Day 57: Finally Done with PA!!!

Well, I finally made it into Delaware Water Gap this morning and finished Pennsylvania...it kicked my butt. I'll be hiking into New Jersey tomorrow and then onto New York. I apologize for slacking on the postings, but its getting harder to find internet access for some reason. I'd also like to apologize for some boring journal entries, but really all I do now is think about food and I'm sure most of you are pretty tired of hearing me talk about food.

So, here are some excerpts from my journal over the past couple of weeks:

Day 46
"It feels good to hike out of Duncannon and be back on the trail. My knee is still screwed up, but I'm trying to make the best of it. I think Stumbles was the last person to hike this part because the spider webs are so thick. I had to wear my headnet all day because they were so thick. Plus I ran into a huge black snake. It had to be close to 6 feet long. I had to wait for it to mosey off the trail before I could pass."
"I can't get over how good it feels to be out here. On my first hike in 2000, I can remember never wanting to leave town...now I can't wait to get out of town and into the woods. Makes such a difference on this hike."

Day 47
"The second half of my hike was beside a military reservation with machine guns going off and helicopters flying around really close to the ground. It felt like I was in a battlefield."

Day 48
"Well, it started raining at 4:00am. I had to jump out of my tent and get everything off the clothes line. I'd like to mention that I heard 3 different weather forecasts before I went to bed and none of them called for rain...it rained for 5 hours!!!! It was the first significant rain for Princess and she did wonderfully."

Day 49
"Well, it rained all night and was raining when I got up again. Second day in a row to pack up wet gear."
"Ran into a couple who was out for the weekend and they gave me an apple. I dropped my pack right there and closed my eyes and savored the apple. I don't think people realize how awesome it is when someone does that. It totally made my day."
"Met several southbounders today. I must say, I'm really happy to not be in the mix of a bunch of other hikers. I really enjoy hiking by myself. Had a rough start, but I've really grown to like it better."

Day 50
"Since I had been having a rough couple of days with the rocks, I decided to listen to my headphones whole I hiked today hoping to keep my mind off the rocks. It actually helped a lot. If there was a good song on when I was struggling over the rocks, it would keep me in a good mood anyways. At one point, Will Smith's 'Switch' came on...let me tell you, that song has a great beat. I was cutting a rug out there with my 40 pound pack...knee braces and all. If someone would have seen me..."
"On a good note, my boots are awesome. I thought for sure that the bottoms of my feet would kill on these rocks, but they actually don't hurt at all. That's so awesome considering the saying for PA is 'where boots go to die.'"

Day 51
"I hike the 1.5 miles into the campground and was able to shower and do laundry. I bought 2 things of blueberry Shake 'n Pour pancake mixes...one for dinner and one for breakfast. They turned out to be quite the hassle since I only had a spoon to flip them with. But, I gorged anyways."

Day 52
"I made it into Eckville Shelter at 3:00. This is one of the shelters that has a caretaker. There are cold drinks and ice cream sandwiches...I ate 6."

Day 53
"Ate 2 more ice cream sandwiches before hiking out."
"The first half of my hike was really rocky and frustrating...by far the worst so far."

Day 54
"There was a lot of challenging parts this morning. Knife's Edge was fun...really tough hiking though. I fell really hard today too. Fell forward onto my knees and slammed my shins on a rock. It sucked."

Day 55
"I woke up at 1:00am with something messing in the leaves right outside my tent. I got up to look with my flashlight. I couldn't really tell what it was because half of its body was in the leaves, but once it pulled out, I could see it was a skunk...not one to try and scare away. I shut my tent and just let it be."
"The hike out of LeHigh Gap was something else. The 3/4 mile of rock climbing took me hours to do. It was really challenging but fun. I got stuck for 20 minutes at one point...stupid knees couldn't get me past this one section. When I finally got to the top I felt awesome...only to realize that I still had 15 more miles to go. :("

Day 56
"I was hiking this afternoon over the never-ending rocks and fell again. Except this time I fell really hard. Knocked my head on the ground. Landed on the container of pepper spray in my pocket. The whole thing really scared me. As I was falling, I though 'I'm really gonna be hurt.' I laid there stunned for a second and then the side of my head felt wet. I thought there was blood gushing out of my head. I lifted my head up to realize I had landed on the mouthpiece of my Platypus and it was spraying on me. I unbuckled my pack and took inventory of my injuries...serious pain and bruise on my leg from landing on the pepper spray, a sore shoulder, and a knot on my temple. I sat there and cried for a bit...it really scared me."
"I don't need anymore ailments. Gonna go eat a butterfinger now."

Day 57 brings me into Delaware Water Gap and finally finished with PA. My mom is heading out here on Friday and I am going to take 3 full days off and car camp with my mom. I'm very excited about her coming out for the weekend. Looking forward to a vacation from my vacation.

Hope all is well with everyone. Not sure how long it will be until I get internet access again. But I promise to post as soon as I do.

On a side note...does anyone know how to get rid of those comments that are spam? You can run but you can never hide from spam...

Here are some facts about my hike so far:
Section Hike #2 Total: 565.6 miles
AT Total: 1,279.6 miles