Day 66 Pennsylvania Forests

We didn’t start hiking until 12:30 but still managed to finish 21 miles before 9PM.


We slept in until 8 this morning and it felt fantastic to have a full night sleep in a real bed and fully recovering from hiking 45 miles. I really didn’t feel too sore at all today. We definitely recovered quickly. My feet are a little tender but that is the only noticeable difference from a normal day of hiking. 


Tyler’s grandparents fed us tons of awesome food and were amazing hosts. We really appreciate the help! The home cooked food was incredible and we especially appreciated it after a couple months of trail food and restaurant. 


On the drive back to the trail we picked up resupplies to get us through Friday. We will carry a couple of days of food at a time and Tyler’s grandparents will meet us a couple times to drop off the next resupply. Again this help will be incredible. Carry 2 days of food at a time is so much easier than 4 days of food. 


So far PA has been awesome. It was overcast and foggy for most of the day but the trail was very easy. We hiked over some streams and stopped for lunch after 1.



The trail maintenance and shelters have been particularly outstanding in PA so far. We ate lunch at a shelter area that actually had two separate shelters, one marked “snoring” and the other marked “non-snoring”. 




The shelters have all been unique so far. We passed one that was like little village and flower garden.




The people who built and maintain these shelters clearly take great pride in their work and even though we will continue using our tents we greatly appreciate the trail maintenance. The trail itself is clear of fallen trees and leaf piles. In some places it looked like even the rhododendrons have been manicured. 



We were planning on walking a quarter mile off trail to go to a barbecue restaurant for dinner but they had already sold all their meat for the day. So instead we ordered hoagie sandwiches to be delivered right to the spot where the trail crosses the road. Shockingly, this worked perfectly for us. From the road crossing was a short walk to a state operated camp site that had some huge gazebos where we sat by a fireplace and ate dinner.



The last 5.5 miles after dinner were pretty easy but it grew dark and a thick fog set in. The silent woods felt creepy. 



We got to camp and set up for the night. The fog should clear by the morning and tomorrow will be 85 degrees and sunny. We plan to hike 26 miles and cross the half way mark! The trail is flying by and I’m fighting to take it all in. I’m loving the experience and don’t want it to end. But part of the experience is progressing toward the finish. So all I can do is enjoy the journey and make as many memories as possible.


Goodnight,

Walker 





If you want to follow Tyler or Spencer, here are their logs as well:


Tyler: https://tylerat2024.blogspot.com/?m=1


Spencer: https://www.instagram.com/baxter.bound?utm_source=qr&igsh=MWx4MzRqa3M4dGk3Mw==

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