PA and its rocks are history, but a few last words before we move on to New Jersey. Palmerton was a great town and will be remembered in part for it being rather retro. We ate dinner and breakfast at a '50s diner; across the street were 4 pay phones on which yo could make a local call for one thin dime; and at the service station where we got a ride back to the trail, the attendant was pumping gas, cleaning the windshield and asking if he could check your oil!

Back on the trail we immediately hit a fun boulder climb followed by some beautifully grassy trail with views.

Then came the rocks and no need to tell about them! The last 20 miles of PA included about 12-14 of rocks of one sort or another underfoot and so I now know why AT hikers dislike PA. We stayed the night at a church hostel at Delaware Water Gap and walked across the Delaware River into NJ next morning.

New Jersey has a bit of everything..a few rocks, woods walking as usual, but also good views and riparian areas. Sunfish Pond is a National Natural Landmark and a glacially created lake.

There are a few fire towers with good views.

 




















And a stop at Hightop State Park, the home of the highest spot in NJ at 1803 ft.



Our favorite NJ stop so far might be Unionville which is actually in New York. We are walking along the border and so while the trail is in Jersey, nearby towns are often in New York. Unionville had one of the best sub sandwiches I've ever eaten and it must have weighed close to a pound.

The folks at the country store told us we could pitch in the park across the street and so next morning there was coffee and the absolute biggest apple fritters ever for the exhorbant price of $1.59! 

A short 9 miles later put us in Vernon, NJ, where we are tonight at an Episcopal Church hostel. There's a very old cemetery next to it with veterans of the War of 1812 to WWI. And it's fairly well kept up.

A couple more days of NJ and then will cross the Hudson into NY. 
Weather: Rain is becoming a distant memory. :-)

Last night we walked into Palmerton, PA and spent the night at the police station. Not to worry family and friends! After registering with the local gendarmes we checked in at the Jail House Hostel, the basement of the old police station that comes with showers and a basketball court.

PA has been a mixed bag of trail conditions. We began with lots of good flat trail alternating between open fields and woods, have had some superb views along the way, and then came the famed rocks. You hear a lot about the rocks and frankly I was dreading this section, but I'm happy to say it is not as bad as feared. Rocks alternate with some long stretches of forest road walks that were quite good and strolling through some thick beautiful ferns. Here's a few examples:

 

 

 History along the way had reference to the French and Indian War.

 

One great lunch viewpoint was Pulpit Rock which also had a big open field with an Astronomical Park with 5 observatories, all run by a local club. One scope was up to view the sun with it's solar flares.

 

Camping spots included two shelters with solar showers - ahhhh! and towns were small with few amenities. Port Clinton will stand out as a town with few fond memories for several reasons. For one, just imagine the look on "Silver's" face when he realized one of his trekking poles was still in the departed car of the hitch we got into a Walmart. Fortunately, you can also imagine the look when, about 20 minutes later, the lovely mother of a section hiking daughter discovered she had one extra pole and came back to find us outside hoping that would happen!

Magic has been plentiful: strawberries, gaterades, oranges, ham and cheese sandwiches, and a mid-week hiker luch feed with 2 kinds of pasta salad.

Just before Palmerton there is a parallel trail that is scenic and we took it. It provided good open views, but also had another plus...

                                                                 BLUEBERRIES!

Delicious!  We picked a ziploc bag full and had some on ice cream last night after a good dinner in the local diner.

This is day 4 of good weather and we'll be heading out of town in another hour. 33 miles left to go in PA!

Back on the trail again after a wonderful break in the DC area with Katie and Eric where we were fed way too much good food! We took the MARC train back into Harper's Ferry and walked a couple miles to Sandy Hook hostel for the night to ease back into trail mode. Next morning it was off again under overcast skies but good trail.

This part of the AT goes through much Civil War history, especially the battle of South Mountain.  Gathland State Park had a small museum and is the former estate of a man who was a Civil War journalist. There are some interesting remnants there of varied architecture!

Turner's Gap came next and was the site of one of the many battles for South Mt. and where 2 generals (one Confederate, one Union) were killed. Also here was Sweet Tooth, our trail angel with magic that we saw back on my birthday. More oreos and a pop later we headed out...in the rain.

By 3pm we were at Washington Monument where citizens back at the turn of the 18th century constructed this monument to George Washington. Here also is a museum that I was able to see every inch of due to - yes, rain! We decided we'd had enough of walking in the wet and had permission to stay at Mount Vernon shelter right next to the Visitor Center. This is really a picnic shelter but it was enclosed on 3 sides and the picnic tables were quite comfy! And the VC museum was great! It tells about the monument which was used in the Civil War as a lookout station, fell into disrepair and was rebuilt by the CCC in the 1930s. It also has a great diorama where you listen to the details of the Battle of South Mountain and watch the action as lights in blue and red move about the fields and cannon fire shows up in yellow blinking lights.

PenMar State Park is the state line, approximate location of the Mason-Dixon line and our dinner stop where we were entertained with conversation by Bill, the grounds keeper whose previous job was keeping the horse trails at Camp David during the Reagan era.

Trail walking in PA is amazingly flat and generally easy miles. This section was actually fun, mostly a dirt trail through rocks called the "rock maze" with a few big boulders.

The halfway point of the trail is in this area too - only 1090.5 miles to go!!!

 

Pine Grove Furnace State Park is the home of the 1/2 gallon challenge - a dare for hikers to polish off a full half gallon of ice cream. We shared a delicious 1/2 gallon of mint chip, but several hikers do take this challenge seriously and for some the ice cream wins!

Boiling Springs was our next small, historic town for resupply and breakfast. It is also home of the ATC Regional office which had the updated weather report....rain. And it poured. And we walked. Ended up at a shelter that was one of the nicest there is with covered cooking spots and bunks for sleeping. This was only 4 miles from Duncannon, PA and this morning, when the rain has finally stopped, we walked into town and had another good breakfast of the biggest blueberry pancakes I've ever seen. Friends Elvert and Phyllis from Florida volunteering live here and we have had the pleasure of their company today and once again have been fed royally. Back on the trail in the morning and certainly hoping the forecast for a good weather day holds!

 

 

Shenandoah National Park could spoil you on the AT! For about 120 miles you basically follow Skyline Drive, crossing it often at good viewpoints. There are camp stores, waysides and picnic areas with tables, running water and flush toilets occasionally too. We managed to be at waysides twice for lunch time (the blackberry shakes at Elk Wallow were superb) and did dinner at a park twice where we could clean up a bit from the hot day's walking. The stores also mean you don't have to carry much more than 1-1/2 days food at any time.

Shelters are called huts here and this one is especially nice with the chairs and even a solar shower.

We don't stay in shelters but usually camp along the trail. Here's the view we had on one fine night. The only thing missing was a good bottle of wine!

The trail was generally nice with good tread, but there were those rocky spots too. I have enjoyed the walk through Virginia and don't know why so many books talk about the "Virginia blues" and feeling hemmed in by the green. There were miles of green forest of course, but the type of forest varies and we enjoy the change from dense to open, deciduous and coniferous, in addition to several walks across open fields and hills and many viewpoints of the Shenandoah Valley. Wildflowers and flowering trees with wonderful smells continue all along the trail as well.

White tail deer are common and way too tame. Bear are present but we never saw one. We did see as many as 4 black snakes in one day though!

Once through the Shenandoah we went into Front Royal for resupply. This is a very hiker friendly town and we were offered rides the 3 times we needed one before we could even stick out a thumb. The first ride took us into a good place for breakfast, our favorite meal, where we feasted on omelets and biscuits. The last ride was a woman who lives near the trail. That evening after dinner we did our typical 2-3 mile after dinner stroll and soon came across the trail that leads to this lady's home where she had left fresh trail magic. The watermelon was perfect! Thank you Shelley!

The last day before the stretch into Harper's Ferry includes 13.5 miles of trail that every hiker hears about in advance - the roller coaster. Here's the welcome to this section...

This is like 300 feet up, 300 feet down, over and over; nothing terribly hard or high, just continuous and tedious. A few miles after the end though you end up at Blackburn Center which is a hostel run by the PATC (Potomac Appalachian Trail Club). Here we were greeted by the young couple running it who handed us cans of pop at the door, pointed us to the solar shower which was truly warm, and asked us if spaghetti would be OK for dinner that they would fix us! The pasta, bread and beer were delicious as was the watermelon for dessert. And all this is offered only for a donation. We slept on the screen porch that night in perfect temps.

Next morning it was a flat, easy walk into Harper's Ferry to the ATC where everyone signs in & has their picture taken. We were #278 and #279 to go from Springer Mt. to Harper's Ferry this year so far.They say that some 2000+ folks began the trail since January. With 1019 miles completed, this is not truly the halfway spot, but mentally and emotionally it feels like it.

We were met here by my sister and her husband and my neice and her husband (who live in Maryland) and have spent 2 lovely days relaxing and seeing a bit of the Smithsonian. Yesterday we toured the Library of Congress which was fantastic and also the National Archives. Today is gear/food organization day and tomorrow we head back to Harper's Ferry to continue. Believe it or not, I am ready to get back on the trail, looking forward to some flat terraine for awhile. Next post from somewhere maybe in Pennsylvania!