Day 67 Half Way

Today we walked through the woods past the half way point of the Appalachian trail. 


We all slept in this morning. Instead of waking up at 6:30 like we planned we woke up closer to 7:45. My alarm went off at 6:30 and I was sleeping so well I just shut it off. We were moving by 9 with 25 miles to hike.


The fog cleared in the morning and all our gear had a lot of condensation on it. With a couple days of sun and 80 degrees ahead it should all dry out quickly. 


In the morning we walked through a variety of woods, from dense old softwood forests to open hardwood that looked like it was logged recently. 




After about 9 miles of hiking we crossed the official half way point on the trail and the 1,100 mile mark. Just past the official point at the exact mileage was a bigger sign. Half way feels like a huge accomplishment and it’s crazy to think back at all we went through to get here. We’ve pushed through cold and wind in February, being as sick as I’ve ever been and stuck out in the woods, injuries, heat, adapting to the trail, being away from family. We’ve walked over 1,000 miles to get here. We are now in the north and getting closer and closer to home. There is light at the end of the tunnel. The only problem is I like being in this tunnel. 




After the half way point we went to the Pine Grove Furnace General Store. A lot of thru hikers will do what is called the “half gallon challenge” here. This challenge is where you eat a half gallon of icecream in under a half hour to celebrate the half way point. With hiker hunger most people don’t really struggle to accomplish the challenge. I wasn’t really interested in the challenge because I think I wouldn’t feel well afterwards. So why would I intentionally do something unhealthy that I wouldn’t really enjoy then feel sick for a couple hours? Not to take the fun out of it but it doesn’t sound like a great idea to me. Anyway, I had a couple scoops of icecream and a chicken fajita wrap from the General Store for lunch.



After lunch we hiked through the Pine Grove Furnace State Park, which was packed with people enjoying the beautiful weather on a Sunday. I’m glad people are outside, but it was a relief to get up back into the woods and out of the crowds. 



After another 8 miles of hiking we crossed a road and stopped in at the Green Mountain General Store for dinner. They are a quarter mile off trail and sell hot deli sandwiches. We got there 25 minutes before they close and ordered our dinner just in time. After dinner we hiked another 2.5 miles to a tent site by a stream. 


Tomorrow we will hike around 23 miles in 85 degree heat. There are a lot of fields and meadows coming up so that should be cool. Also the trail has very little elevation gain or loss. The 23 miles should be quite easy. 


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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