i did it

Today I walked hiked a full section of the Appalachian Trail. At the end I thought I died. But I didn't. I think.

The KSVA has an Appalachian Trail thru Pennsylvania program. It's in three levels. Level one is to complete at least 10 events/day hikes or 100 miles/161K on the AT to earn the special program patch. Level 2 is to complete the entire trail thru Pennsylvania and earn a different patch. (I bought one a the gift shop!) The programs website says "The Appalachian Trail through Pennsylvania is often very rugged with lots of loose rocks, tree stumps, lots of elevation loss and gain, and other challenging hiking conditions. We recommend hiking boots, poles, and always hiking with a partner. Carry a cell phone, water, sunscreen, a hat, insect repellent, a map or guidebook, and a snack or lunch. Be sure to check the weather forecast before setting out. The guidebook listed above gives average hiking times for each day hike, which are usually 4-7 hours in length, so be prepared."

In 2018 each of the 14 AT states will have their sections of the trail sanctioned by the AVA.

I saw today's event posted on FB.  They were getting a group together to hike Sunday. (Today.) I had gone back and forth between going and not going. Did I really want to drive 2 hours to hike 8 miles. I've done it before.

What caught my eye was that it was "downhill" and "easy". Words never associated with the Pennsylvania section of the trail. It was hard, and 50% was uphill or flat. In fact the last two miles went up for a mile, flat for a half, and down for the finish.

We met at Tom and Lorraine Jacksons' house near the Pine Grove Furnace State Park. Actually it's right on the edge of the Michaux State Forest, of which Pine Grove is part of. There are several Volkssport walks in this area and th start box is on the Jacksons' front porch. Only one other person came, Darrel from Maryland. Not to be confused with Angels' Darrell.

They left one car at the state park last night. We all pile into Darrell's car and drove to the other trail head. And then we were on out way. There were a lot of people out today. We saw some day hikers, section hikers and even two thru hikers.

Lorraine suggested setting our phones to airplane mode so the batteries would last longer. There was no cell service in that forest.

The trail at the beginning was nice. Roots, a very few rocks, gravel sometimes. Our first big milestone was the actual mid-point of the trail. The sign was lackluster, but we signed into the trail book as day hikers. (It's important to sign the trail books. If someone is lost or missing, it helps narrow down where you last were and where you didn't arrive at.) When asked what my trail name was, I answered "Sneeezy", my camp (and internet) name. Apparently this marker moves from year to year as the trail is adjusted slightly for legal or environmental issues.

 Later we found the "old" permanent, really nice marker. Several other hikers arrived at the same time so we took turns taking each others pictures.

We ate lunch at the shelter. It sleeps 9. It was a nice campground. There was a creek where Tom filtered some stream water.

For lunch I took PBJ using rye bed. Surprisingly it wasn't horrible. It was the only non-white bread we had. I also took that Herbalife Protein bar that I was given as a sample (and can't find), almonds and cheese. I wrapped my 2nd, heavy,  frozen quart of water in my neck towel and put it in my string bag. At lunch time it was still partially frozen. My cheese wasn't gross. At the end of the walk the water was hot. I could have made tea!

Fairly far away from the "living" area was a Privy. Signs pointed the way. That curbing was high and my legs considered not climbing them. But ultimately they did.

 There were these mouse-proof food hangers in and around the shelter.

And we signed another book. Lots of people stopped for lunch here, and I think we talked to all of them. It was so hot that we wet our scarves and towels in the creek to cool off.

 At the next creek we were so hot, some of us just sat in the water. This is the point where it stopped being fun and I just wanted to get the hell out of the woods.

The AT trail tenders are very particular about where you camp and where you don't camp. This was a no camping area.

We finally made it back to the road. If you look carefully at the sign this one says "Georgia to Maine". The first one says "Maine to Georgia". I can't even imagine thru hiking. Hell, I can't even imagine section hiking. Maybe if I was 20 years younger. No. Don't think so. I'm a city girl.

 About a 1/4 mile down the road was the entrance to the park. It's a happening place. There is a general store where you can buy a single cone, soda, snacks and other non-trail food. It's also the home of the half-gallon challenge where thru-hikers celebrate making it half-way by attempting to eat a half-gallon of ice cream.

The Iron Masters Mansion was built in 1829 by the iron master Peter Ege and has an impressive history of guests and owners, including senators, federal department leaders, a millionaire and a university founder. They host historical tours of the area, and also serves as a hostel. Imagine, a bed after a couple months on the trail. Sounds divine. Actually it sounded divine yesterday and I was just out for the day.

For this week's tiny museum, I visited the Appalachian Trail Museum. It's by far the tiniest of them all, but very interesting. It pays tribute to the pioneer trail-builders and hikers, including Earl Shaffer, Grandma Gatewood, Gene Espy, Ed Garvey, and their commitment to fitness and conservation.

My phone died before the end of the trail. I have no idea what it does while it's in my pocket. At 10 am I had 100%, and at 10:30 I switched to airplane mode. At lunch when we stopped at 1-ish I had 59%. I thought that was pretty good. When I took the sitting in the creek photo, I was down to 3%. Everyone else finished with about 50%. Clueless.


Miles/Steps: The trail guide said 8.5. My fitbit gave me 11.58 for the trail, the parking lot, and walking around Pine Grove. One of them is very wrong. The description of the walk also said it was mostly downhill. My fitbit says I climbed the equivalent of 55 floors.
Bathrooms:   L-4. It was the nicest privy I've been in, in a long time.
Wildlife:        Rattlesnake, doe, chimpmunk
Weather:       Sunny. Hot. Not as humid, but humid
$ Found:       none
Extras:          I saw three horse and buggies driving there.