| Date | Distance | Time | Elevation Gain | Average Moving Time | Year to Date Miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/23/2018 | 16.5 miles | 2,156' |
Map: Appalachian Trail Guide, Pennsylvania plus map that comes with the guide
Parking: Parked a car at PA 325 Parked a car at PA 72
Directions: Southbound
Today was a rough day. We woke up early to make sure we had enough daylight hours for our hike. When I woke up, my first step out of bed hurt - oh yeah, plantar fasciitis. Trek wouldn't eat his breakfast, and went back to sleep immediately after I pottied him. Glen & I both took naproxen. I took more naproxen on this trip than I've taken any other hiking trip. I'm not sure if its because I'm getting older, or if its due to the rocks. We thought that hiking southbound might be better. There were more hills in the beginning when my legs should be fresh - but they weren't. 16 miles is a long day for us. It's basically the upper limit of what we hike. I don't think we've ever hiked more than 17 miles. This is day 10 of hiking. I am mentally and physically tired.
I decided to take longer & more frequent breaks than usual. We are not used to fueling and pacing ourselves for 8+ hours of hiking. We stopped for a break at noon and gave Trek some treats. We stopped again at 2pm. Trek lay down and actually fell asleep during our break. He didn't open his eyes until I called his name. This is the first time EVER in Trek's 10 years that I've worn him out! In the past year or two, he has napped after we've come home from hiking. But today he napped during our hike. I hope he isn't getting old. I have been checking his feet every night to make sure they are okay. Pennsylvania rocks are tough, and I know lying down can be a sign of a cracked pad, but his feet were fine and he wasn't limping. So, I think he just got tired. One of the trailheads is near a military vehicle supply area. We saw and heard a military chopper a few times today.
Today's other excitement came later. Glen said, "The trail smells really good." I said, "I think that's the smell of smoke." The smoky smell got stronger and stronger. This made us a little on edge. The air around us started looking a little hazy as well. We've had so much rain during our trip, it seemed unlikely that it was a forest fire. I was guessing maybe it came from someone burning something down from the ridgeline. Today's hike was a long day - with no road crossings on the trail. We did find a side trail that intersected the AT and went down to the road. It's always good to have an exit plan if needed. We passed by other hikers, who said nothing about a fire ahead, so we assumed we were okay. After a couple of miles, the smell went away. At the end of the hike, we picked up our other car, and headed back to the hotel. We looked over at the ridgeline, and saw smoke billowing up from the ridge. We also saw a helicopter flying into the smoke with a large red bucket suspended below it. Yikes! I checked the news and couldn't find anything about it. We had seen a prescribed burn earlier, and heard there was a prescribed burn this past weekend further north. So, I'm not sure if this was a random fire or a prescribed burn.
There were no crazy rock sections today. But still plenty of rocks. My feet feel like hell. I tried massaging them with a tennis ball again, but it felt too painful to do so. My feet feel like someone has been hitting the bottoms of them with a hammer. I also forgot to bring a hat on this trip. I don't hike with a hat a lot - often there's enough shade coverage in the woods that I don't feel the need. But the leaves aren't out yet, and I managed to get a painful sunburn where my part is in my hair. Ow.
 |
| Trek sound asleep during one of our breaks |
No comments:
Post a Comment