I dropped off Rich at the Baltimore airport this morning,
ending our little Appalachian Trail adventure. With a good bit of logistics
help from our sisters Lynn and Anita we did a bit over 190 of the 240 trail
miles in Pennsylvania. We would have needed another three days and a bit better
planning to knock off the whole state. Or to be 30 years younger. Or have super
powers. Or all of the above.
Typical view
Rich crossing stream
Last night camp.
Last night whiskey. (Rich Schools photo)
The AT in Pennsylvania isn’t so much a trail as a river of rocks.
This is where rocks go to die and are then thrown on a pile to be called a
trail. Usually wrapped in a garland of poison ivy for good measure. Seven
hundred years ago the Inca built a rock trail in rougher terrain, without the
wheel, had a lot less oxygen available to them, and no written language.
Portions of that original trail are still being used. In Pennsylvania they just
pile up the dead rocks and say. “Go for it. Oh, and did we tell you that
rattlesnakes like to live in the rocks?”
Rocky trail.
(Rich Schools photo)
Trail going through poison ivy.
Hiker on the trail. The white blazes denote the trail.
Pennsylvania has a well deserved reputation as the roughest
part of the whole AT. The comments in the shelter log books didn’t speak too
highly of the state. One comment was written entirely in German. It’s been a
long time since I took German but it wasn’t too hard to get the gist of what
was being said. Another person commented that they never thought they would
actually be glad to get to New Jersey.
Lehigh Gap descent.
(Rich Schools photo)
Lehigh Gap descent.
You don’t want to slip here. (Rich Schools photo)
One thing about hiking anywhere in the East is that you are
not going through untrammeled wilderness. There’s a lot of history here. Crossing
the Cumberland Valley we were reminded that these were the same fields and
hills Lee’s army crossed heading to Gettysburg. The trail crosses the site of Fort
Dietrich-Snyder, built as protection from the Indians in 1755. You can still
use Pilger Ruh, a spring named in 1742 by Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf
and Conrad Weiser while on their way to visit Indian tribes. We went through
old rock fences that once delineated property boundaries, and past a small cemetery
from the late 1700s and early 1800s. We saw a stream emerging from the ground
yellow and full of minerals, likely the result of old coal mining operations. We
went through Yellow Springs and Rousch Gap, long abandoned villages, now
nothing but some foundation stones and trees. Every rock-filled step of the way
through Pennsylvania has some kind of history with it.
Rock fences
Old cemetery.
Yellow stream.
Foundations.
Met some great people too. Like the trail angels that would leave
sodas in a cold stream by the trail for hikers to enjoy. They even left a bag hanging there for the empties. Going through Duncannon the funeral
home had a community picnic going and they would call over hikers to feed them.
Twice, where the trail crossed roads people would set up grills and do burgers
and hot dogs for hikers. There were people from several countries, including a
young lady from Thailand trying to be the first female Thai to complete the
trail. And we met a number of former Navy guys doing the trail.
Sodas left by trail angels.
Picnic
I got a lot out of this trip, besides sore feet. First, it
was great to be able to challenge myself, and even better that I could do it
while reconnecting with my brother Rich. It was fun telling other hikers that
he and I did some of these same trail sections together 30 years ago. One hiker lamented that he wished his brothers would do something like this with him.
I also gained a
lot of knowledge. I’m seriously considering a through hike, all 2180 miles of
the trail in the next year or two. This has been an excellent practice run. I
came out of this little adventure knowing that I’m physically capable of the
trip. I just need some good planning, realistic mileage goals, and the right
mental attitude.
Red eft on the trail. We saw about 20 of them one day.
Raven. Nevermore!
Ed's and Lise's Biggish Years 