Date: 2015-07-24
From: Antietam Camping Area

To: Boiling Springs, PA
Miles today: 49.9

Box Turtle here, writing from poolside at the lovely Allenberry Inn and Resort in Boiling Springs, PA, where I've spent the last two days "preparing" for my "flip-flop" to Maine, tomorrow. I'll fly to Bangor, ME, take a bus to Medway, and then a shuttle to Millimocket, the nearest town to Baxter State Park (home to Katahdin, the mountain so grand it doesn't need a "Mt." In front of its Native American name). Monday, July 27, I'll hike up (and then back down) Katahdin and complete the second half of the AT hiking south, finishing the trail back here in Boiling Springs in central PA, my home state. Doing this will allow me to take as much time as I need to hike the remaining 1,050+ miles and will likely offer better weather the whole way as I move south (warmer in Maine and NH, cooler in southern New England and PA) than if I were racing north through hot Northern PA-MA to colder NH-ME chasing the typical October 15 cutoff date for Baxter State Park hiking.. pride compells box Turtle to note that there's a good chance I could have completed the hike north if I tried. But frankly, I don't know that I'll have a chance to visit these places again, and I'd like to be able to take time to swim in some ponds, sit on some overlooks, hike with a friend or two, and perhaps sit out a day of rain here or there without a looming deadline. Nicely, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy doesn't discriminate against (in fact it encourages) hikers who choose an alternative route. As long as I hike the entire length of trail within a calendar year, I can claim "2,000 Miler" status. After talking to my daughter, Jane, about my plans, she wished me luck with my "flop." Look, I said, you can call it a flip, or you can call it a flip-flop, but you can't call it a flop! Anyway,thinking about having completed just over half the miles at this point is difficult (because there remain so many to hike). I just focus (as I did at the trip's beginning) on a week at a time, and hope that next week I'll have summited Katahdin (pretty universally considered the toughest part of the AT) and be well into the "100-Mile Wilderness." That's a slightly melodramatic description of the most isolated section of the AT, where there are only sporadic dirt road crossings and no towns for re-supply, guaranteeing a very heavy pack to lug through the woods. In fact, for a price (!) one can have supplies (food!) delivered mid-way; not sure if Box Turtle will avail herself of this luxury or not yet. As the recent past few hundred miles have been closer to towns and hostels than the southernmost part of the trail, BT looks forward to once again retreating into the forest and focusing more on the trail and its surroundings than on how to reach the next blackberry milkshake (at the "Waysides"in Shenandoah National Park).That said, there have been a couple of delightful stops recently in PA at Caledonia State Park (for swimming in a big pool near the lovely creek) and Pine Grove Furnace SP, where a historic iron ore pit was flooded to create a tiny lake and the region's history as a center of 18th-19th century charcoal-furnace iron production is interpreted. Though the rocks of northern PA are universally reviled by hikers, the trail in southern PA has been beautiful, with interesting rocky outcroppings and quite a bit of pine-needle trails through gentle terrain. Box Turtle's experience of morning euphoria while hiking quietly through the woods continues with considerable regularity; a combination, I think, of caffeine, freedom from domestic routines, woodland scenery, and excercise. Each day I am grateful for the opportunity to spend so much focused time doing one particular thing, even as that particular thing, hiking, changes with elevation, latitude, weather, etc. I've become fond of an assortment of fellow hikers who I now have to say goodbye to as I skip north while they (in denial about the difficulty of finishing in time!) continue hiking north from PA. The fun thing will be that I may meet them again in northern NE if we all keep going. A few I know have gotten off the trail now for onereason or another...El Loco's visits are so fun and helpful in keeping me happy and confident about pressing on.Some have asked for "more bird information" and I wish I was more expert and still carying binos. (Actually,glad to have shed that weight.) The birds are calmer now in midsummer. Somehave asked for "more about food", a topic on which I could expound at length if I weren't out of time. Suffice it to say that the best Trail foods are those with the highest caloric count and protein content relative to weight, and highly sturdy. Nut butter packets with tortillas, tuna and salmon packets with Knorr pasta sides or instant potatoes or couscous, instant oatmeal with dried fruit and nuts are all great; power and protein bars and the occasional (ok,maybe daily) candy bar works for snack while hiking. I miss drinking (alcohol) much less than I expected, but enjoy it enormously when available and am happy with less than perhaps before the trip. I'm sending home my iPod Shuffle (music player with headphones), as it proved to be too disconcerting to be listening to Elton John or Madonna while walking through the woods. Like ATVs or JetSkis, just cause you can doesn't mean you should...that's my sermon for this post. Turtle got to go...north, and then south! Good luck, McGyver my friend, as you head north. So pleased to see Mama Longlegs, Sheldon and Jarhead again after a month last night for dinner in Boiling Springs. X