This was last nights accommodation (pitched my tent out front) compliments of the Port Clinton church. Hikers don’t need much.

This is Marshall and Mark, day hikers from the area…they hooked me up with some Snickers bars. Now they are officially Trail Angels. 
A great view on a blue sky day from Pinnacle Rocks. 
A local astronomy club has a pretty sweet setup at the top of the ridge.

Gotta Love these giant rat snakes…this ones a 5-footer. 
The rest of the day (7-miles) looked mostly like this…brutal! Rough on the ankles, plus it gives me a headache from having to concentrate so hard for so long.

This is a significant milestone as we now have less that 1000 miles to go (989).

Trooper from Scotland was wearing the best hat I’ve seen on the trail (homemade too!)

Frank the barber in Port Clinton, PA is a great host who lets hikers hangout at his shop (see rocking chairs), charge their phones, listen to his classic vinyl collection and stay cool with the AC.

A short 3 mile hitch to Hamburg is the worlds largest Cabelas.

If you haven’t seen wild life they have plenty.

Live carp swimming below the moose.

The Kodiak Grizzly is not indigenous to PA.

Today had several very rocky sections and I hear the real bad stuff starts tomorrow and lasts on and off over the next several days…definitely not fun.

Tonight I’m staying in the small town of Port Clinton. They have a park with a gazebo they allow hikers to use and camp next to. Cabelas would also let you camp in the grassy area next to their parking lot (but not as convenient to get back on the trail).

It was an interesting day of on and off showers and then sun, and quite a bit cooler than it has been recently.

This an old railroad bridge that is now used specifically for the trail.

There are a couple log benches under the I-81 overpass that made a perfect place to take a break and get out of the rain. It Definitely had a vagrant quality to the whole scene, but a welcomed amenity.

The William Penn shelter was a good looking two story design and made a good lunch stop.

When the skies cleared (as well as the trees) we were treated to a nice view.

The 501 shelter is actually a cabin.
It has bunk space for about 16 and made a good evening rest stop. The road is about a 1/4 Mike away and most folk were getting pizza delivered.
The last 5 miles had a lot of rock sections like this which is brutal and even worse when it’s miles 23-28. Needless to say the boots are officially broken in!

One last view before camp.

The long day leaves about 18 miles to Port Clinton tomorrow, a small town the AT goes right through the middle of. There’s not a whole lot there but they allow camping at the town gazebo and have a restaurant.

We drove back to Duncannon at 6am to start our day where we finished yesterday. The first 2 miles were a road walk through town.

We then climbed above the Susquehanna River. It was just about here, Gus and I parted ways. Thanks for the hospitality Gus and Christy!

There was lots of Mountain Laurel in bloom.

The rest of the day was fairly quiet and uneventful. I didn’t see any other northbound hikers on the trail. One guy rolled into this campsite I was at around 8pm.

The new boots felt good until the last 4 miles…then my feet were feeling pretty sore and tired. Hopefully, everything gets dialed in over the next couple days (at least the first 20+ miles felt good!)

It was a long day running around doing errands and town chores. Around 1:45 Gus and I left where we finished yesterday for the 9 miles to Duncannon, PA. The 4′ high grass we had gotten soaked in yesterday had miraculously been mowed since we left.

There were a couple good views from the ridge.

More of the Allegheny’s ridges in the distance.

We finished our day in Duncannon at the famous Doyle Hotel. Gus’ wife Christy was nice enough to pick us up again and bring us home …after some food and drink.

My trusty boots lasted over 1100 miles but now it’s time to lay them down to rest.

This was last nights campsite on the outskirts of Boiling Springs. Perfectly situated between a corn field to the left and the railroad tracks 20′ to the right. ~5 long trains came through during the night.

Today’s hiking was mostly though the farmland of the Cumberland Valley. We were often in swaths of trees next to corn fields.

Here are the Allegheny’s on the horizon as well as some ominous weather.

Amber waves of grain.

Always a welcome sign…This trail angel lived just up the way and left a cooler out with sodas and beer.

Back into the woods.

Back onto farmland (blaze on post).

My friend Gus joined me for the last 6 miles and the climb over Blue Mountain…with good views of the Valley and a storm brewing.

We took a very quick break at the Darlington shelter as we heard thunder rolling in. I was able to get cell service and check the weather radar…not good!

Hi Darlington’s (my Denver friends/neighbors)
We were caught in the biggest rain I’ve hiked through so far and the trail turned into a river. We popped out of the trees just as the rain let up. Unfortunately, this part of the trail had not been mowed in a while (I swear there is a path in there). I got way wetter hiking through the tall grass (known as the car wash effect) then I did in the downpour (with my umbrella).

Here is Gus hiking through the car wash. It was even higher in the previous pic.

The rain and mud (lots of slick mud) was far more palatable knowing I’d have a warm dry bed as well as a shower and clean laundry at Gus and Christy’s house. Christy even set me up with her foot bath massager and fancy therapeutic salts! I could get used to this every night.

Tomorrows plan is to take most of the day for town chores and in the afternoon Gus and I will hike the 9 miles from where I got off trail to Duncannon and Christy will pick us up and bring us home…2 nights in a row in a bed. On Tues morning Gus will drop me back off in Duncannon and hike with me for a bit before we go our separate ways.

This was last nights home. There were also some nice tent spits next to the creek.

Juan Dürrur decided to cowboy camp under the picnic shelter.
At 8am I arrived at the Pine Grove Furnace State Park General Store, home of the halfway-1/2 Gallon Challenge.

Success…

Not quite..those containers don’t quite have 1/2 a gallon like they used to. So we had to eat another pint to finish things out. That’s a lot of ice cream especially at 8am! Took me an hour to recover before I could start hiking again.

Glad I wasn’t doing it for the big prize…the glory was more than enough.
The 1/2-gallon challenge log book had some impressive times. One Shot did it in a very competitive 25 minutes! (He’d be psyched if he could do his Ironman swim leg that fast)

That much ice cream could have made this a tight fit later in the day.

We dropped from the mountains into the farmland of the Cumberland Valley and Boiling Springs, PA.

These are hikers looking very disappointed because the Caledonia State Park pool Snack Bar did not open at 11am or at all even though the sign clearly says Open Daily !

One of the very cool shelters in Pennsylvania…bunks on both sides with a covered picnic table in the middle.

This is a cabin that ATC members can rent… I had lunch under the covered porch while it sprinkled.

After yesterday’s rocks (and more this AM) this was a welcome stretch of soft pine needles to end the day on.

I have officially made halfway on the AT !

Only 1094.55 miles to go. The sign gets moved every year b/c the distance changes as the trail gets rerouted or moved.

This is Wanderer playing his Banjo-lele with One Shot listening. I shot some video I will try to upload when I have wifi. Wanderer actually spells his name: Juan Dürrur

A beautiful start to the day with views of Maryland farmland.

Later that morning the trail got a little rough. These sections of rocks are both physically and mentally taxing. That half mile felt like an eternity!

It’s nice that someone mows a swath for the trail.

I stopped at the Raven Rock shelter for a break… it’s an impressive looking structure.

It even had hardwood floors!
Made it to Pennsylvania. A slight wrong turn at a poorly marked intersection landed me on a road…at least it had a proper welcome sign for a selfie.

Back on the trail…

This impressive shelter setup was home for the night. It had a clothesline, TP in the privy, covered picnic table, a creekside location , cold Cokes in a cooler… And,

separate Snoring / No Snoring shelters.

My feet were more sore than normal today. I think it’s a combination of the miles, the rocky terrain and the fact my boots have over 1100 miles on them. Luckily I have new boots arriving this weekend.

An early start to beat the heat. The bridge crosses the Potomac and we enter Maryland.

Although flat, the 3 miles along the C&O canal path is kind of boring and terribly hot if done during the heat of the day…. A pretty view at sunrise at least.

This is the great looking Garvey shelter I stopped at for a quick snack break.

Mid morning was perfect timing for some trail Magic from Diane who lives nearby…fresh strawberries hit the spot! She has a son who lives in Denver and she has a 2nd home in Breck…small world!

The original Washington Monument

Views to the Valley floor.

Crossed over I-70 today…

23 hours and three turns by car I could be home with Andrea and Buddy !

The sunset from my dinner spot at Annapolis Rocks (camped 100 yds away in the woods)

Tomorrow…Pennsylvania!