Date: 2003-04-30
From: Swatara Gap

To: The REAL truth about Pennsylvania
Miles today: 10.0

Sonic and I have arrived safely back in my home state of Pennsylvania - started the canoe training, and have officially been initiated to the AT in Pennsylvania. Sweet rocky Pennsylvania...All you ever hear about the trail in PA is the rocks. It has often been referred to as the place where boots go to die. Sonic and I are here to tell you that all these rumors about the trail are unfortunately, absolutely true so far as we have experienced.We decided to hike some sections of the trail in PA while we are up here for several reasons - (1) so that we would not get too far behind in miles, (2)those infamous rocks - we figured we could tackle them with less weight in our packs, and (3) the water is more plentiful in the spring in PA - we were excited about hiking these sections in cooler weather and with lots of water.So...we figured we could knock out about 35 miles in 2 days. The topo maps show nice flat ridge walking, and we were only carrying minimal gear. We found a nice parking area near Swatara State Park, and decided to hike north to Port Clinton, where there was an outfitter and possible ride back to our car. Great plan, right?? Wrong. Fifteen minutes into our hike, we crossed a pretty stream and were then walking on a dirt road to cross under I-81 and head up to the ridge. It was a nice day, about 70 degrees, and we were pretty excited to be back out on the trail. The trail has come to feel like home, and for me, being on the trail in my home state was doubley (yes, I think I just made up that word...) homey.A car screeched to a halt about 200 yards behind us and just stopped in the road. We both looked back and watched cautiously, and decided to continue walking. A few minutes later, the car began moving again, approaching us from behind. We moved to the very edge of the road as the car came by us, driving very slowly. In our experiences over the last few months, I would have expected a friendly southerner to stop and say hi, maybe even offer us a ride or a coke or something. Not today. The man driving the car decided that we did look thirsty, but his approach was to just throw a half gallon of iced tea (open) directly AT us. And then he took off. Nice. Iced tea on the legs, feels great. Nice start to our hike! If I had not been a native to Pennslyvania, I might be cursing this state already. I know there ARE lots of great people in this state.The rest of the day continued to surprise us. Those topo maps that show the elevation of the trail were pretty accurate, but they should consider showing pictures of all of the rocks and boulder fields that you will cross along the way. It blew my mind - small rocks, medium rocks, large boulders, and everything in between. There were parts of the trail that looked like the trail was the only part that had rocks - 5 feet on either side of the trail looked pretty normal. Like people were placing these rocks in the trail on purpose!! It was very rough day on our feet, and needless to say, we did not get as far as we had hoped. And as if the rocks were not enough to contend with, Sonic has now adopted a collection of black flies that won't leave her alone. She made a few comments about these flies bothering her, divebombing her eyes and ears and nose, and I honestly didn't think it could be that bad....until I turned around and saw the swarm she had around her face! They weren't bothering me at all! You have to understand that with all this rock climbing, you really had to pay attention to where you were stepping, and with the flies, Sonic was having twice as much trouble. By 6 pm, she had had enough of the trail for one day. We were in the middle of yet another boulder field, not even a chance of camping anywhere on either side of the trail. We were both really tired, ready to call it a day.Yvonne calls out from behind me - "Snake! There's a snake here" - and as I turn around to see what she is talking about, I watch her fall straight back (on the rocks of course) on her butt. I caught a glimpse of the snake - about 4-5 feet in length, not poisonous, but any snake that long is intimidating! It was actually coiled up like it was going to strike at her, but then changed its mind and slithered under one of the rocks. The flies, the rocks, and now the snake have now won out in the battle of hiking today. We hiked on for about 15 more minutes and found a flat spot to pitch our tent and crawl into bed. Day one of Pennsylvania hiking. We hiked about 16 miles, but it felt like 26. We're gonna have to rearrange our hiking mileage now. The rocks won't let us get very far very fast....