This bumper catch up covers approximately 300 miles since the previous one. If you want more detail than is included in the writing below, click on the illustrations for additional text.
Danger on the trail
On my first day back on the trail, I had some lovely meetings with various people which you can read about if you click on the first illustrated page. This included an encounter with Danger and a reminder to keep checking for ticks. He is recovering from Lyme disease after discovering a tick on his back. At the time of writing, I have met three people on trail this year who have contracted Lyme disease. Danger is a thru hiker who is being supported by his father (Mr Danger senior) all the way along the trail with his RV at road crossings. They are having time together in a way which they have never managed before and it was really lovely to meet them both.
The day I almost forgave Pennsylvania
No one likes thru hiking through Pennsylvania. This is not because it is difficult but because it is very tedious. With long rock sections, you spent most of the time looking at the ground to prevent you from falling over. Not only is this quite boring it is also mentally fatiguing. But for a moment it turned into a truly lovely place. This started with the pretty technical climb out of Palmerton (the most rock scrambling to date although nothing on the scale to come in New Hampshire and Maine). As it came at the beginning of the day and I was fresh, I was able to enjoy it, although I know it would be a different story if the rocks were wet or I was very tired. This was followed by a few miles of interesting landscape, trees, flowers, and also rattlesnakes. There was also some fantastic trail maintenance and very skilled stonework on display. However, Pennsylvania soon returned to type!
Caterpillars on the Appalachian Trail part two
The caterpillar infestation, on parts of the trail is quite remarkable. There are millions of spongy moths caterpillars munching away in the trees above. There were mighty oaks without a single leaf left. Sometimes at night it sounded like it was raining, but it was actually the patter of leaves being chewed through and falling to the ground.
Back to more interesting hiking again
Once out of Pennsylvania things got more interesting again. Lots of wildlife including snakes, beavers, muskrats and various insects. Unfortunately, this included a tick that was fully embedded into my leg which took quite a tug to remove with my tick tweezers. New Jersey and New York also include delis and ice cream places not too far from the trail. Not only are these very welcome for the food, but also tend to be a congregation point for thru hikers. I also had a particularly enjoyable day which took in Bear mountain in New York and an invitation from Wonder Woman to a picnic with an old friend of hers, Amy, and other hiker friends of hers.
Head banging
After 300 miles, I got off the trail again and had a lovely time with some friends of a friend. This was preplanned, but very timely as I had a fall coming down a mountain shortly before the end of the day. Apart from a few scrapes, my head hit a rock and for a short time, had me asking myself, how do you know if you have fractured your skull? I discovered that evening when I came to eat, it was painful to open my mouth wide enough to put food in. But I know my body well enough to understand that it was nothing serious and I just had to wait for the bruising to go down.
And just a few photos as this is already an image heavy post:
The white blazes mark the path
And because everyone loves a rattlesnake…
A beautiful watersnake. You will need to click and enlarge to see the image properly.
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