| Date | Distance | Time | Elevation Gain | Average Moving Time | Year to Date Miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/28/2018 | 10.2 miles | 1,328' |
Map: Appalachian Trail Guide, Pennsylvania plus map that comes with the guide
Parking: Not sure which order we parked our cars.
Directions: Not sure which way we went.
My feet were really sore from walking on rocks today. We took a long break at a lookout. I took my shoes off & let my feet dry out & relax. We found our first mylar balloon near the lookout. Glen bushwhacked over to it so that we could pack it out. Trek got dog treats during our break, since he didn't eat breakfast again. We saw a lot of backpackers today - very few day hikers. Rocks came up in almost every conversation we had. One woman approached us and said - I'll fight you for that patch of dirt - just as we approached one foot's worth of nice level dirt. Ha! I've been reading funny Facebook posts about the Pennsylvania rocks. For example, one person joked that they teach trail maintainers in Pennsylvania how to sharpen the rocks. Another person joked that at night, they turn the rocks pointy side up. We passed a large group of boyscouts today, who politely let us pass. Trek said hi to each one who wanted to greet him. He loves the attention.
We had a ton of waterlogged trails today. The trail is a few inches below the surrounding ground, so water just collects on the trail. There are well established herd paths next to the trail, but some of them are starting to show signs of erosion as well.
During our last hour of hiking, it was sunny but started thundering. We were on a ridge, which is not such a great place to be. I looked around trying to decide how we could get off the ridge if necessary. Then it got dark, started to rain, and thundered louder. It seemed like we were at least off the ridge by then. At least I didn't see a steep drop off on either side of me. I didn't want to take out a map to confirm though. I just tried to hike fast without falling. We had a very cold rain come down as we rushed towards our car. On our drive over to pick up our other car, Glen said he saw lightning strike the ridge. I hate hiking in thunderstorms :(
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| Forest road from game lands parking lot to AT. |
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| AT crossing the forest road |
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| Guthook lists this as a parking area, but there is a no parking sign. |
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| Lots of water on the trail today |
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| Nice vista & break spot |
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| Daniela - balloon #1 for us in 2018 lol |
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| Checking out the view |
Congrats on your first balloon! We can start a competition now :) My feet hurt reading about how your feet hurt. Those darned pointy PA rocks!
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