Date: 2019-07-11
From: Front Royal, VA

To: Port Clinton, PA
Miles today: 225.0

It¢s been a while since my last post so this will be a long one, bear with me. Since my last post I¢ve covered over 200 miles and been in three new states. I¢ve crossed the halfway point as well as the Mason-Dixon Line and it feels good to be back in the north after spending over 5 weeks in VA alone. Once I finished the Shenandoahs, I only had about 40 miles left in Virginia but man were they tough. The last section of VA is known as the ¢roller coaster¢ and lived up to its name. It featured about 8 climbs and descents on mostly rocky terrain - over 5500 feet of climbing. On top of that, it was very humid and 85 degrees. I hiked almost 20 miles that day and it was probably the single toughest day on the trail for me but made it through and was in Harper¢s Ferry, West Virginia the next day.Harper¢s Ferry was awesome, it is the ¢spiritual halfway point¢ of the trail and the trail goes right through the historic downtown including the site of John Brown¢s raid. It also has the Appalachian Trail Center national office where I got my picture taken and saved in the hiker records for posterity.There are only 4 actual trail miles in WV and then only 42 in Maryland. MD featured wide, well maintained trail with little elevation gain and the nicest shelters yet. It was also much less remote than the southern states and I walked across multiple roads and state parks. The trail also goes by a number of Civil War sites (the trail goes close to where the Battle if Antietam took place) that I made sure to explore. I was also treated to a meatloaf and potato dinner by longtime family friend Chris Horsch who met me at a shelter the second night I was in MD. Thanks again Chris!I crossed the Mason-Dixon Line and made it to Pennsylvania on July 3rd. Southern PA was relatively flat and crosses multiple cornfields and developed areas. It certainly felt strange walking by people¢s houses and through someone¢s backyard even. I crossed the actual halfway point my first day in PA and then went to Pine Grove Furnace for the Fourth of July with some friends. There is a store there where there is a thru hiker tradition of trying the ¢Half Gallon Challenge¢ - eating a half gallon of ice cream in one sitting. I eat an early and light lunch in preparation and was able to complete it in under 30 minutes. I then ate trail magic KFC about an hour later. Thru hiker hunger is no joke.A few days later one of my good friends from Colby, Forrest, picked me up at a road crossing and I spent a needed rest day at his parents house in Lancaster eating sandwiches, hamburgers, hot dogs and watermelon as well as catching up (I hadn¢t seen Forrest in over a year). Thank you Forrest, Mark and Deb for the hospitality!Pennsylvania doesn¢t have a lot of big mountains but has a lot of rocks, mud and snakes. I¢ve seen 7 since I¢ve been here including a big rattlesnake yesterday that let me know it wasn¢t happy with how close I came to it. I¢m feeling good physically and I think I¢m catching up to the bubble because there are a lot of hikers around now. I¢ll stay in Port Clinton tonight and should be in New Jersey by Monday. Until next time.- Kevin ¢Crypter¢-Kevin