far. I have no doubt that I'll come back and finish the miles yet to go, hopefully sooner than later. 

My parents are pulling up now to bring me back to the real world, so that's all I have time for. Thanks for reading up to this point, I'll be sure to continue my journey down the trail sometime down the road!