Day 104 – Welcome to the Cornfields

Day 104

Start: James Fry Shelter 

End: Ridge Drive, Carlisle, PA

Miles Hiked: 17.3

Miles on AT: 1129.9

This morning, I was on a mission. The mission? Eat a hot breakfast. There was a hiker friendly store about a mile away from where I camped and I wanted to get there as early as possible so that I could eat and be on my way. The store opened at 7 am, so by 6:45 I was up and hiking.

I made it to the store and it seemed like I was the first customer of the day. After I ordered my breakfast sandwich and bought some chocolate chip cookies, another pair of hikers arrived. They were a retired couple named Chewy and Sassy who were also thru hiking.

After chatting with them, I scarfed down my sandwich and was on my way. It was a little warm and humid this morning, but not as bad as it had been in the past. I ran into Mosey again and we said our goodbyes since this was probably going to be the last time I saw her. She had to go into town to make plans for the leg of her trip and then would be pulling back on her mileage. 

That’s an interesting thing about thru hiking – you see people and hike around them for a few days, but then might never see them again if your or their plans change. You just have to appreciate the time you have with them while it’s happening.

I continued on a little further, but then ran into 3 guys parked on a road near the trail crossing. Turns out they were friends of Shera and one of them had worked at Standing Bear hostel. They were doing trail magic and I was the first recipient – nice! I got a huge slice of watermelon, water, a peach to go, and some great conversation.

Further down the trail, it seemed like the rocks were about to start. I had to navigate around some large boulders and follow unintuitive blazes through the rock maze. While there, I ran into Stretch, a hiker I hadn’t seen since Tennessee. I guessed I wasn’t too too far from all the other hikers after all.

My last climb of the day was up to Center Point Knob, where I was rewarded with the most refreshing breeze. A cool breeze was hard to come by when it was so hot and muggy, so I relaxed up there for a while, letting the air cool me down.

My descent led me to a sight that I wasn’t expecting – cornfields! The Pennsylvania farmland was upon me and I loved it. The pastoral scenes are just so peaceful to me, I had to stop every now and again to just look and really take in the view in front of me.

I walked through a pretty cool maze of cornfields before finally arriving at Boiling Springs, the cutest town in Pennsylvania. After lunch at Cafe 101, I met the famous Eggz and Bacon, a father-daughter duo hiking the whole trail this year after completing 800 miles last year. Eggz, the 12 -year old daughter, was holding a dead snake when I met her. We chatted about their lives and the stories Eggz had left behind in the log books. They are definitely a unique duo.

My goal for that day was to make it 8 more miles so I could stay at a motel, but when I looked at FarOut, I realized I could stay at a nice B&B for the evening instead and only sacrifice 3 miles. So that’s exactly what I did! 

The miles passed easily because they were all flat. When I arrived at the B&B, I was so happy with my choice. Not only was I going to sleep in a bed tonight, but I had also beat an impending rainstorm. This was definitely a splurge for me, but it was well worth it. I got to spend the night in a comfy bed after a hot shower; my laundry was done and tomorrow I would have a home-cooked breakfast. What more could I want?

And that’s day 104.

Follow my journey on instagram (@jenbrownhikes) for more updates!