Author Archives: atsioneva

Mud, fields, steep mountain, rocks, rocks, ROCKS. The last two days have spoiled me, but today, the rocks returned with a vengeance. Another day, maybe two, and I will be in the rock fields that give Rocksylvania it’s name… Yes, I will take pictures.

The shelter I am staying at tonight has had a porcupine problem in the past. Apparently they like to party in the shelter. Needless to say, I picked an upper bunk tonight.

Tomorrow – 4 miles into Duncannon. Mail pickup, then a beer at the Doyle, a famous hiker hangout. Then 4 more miles to the next shelter on the other side. I will cross the Susquehanna River tomorrow. Someone may have to physically move me across. I hate bridges.

Getting about time to boil the water for dinner. The sun actually came out about an hour ago! Very nice to see it again. My feet hurt a lot. I will sleep well tonight.

I hike on.

There are days when you wish you had hiked further. This is one of them. Tonight’s ‘entertainment’ is the loud, talkative, never shut up hiker at the picnic table smoking the joint I declined. This also is a side of the AT, but not one I care to participate in. Fortunately, other people arrived for him to talk at, because he was driving me nuts.

The hike today was very muddy. Pretty easy, if slippery, for five miles, then a switchback climb up a small, but steep mountain. Tomorrow is eight miles to the next shelter, putting me on track for a quick stop in Duncannon for a beer at the hiker bar, the Doyle, and a quick mail pickup (thanks, Cath). Wednesday will be four miles to Duncannon, and than four more to the next shelter. Then I plan to start increasing the miles. I hope.

Tonight’s dinner was garlic shells mixed with garlic instant mashed potatoes as a thickener. A new hiker just arrived – up from GA already, did 26 miles today. I’m impressed. 🙂

I hike on.

Well, look at that! May already!

Seems like with the new month, my worry circuits are kicking into high, unwelcome gear. In the course of an easy, 8 mile walk through the Cumberland Valley, from Boiling Springs to Carlisle, I managed to fret extensively over the following topics:

•  Am I staying in hostels too much?
• Will you all start thinking I’m not really doing the full experience for staying in hostels?
• How am I going to get my budget under control?
• What if I run out of money before the end?
• It’s been two weeks, shouldn’t I be doing more miles?
• Are things going to be okay back home?
• Why am I so slow?
• Why is that horse looking at me funny?

You see, I am a professional worrier. I have a doctorate in it, actually.

But back to the horse. Today’s walk was all pastures, and cornfields, and narrow belts of woods between them. Three times, ascending and descending A-frame stiles was necessary… One of those pastures had two horses who were plainly wondering what the heck I was doing there, but were too polite to ask.

I slipped on the last stile – everything was wet or muddy today – and repulled a thigh muscle I’d pulled a few days ago, so my triumphant entry into Carlisle was more of a triumphant limp for the last two miles.

Tomorrow, I press on to the next shelter, and from there, I hope I can just shelter hop… It didn’t rain on me today, and the weather is supposed to start improving, so while I may get wet, I won’t get cold and wet, and catch sick. A large part of hosteling has been because of the weather, or zero days, and I’m not planning on taking another zero until Port Clinton, 92 miles uptrail.

I did not get to Mass today, and Thursday, the Ascension, I will not close to any towns. I am extremely not happy about either of those. Hopefully, between now and Thursday, if I study the maps better, I can figure something out. I do get a lot of time for quiet prayer while walking. It helps!

I hike on.

Trail-wise, I have walked exactly 99.5 miles on the AT so far. 0.9 in West Virginia, 41 in Maryland, and 57.6 in Pennsylvania. Since this doesn’t include distances to and from shelters, I have walked at least 100 miles in 12 days. Time to stop and reflect.

• Walking miles in the rain won’t kill you.
• However, you will get cold quickly if you stop walking.
• Forests always smell better after a rain.
• Water is the #1 crucial need, followed by shelter at night. Then food. Without water, legs cramp up too much to walk. Hobbling may be doable.
• Bruises and scratches are to be expected. Say “Ouch” and walk on.
• No shelter should have the water source .3 miles away down a steep, rocky hill. That’s just cruel!
• There is a reason PA has the nickname “Rocksylvania”.
• When you absolutely KNOW you can’t go a single step further, don’t. Sit on a log or a rock and rest for ten minutes. Then get up and go miles further.
• AT hikers are just fun to be around!
• Carefully watch your step on the trail, particularly in the rocks.
• But every now and then, lift your eyes, pause, and take on the beauty around you. Snap a pic, even if only mentally.
• If there is a side trail to a view, take it.
• It is much harder to pass the Neanderthal test in the morning, and make fire, when your hands are cold.
• Two words: dental hygiene
• Lastly… Just shoulder your pack, get out there and do it!

My left foot is still a bit numb and tingly from the massive push I made yesterday. I am going to have to be kinder to it in the future, until it recovers.

Today was largely resupply, purchasing better rain gear, and reaching some decisions about gear. The windbreaker, the nylon rain pants, and the pump water filter and I are going to part ways. The former two are just not keeping me dry – either they lock in sweat, or they don’t keep the rain out, or both. I purchased new rain jacket and pants that are supposed to be waterproof, but breathable. We shall see. The water filter is just annoying, heavy, and clumsy to use. I have water purification drops and tablets that weigh a fraction of what the pump filter does, and are easier to use. The only drawback is that they take a couple hours to work, so I will have to adapt to that as well.

Today was also about playing tourist – Morning Song has a friend attending nearby Dickinson College in Carlisle, so he was willing to shuttle us around, plus give is a tour of the college. It was actually founded by Benjamin Rush, one of the signers of the Declaration, and the buildings are lovely and very old. A Greek salad and Greek lemon chicken soup made a wonderful lunch, but hiker hunger has definitely kicked in, because I rarely stay full for more than two hours, but I am hungry again!

Heavy rains are forecast for this area tomorrow morning and again tomorrow night, but I think a second zero will drive me stircrazy. The next shelter is 15 miles… Not seeing that happening tomorrow, but the trail does intersect the Carlisle road in about 8 miles, at a point only half a mile from a motel. I will test my speed (the land is very flat at this point) and the new raingear, and try to make the 8 miles between storms, without stressing my feet too much. I want my left foot to recover.

Which means tonight I have to sort through and package the next five or six days of food… I picked up a couple packages at the post office today, so I actually have too much food. At least I won’t have to try to hang a bear bag tomorrow!

I hike on.

Good evening! The drink of the day is Irish coffee, and I daresay I earned it! I woke up just before dawn today, and enjoyed listening to all the birds beginning to chirp to welcome the dawn. Less enjoyable was missing the rock that serves as a step down… That’s right, Ziptie literally fell out of the shelter this morning. No harm done, save to pride! Luckily, no one saw, and if a Ziptie falls in the forest, no, she doesn’t make a sound. I was still pretty damp and chilly, but slept pretty well regardless. Though I admit I dawdled at the shelter until the rain stopped, about 8:30 am.

Today was a long day. Mercifully it never rained on me, but the trees dripping water made up for it anyway. Some of the trail was flat, a lot of it was breathtakingly beautifully green, most of it was rocky, and there were two sections that were just downright FUN.

Described simply as “rock maze” in the maps, these two parts took me back to childhood freehand rock climbing. In these two great playing fields of stone, white blazes were not enough to indicate the path. The trail maintainers had white arrows drawn on the rocks to indicate which crevice between standing rocks to go through, specifically. Often, it involved a scramble, or squeezing through – with full pack, mind you. Twice, I had to throw the hiking poles up onto the rock above, and haul myself up using any available rock cracks and handhelds I could find. It was just plain fun!

I was going to stop, have a snack, and rest a bit at the last shelter, 4 miles from endpoint, but a man carrying a bucket of bleach warned me off – apparently someone had gotten sick in there, and they were not sure why, so they wanted to disinfect it and give it time… Okay by me! I found a convenient log along the trail instead. (i heard later it was because one of the Georgia thru-hikers had completed the half-gallon of ice cream challenge, but his stomach couldn’t handle it.)

All in all, I did a solid 12.2 mile day today, plus an extra .8 to get to the place where I will stay while I do a full zero day tomorrow. Trail surfaces included rocks, dirt, sand, and a trail between cornfields on the last 1.4 miles into Boiling Springs. It was my longest day yet, and my legs are definitely feeling it. And new blisters on my feet.

Side note- I’m really happy with the Keen boots I finally settled on. Up to today, no problems at all – and I think today was more on account of the socks I had on.

If I keep typing, this entry will be longer than then the hike today…

I pause.

Oh, people.

When I signed up for this, I signed up for the whole package. Which includes six mile treks in the pouring rain. I prepared for this, by wearing rain pants and triple layers on top – shirt, fleece jacket, windbreaker. I thought the windbreaker was waterproof – nope. The fleece got soaked, but still gave plenty of warmth – I was not cold, just wet and miserable. I reached the shelter and changed, everything is hung up to dry. I am cold now, and have crawled into my sleeping bag to warm up. It is still pouring rain out there, I hope it stops before morning. 8 miles to the next shelter. And then Boiling Springs on Saturday. Just 4 miles there.

Believes I that I will visit the outfitter at Boiling Springs and get some better raingear, send this stupid windbreaker home. My maps were in a pocket, and are currently spread out to dry. Like everything else!

I could really use an Irish coffee right now.

I hike on.

My next maildrop after Boiling Springs (and Duncannon) will be in Port Clinton, PA. I am posting this early because cell reception in PA is not as good as in MD, and I might not be able to post again until Saturday.

General Delivery
c/o Elisabeth Hagen
Port Clinton Post Office
6 Broad St.
Port Clinton, PA 19549

More tonight, if I can. You would not believe the place I am staying in – 200 yr old mansion!

Hiker hunger has definitely kicked in at this point. I had salad and a good-sized individual supreme pizza for dinner, plus an orange… that was about two and a half hours ago, and I’m hungry again! I might snag a cookie. I hear a cookie calling me. They have cookies. Good cookies. Really good cookies.

I wish I hadn’t checked the weather forecast. It’s supposed to rain in this area for a solid week… but only tomorrow and Friday is it supposed to be really cold. At least that is something.

I types too much! Forgiveness!

In a word… Brrr! A cold and damp 9.7 mile hike. It misted rain at me most of the morning – my pack was better protected than I was. I was wearing rain gear that got wet quickly anyway, and I waited way too long to put on my fleece middle layer.  When I arrived at a shelter four miles from destination, I broke pattern, pulled out the stove, and cooked a hot meal. The noodle dish was nothing to write home about, but I drank the cheesy sauce right out of the pot, still hot, and THAT was delicious. And warming. Truth to tell, still, despite a hot shower at the hostel when I arrived, I am still chilled to the core, and have bundled up with double layers of clothing. Tonight I will burrow under blankets.

Tomorrow is not supposed to be much better, or the next couple days, actually. The temp on Friday night is supposed to be 39… and still damp and rainy. I’ll be more careful to bundle up extra and early tomorrow and Friday… Saturday should see me in Boiling Springs for maildrop pickup and then a zero day in nearby Carlisle. I don’t like spending so much money on motels and hostels, but I’d like even less getting hypothermia or the equivalent. Boiling Springs has an outfitter, too. Perhaps I will pick up warmer gear there. I didn’t expect this cold a temp this late in April, but what can you do?

Nonetheless… I hike on.