Date: 2021-06-06
From: Unnamed Campsite

To: Backpacker Campsite
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: mist

Today¢s plan was to make it to Alec Kennedy shelter, which is the last shelter before Cumberland Valley. In the 18.2 mile stretch between Alec Kennedy and Darlington (the next shelter), there is no camping allowed, either, except at the backpacking campground about 3.5 miles past Alec Kennedy. So my goal was to stay at Alec Kennedy for the night, another short day, and that would set me up for the hike the 11-12 miles into Carlisle the next day to meet Jen. I started around 10, after  taking down my bear bag (it stayed up all night so I call that a success), making breakfast, then taking down camp. The entire day was just hills, not really much flat between the campground and the next shelter, but I started my trudge up the first hill (seriously, does someone have something against going downhill to start the day??), and I saw that the landmark at the top of the hill is listed as ¢rock maze¢, which I found weird, because I¢d been through many rock and boulder fields and they¢d never been marked in the trail guide before, but when I came to the top I understood. This wasn¢t a rock field. This was a cluster of rocks the size of a house and I had to go through them, because going around them would be no fun, of course. I stopped to catch my breath and curse whoever marked the trail, and then started in. To be fair, it was more fun than I expected, and though there was a lot of maneuvering needed, I didn¢t have to take my pack off to throw it ahead at any point, which I¢ll count as victory, though I did have to drop my trekking poles ahead a few times and use my hands to hold the rock walls on both sides to shimmy down. The next rock maze was similar, and then it was normal downhill and uphills for the rest of the day. I got to the side trail for the shelter around 1, and it was 0.2 miles (although that¢s what the last one said as well and I don¢t believe that at all, so I was skeptical), but looked mostly uphill. I didn¢t want to do any more uphill than strictly necessary, and it was early enough that I figured I could push on to the backpacker¢s campsite (who needs plans anyway, am I right?). There was one last hill between the shelter and the campsite, then the remainder was mercifully flat. So I climbed up to the summit, and just before the summit there was a side trail with a view marked. There hadn¢t been any marked views in a while, and I figured I have time, and my feet aren¢t exactly happy, but they¢re not killing me yet, so I decided to leave my pack and go the 0.4 miles to the view. It did feel good to walk some without the pack, and it was along this ridge where I could almost see the views over the valley off to the left, but I call BS on the 0.4 miles. It was much farther than that. I honestly thought about turning around and going back a few times, but I knew that if I did that, this amazing view of the valley would be at the next rock cluster, and I¢d have turned away so close to it, so I pushed on, even though I was getting frustrated, but I could see sneak peaks of the valley with the mountains in the background off to the left between the trees and I just knew shower>span class="s1"> the next day in town, so I laid down and got some sleep to get me through the day.