Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia

Day 99, Mile 1185

I’m officially over halfway done! I’m here at the Bear Den Hostel, just across the border into Virginia. And what adventures I have had recently! Pennsylvania was bizarre, to say the least. I met so many strange people there–Petunia and Treehugger joke that I am a “yahoo magnet” and just attract them. There was the guy who ditched his food and was carrying quartz rocks instead, believing that they would give him energy. When I met him and asked how long he had been hiking the trail, he gave me a spaced out look and said, “What trail?” Or the very, uhm, immodest grandmother and her husband. I met the couple a few miles from that night’s shelter, and after making some small talk the husband says to me, “Well, we don’t want to keep you long, but my wife here lost a bet.” And next thing I know, her shirt is gone and she’s flashing me. She covers herself up after a few seconds, and her husband growls to her, “It was supposed to be for a minute.” And how could I forget the fella who was in between jobs and decided that an AT shelter was a good place to camp out for the week. He showed up at the shelter around 8:30 PM, carrying a duffle bag and a blanket, using his cell phone for a flashlight. Around ten o’clock that night her starts making very loud phone calls to his multiple lady friends—on speaker phone—in the shelter. After securing a ride from one of the girls, he ended up leaving around eleven. And that’s barely the half of them.

Deleware Water Gap

The trail in PA passes through some very beautiful places, like the Deleware Water Gap, and a few interesting spots as well, including a Superfund toxic waste cleanup site. Even though the polluting smokestacks were shut down decades ago, the devastation still remains and the mountain top looks like a wasteland. Although Pennsylvania is infamous for its rocky terrain—it’s nickname is “the place where boots go to die”—it was also blissfully flat. I was able to make killer miles each day, pushing out 20 to 25 without any problems. And after a 500 mile chase, I finally caught up to Lightweight, G-Fog, Treehugger, and Petunia, a few of the folks I was hiking with back towards the beginning of my hike. After bumping into so many crazies, it’s been really nice to have some companions around.

The Palmerton Superfund Toxic Waste Cleanup Site

Trail in Pennsylvania

The Pinnacle Viewpoint in Pennsylvania

Sand Spring

Sunrise from Rocky Mountain Shelter

As I said above, the halfway mark is in Pennsylvania, and there are a few traditions that go along with completing that first thousand miles. For instance, almost every thru-hiker spends at least one night at The Doyle Hotel in Duncannon. The Doyle is over 100-years old and completely decrepit. The main attraction is that it’s dirt cheap, very hiker-friendly, and has a bar where guests can get “Dun-cannonized.” Although we weren’t too rowdy, we did get to meet a wide collection of Duncannon’s colorful drunks and neer-do-wells, all of whom wanted to buy us beer, talk about hiking, and hit on Petunia, the one lady in our party (coincidently, it was Petunia’s 49th birthday).

The Doyle Hotel

The “Presidential Suite” at the Doyle

Another halfway-mark tradition is the “Half-Gallon Challenge,” where you try to eat an entire half-gallon of ice cream in one sitting. Lightweight, G-Fog, and I tried, but only G-Fog was successful. I did pretty well though and was able to make it about three-quarters the way through mine—and amount equivalent to three pints. It wasn’t that I got full, it was just that I was sick of eating ice cream, and I ended up eating a large Italian sub right after I gave up. Here’s a great video of the Lightweight (left), G-Fog (upper right), and myself attempting the challenge:

The halfway-mark itself was a little bit of a letdown. They used to have a really cool monument, but since the trail changes a little bit every year, the monument was about four miles off of the actual halfway point, so they are in the process of moving it. So, all we got was a dinky little temporary sign printed on a sheet of computer paper. I could barely even muster a “yee-haw.” But we had an awesome fire that night to celebrate anyways.

Me at the Halfway Mark

Maryland and West Virginia went by like a breeze. Those states are so short that some thru-hikers do the “Four-State Challenge,” where you hike from the Pennsylvania-Maryland border to the Virginia-West Virginia border in a 24-hour period, thus hiking in four states in one day. I wasn’t that crazy and took my time, but I still made it through the two states in three nights. West Virginia is home to Harper’s Ferry, the “psychological midpoint” of the AT and home to the official Appalachian Trail Visitor’s Center. It was really cool actually, because it is one of the few places on the trail at which every single thru-hiker stops. They have this really nifty photo album of all this year’s hikers, with their pictures in order of arrival. I am the 68th southbound hiker to pass through this year, out of 214 who started in Maine.

Black Rock Cliffs, Maryland

Crossing the Shenandoah at Harper’s Ferry

Crescent Rocks, Virginia

It feels SO good to be halfway done, into Virginia, and less than 1000 miles to go. Way back in July I could harldy imagine Georgia, it was just an abstract goal that I was blindly heading towards. But now, I feel like I can start to see it, and this whole ‘walking-across-America-thing’ feels tangible and achievable all of a sudden. It’s a neat sensation! Maine seems forever ago, and I can hardly believe that I walked all the way from Maine to here. But I am so excited to continue my journey, to see all the adventures this second half of my hike will bring!

MA, CT, NY, NJ: The “Fun-Size” States

Day 89, Mile 1041

Seven states down, seven to go! I’m here at the Doyle Hotel in Duncannon, PA, one of the great trail towns along the AT. The Doyle is what I would call “delightfully shabby.” It’s pretty low-rent; there are three of us splitting the “suite” for $11 per guy. Shower is down the hall, and it even has a lightbulb in the room! I’m now downstairs in the bar, using their free computer to try and put up a much needed post about my recent adventures.

I feel like so much has happened since my last post about Vermont. I’ve been through four states since then; Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. All of those states are really small, each one taking only a few days to knock out. It’s nice going through those small “bite-sized” states, good for the ol’ hiker ego to say, “Why yes, I did walk across this state in three days.”

The Monument at Mt. Greylock, highest point in MA

Massachusetts was very nice with lots of neat little things that make it great. For instance, in the town of Dalton there are not one, but two “trail angels” who take hikers in to their homes for free. It’s like the two guys are competing to get the most Christmas cards from hikers at the end of the year. Ten miles past Dalton is a blueberry farm where “the Cookie Lady” lives, who gives out free cookies to hikers who pass through. Massachusetts is also home to the Upper Goose Pond Cabin, the best shelter I have come to yet. The cabin is located on the pond, where you can take out canoes and paddle around, there are bunk beds with real mattresses inside, and a volunteer caretaker cooks blueberry pancakes for hikers in the morning! I also got to take a sidetrip into Boston to visit my friends Rachael and Sarah, who just moved there a few weeks ago. As you may remember, I lived in Boston last summer, so it was real nice to go see some familiar faces in a familiar place!

Canoe at Upper Goose Pond

Connecticut was so short it feels like a blur in my memory. I’ve really picked up my pace over the past few weeks, doing 20+ miles each day. Consequently, I made it through CT in just a few days. I did get to stop in Kent, CT, which was pretty neat! Everything in town was named after me! Well, maybe that’s not quite the truth. The trail in CT is pretty much a straight line that follows the Housatonic River, going up and over all the ridges along the way.

Hometown…?

Colors of the Trees in Connecticut

Covered Bridge in Connecticut

New York was a low-spot for me so far. Although I have hiked off and on with a few guys since Vermont, I have been mostly alone for the past few weeks, and it really started to wear on me in NY. On top of that, the trail in NY pretty much serves only to connect New England to the Mid-Atlantic, and is pretty sparse on views and wilderness—I could hear the highway almost every night! I did get to ride the train from the AT into NYC though for a few days and visit my friend Heather, which was a real nice trip.

The Appalachian Trail Train Stop

9/11 Memorial in NY

Bear Mountain Bridge

Things completely turned around though as I crossed into New Jersey. For starters, I saw my first bear just 100 yards into the state! I couldn’t get a picture though…next time I’ll be ready. The sun came out as well, and it turned into a beautiful day. I spent my first night in the basement of a church in Vernon, NJ. When I went to sleep that night I was the only hiker there, but around midnight a middle-aged fellow came in. At first I thought, “Burglar!” but after talking to him, he seemed to be just a guy having a hard night. He told me he was just passing through town with his wife, they got in a fight and she kicked him out of the car, and then a cop told him to come to the church to spend the night. I uneasily went back to sleep. About three in the morning though, three cops came in and arrested the guy! It was a pretty exciting night, all things told. The next day, I finally caught up to Peeps, one of the SOBOs I started with all the way back in Maine. It was so nice to have some company again! We talked for about two hours straight, swapping stories and catching up.

Corn Fields in New Jersey

And so now I am about halfway through Pennsylvania. Since I caught up to Peeps and the rest of the SOBO pack, my hike has become so much more enjoyable again. We’ve been building campfires, staying up late, making jokes, having a good time in general. Life is just more fun with companions I think!

Vermonster (or ilovermont)

Day 66, Mile 629

New state, new month, new blog post. Right now I am in Boston, MA enjoying a day off the trail, visiting my friends Rachael and Sarah in their new home. But I want to tell you about Vermont!

I crossed over the border in Vermont on August 14, after spending a lovely afternoon in Hanover, NH, home of Dartmouth College. I was immediately struck by how quaint Vermont is. New Hampshire was all about big craggy mountains and rugged terrain, and Vermont is about pastures and hills and farms and forests. The trail frequently follows ancient roads through the forest, going past forgotten stone fences and the centuries-old foundations of houses. And then, the trail will crest a hill and come to a beautiful pasture in the sunlight, overlooking the farms and valleys in the distance. It was very mysterious and romantic, in that sort of swashbuckling adventure sort of way.

Trees

The people of Vermont are really “nice-good-folks,” easy going and happy to help. I stayed at this really neat hostel in Pittsfield called the Amee Farm. Apparently, the owner is a very wealthy man from New York City who came to town and built this really nice house and barn, with the intention of setting up a hostel on the top floor of the barn. He had been too busy to do much with it, but earlier this summer some southbound hikers came through town. One thing led to another—the story is long but includes broken bones, interior design, and the “Pittsfield Death Race” (which you can read about here)—and now they run the place. Anyways, the place was really sweet, and I “worked-for-stay” by helping to build “survivor shelters” à la Bear Grylls for the afternoon.

The Amee Farm Hostel

Pittsfield was also the town where I completed the “Green Mountain Feast” breakfast challenge. The Feast consisted of 8 pancakes, 6 pieces of bacon, 6 eggs, 4 pieces of toast, and a double-helping of home fries, and if you ate it in 30 minutes it was on the house. The cook was pretty skeptical that I would be successful, but 29 minutes later I showed him my clean plate! My picture is now up on the wall, next to 6 other 300-lb biker dudes. I must say though, I never want to eat that much food again in my life.

The Green Mountain Feast

I also had some good wildlife encounters in Vermont (finally!). When I started in Maine, I was expecting to see moose and dear and bears around every corner practically, and I remember my first few days trying to be very observant and see all the animals. As you read in the statistics list below, however, I didn’t really see that much. I had practically given up on seeing moose, and then 30 miles from the VT-MA border I saw not one but two of them on the trail! I came around a corner, and there they were, and I looked at them, and they looked at me, and we kind of stared at each other, probably all thinking “wow, that’s one goofy looking critter.” And then they wandered off, and so did I. I also spent about an hour watching a couple of beavers floating around a pond, and was able to get some really good pictures of them up close!

Beaver near Congdon Camp

I kept heading south, going over a handful of the major peaks in the Green Mountains. After going through the Whites, however, these were all a piece of cake. My miles have gone up, I am taking fewer and shorter breaks, and I am walking faster now! It feels really good to have finally got my “trail legs” underneath me. And now I am here in Massachusetts! Massachusetts is the start of some of the “bread-and-butter” states that only take a few days to hike through because they are so short. A fellow southbounder (SOBO, in the hiker vernacular) and I were doing some calculations, and we figure that if we boogie, we could step foot in nine states in one month (Vermont to Virginia). I don’t know if I’ll do it, but it sure would be neat to say I did the “Nine-State Challenge.”

One more note, and then I’ll go. I took a week off and came back to Texas for my interview with the Rotary Foundation for their Ambassadorial Scholarship. Things went really well, and I have been selected as an “Endorsed Candidate!” That means that my application is being sent to Rotary nationals for final approval, and if all things go well there then I will be going abroad next year for grad school! I am looking at studying development economics at a handful of schools, including University of Glasgow and University of Edinburgh.

That’s all for now. Here are a few more pictures to help fill in anything I left out above:

Mist over Stratton Pond

The View from Stratton Mountain Firetower

Windows in the Glastonbury Firetower

Wetlands near Congdon Camp

Flowers on the Amee Farm

Statistics

49 days
484.6 miles walked
1 million steps (approximate)
4 zero days
1 “cowboy camp” on cliff face
3 moose sightings
0 bear sightings
3 stoves
2 rain jackets
2 sleeping bags
6 pairs of socks
2 pair of underwear
2 lost mail packages
2 found mail packages
1 hitched ride in a dump truck
3 pairs of boots
2 pancake eating challenges (successful)
1 all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet (bad idea)
1 watermelon found at mountain summit
1.25 gallons Ben & Jerry’s ice cream eaten
Countless hours discussing “real” food
349 photographs
1 broken hiking pole
1 found hiking pole
Countless bug bites
9 bugs inhaled
1 bug-eye collision
1/2 a beard
1/5 way to Georgia
2 very smelly feet
1 happy hiker