Date: 2011-07-19
From: Boiling Springs, PA

To: Carlisle, PA
Miles today: 8.3

Day 120 - Fortunately it did not rain during the night so I was able to keep the rain fly pulled back but it was one muggy morning when I got up at 6:40am. I neglected to mention that this campsite was about 30 yards from NS's railroad track. Yes, about 6 times during the night I could hear the trains about a mile away before they blasted their horn at the nearby road crossing. Also, since it was so humid my rain fly did not dry out at all so I had to break camp with wet gear. My plans for the day was to hike to Carlisle and get off the trail and find somewhere to have lunch and get into an air conditioned environment. It was 8.3 miles to highway U.S. 11 so I thought I could do that fairly easy this morning. It was only another 6.4 miles to the shelter from U.S. 11, so I figured I could wait until late afternoon before doing that section. We are required to stay at the shelters on this stretch of the trail through Pennsylvania. I walked to the Getty gas station and had a turkey/cheese sandwich, a bag of chips, a cinnamon honey bun and a Gatorade for breakfast. From there I walked along the trail through town until I got to the Mid-Atlantic ATC office where I was able to get water from an outside spigot. I drank 1.5L while standing there, filled up my backpack bladder with another 3.0 L and my two 750 ml containers. I hated carrying that much weight but there was no reliable water source between this water and until I got into Carlisle, so I had no option. I was on the trail at 7:50am, hiking short distances through woods which opened into farm lands and then back into the woods. I was under tree canopy for probably 2/3rds of morning which helped to keep the direct sun off of me. But being out of the sun did not mean I was not sweating profusely. Once yesterday and four times today, I had to stop and take off my boots and pour about 1/4 cup of water out of each them and wring out my socks that contained another 2-3 tablespoons of sweaty water. It was nasty but I could not walk with my feet slouching around in standing water in my boots. I do not know if this happened because of the new boots which are waterproof or because it was so humid or a combination of the two. If boots are somewhat waterproof from the outside that means that they are also waterproof from the inside, so the water just sits. The trail crossed multiple roads this morning which is a little unusual because normally you escape having to do that. In mid-morning, while crossing PA 641, there was a house 50 yards from the trail so I thought I would take a chance and see if I could get additional water from them. As I walked up to the house, I saw an AT sticker on one of the cars so I figured I had come to the right house. When David came to the door and I asked him if I could get water he responded "yes" but he would get it from inside. He said that the surface and well water in the area had high nitrate levels from all the farming that had been done in this region. He said he had a reverse osmosis system in his house and said that would be better water than getting it from the spigot, directly from the well. David is a trail maintainer for the Cumberland Trail club and was quite familiar with the trail. My feet were really starting to hurt, with the combination of them being completely soaked and in new boots they were really screaming at me. In hindsight, I probably should have gotten these boots a half to a full size larger because my feet have changed since I started this little journey. I arrived at U.S. 11 at 11:30am, very hot, very sweaty and unsure exactly what I needed to do. After asking for guidance through prayer last night on how to handle the heat and lack of water, I walked 400 yards to the America's Best Inn and asked if they had a room with a hiker's rate. The desk clerk said yes and I immediately made my mind up on what I was going to do. I got a room, turned the air conditioner on full blast and took a shower. I was not cramping like I did on June 1 but I could tell I was deteriorating and was overheating and that I should not continue on today. After showering, I walked over to the Middlesex diner and had a salad and sandwich and studied my guidebook to see what my options were. After returning to my room, the local news and weather channel were confirming what I had heard yesterday. Thursday and Friday were expected to be in the high 90's to the low 100's* with a heat index of 106*F. Maybe I am becoming a wimp but with June 1 still fresh on my mind I decided to pull myself off the trail. I hate to lose 3 more days of hiking but with the poor water supply situation I just did not think it was prudent to start up the mountain and have no outlet to civilization, water or air conditioning. When I was at the Free State hostel I had picked up a name of an individual in Carlisle who shuttles hikers. I called him and he was available to take me from Carlisle back to my car Wednesday morning, so I considered all of this as divine intervention for it to work out the way it had. So, I am off the trail until I resume in Maine the first week in August. There are several things I need to attend to to get ready to go to Maine and I also need to return to Kingsport as well. I almost feel like I have become a section hiker, doing little sections at a time. That will all change once when I reach Maine and head south. My total mileage is now 1,120.8. Until I post again, everyone stay safe and cool.