Can Confirm PA Has Rocks

The Pennsylvania section of the trail has been affectionately renamed “Rockslyvania” by hikers. Although most of the trail has rocks of some sort, we knew going into it that PA was going to be different. How it was going to be different, we weren’t sure. After the relatively flat and easier trail at the beginning of the state, we knew we were probably about to find out how Rockslyvania got its name.

Day 116: 2,590 ft ascent, 17.6 miles

After a night camping at the Church Along the Way in Duncannon, we were ready to get back on trail. I wasn’t excited about the upcoming rocks we knew were impending, but the only way to Katahdin is walking north through the worst rocks PA could send our way. So north we were headed.

The rocks were as bad as expected. Nothing we hadn’t really seen before in spurts, but it was the never ending miles of rocks that required full concentration that really wore us out. We were mentally and physically checked out by the end of the day.

We had one of our best campsites of the trail near Clark’s Valley Road that night, but I was too exhausted to enjoy it. There was a stream that would’ve been perfect to soak my feet in, but I was too tired to walk the 20 feet to the shore to make that happen. My boots came off and my feet went up on a tree as I laid on my back trying to get some relief. It had felt like we didn’t take many breaks during the day, but the rocks slowed us down so much we were later than usual getting into camp. It had been a while since our last zero day, and I could tell that with the rocks my tank was going to run empty quicker than usual.

Day 117: 2,300 ft ascent, 16.8 miles

The rocks let up the next day, but it’s PA so they never go away. We were wearing down quickly. We decided to pull the trigger and book an airbnb in Hamburg and take a full zero to recover. If we pushed 35 miles in the next two days we could take two nights in town and get a true zero. It would be a stretch to pull off, but hopefully worth the recovery day.

Day 118: 1,430 ft ascent, 7.9 miles

We were ready to move in the morning to meet our goal to get to Hamburg. As we were getting ready, we started hearing some unexpected thunder in the distance. We looked at the radar and saw we were about to get slammed with a strong storm that wasn’t in the forecast the night before. We wouldn’t be able to get the tent put up before it hit, so we decided to ride it out and let it blow over before getting started for the day.

We quickly learned how unpredictable weather in the region could be. Our weather apps kept saying the rain would end in 10 minutes, but it took until 11:20 before they were correct. We were now a half day behind schedule.

I checked the airbnb schedule on a whim and saw it was open the night after we were set to leave. I quickly sent the host a request to push back our reservation a day and she was able to accommodate! That meant we had 2.5 days to go as far as we thought we would try to push in two days. Relieved that we could take things easy, we only pushed to the next water source before calling it a day.

Day 119: 1,570 ft ascent, 13.0 miles

We thought (and hoped) we had been in the midst of the rocky area of Pennsylvania. After our start in the morning we quickly found out the worst was still to come. I’m not sure which is worse: when the trail fills with rocks where you have to step on rocks and don’t know if they’ll move or when the trail barely has enough pointy rocks coming out of it that you can’t hike around them but have to contort your foot to match their angle with every step. Both wreck your feet and ankles within a few miles. This day alternated between the two all day. If we weren’t tired before, we were really tired and ready for a zero miles day after this day. We were glad by the end of the day that we had given ourselves the extra time so we could end the day early and give our feet a break.

Day 120: 1,110 ft ascent, 14.7 miles

This trip has taught me that I am motivated to move quickly for three things: a water source when I’m thirsty, impending rain, and ice cream ahead on the trail. Today I had the first and third as motivation.

The hottest days of the summer were upon us. Every day I play a fun game of trying to guess how much water I’ll want to consume before the next known water source. You don’t want to carry extra weight, but going thirsty isn’t fun. Today I underestimated my water needs and spent a hot hour counting down the steps to the next water source.

After my thirst was quenched, it was on to the town of Hamburg and ice cream! The rocks were still as bad as the day before, but I had ice cream, a shower, and a day of rest to look forward to as I pushed the last few miles into town. My legs were telling me it was time for a break or they would soon protest.

The owners of the airbnb we had booked offered us a ride 3 miles from the trail to their house. We arrived at a beautiful home with more plants than I think I’ve ever seen in one place that wasn’t a garden center. Our rooms in their art studio were small but exactly what we needed. We had a shower, a clean bed, and a Walmart half a mile away with ice cream.

Erik, amazing as always, offered to go to Walmart to get us food, including the all important ice cream. An hour later, he’s back lugging with him all the food, ice cream, and two boxes of Bubly. He had picked up the Bubly assuming he could get an uber back. He found out the hard way that Uber isn’t always reliable in Hamburg, PA.

The ice cream was as incredible as imagined. The pizza in the electric skillet (no oven) hit the spot. We didn’t have to walk over any rocks the next day. Life was good.

Day 121: Zero in Hamburg

The zero mile day in Hamburg was exactly what we needed. We spent the day mostly inside eating and watching Netflix. The airbnb host was kind enough to take us on a Walmart run to resupply. Erik was especially thankful for that!

In the evening we walked around the 5-acre property among the 800+ young trees that had been planted. When we got to the far corner, a bee stung me on the top of my foot! Even on an off day from the trail I found a way to hurt my foot. I got some ice and some Benadryl cream on it, but wasn’t looking forward to putting my swollen foot in my boot the next day.