We took a surprise zero yesterday. We had all slept in. And by the time we were done with our homemade pancake breakfast, it was noon. It just wasn’t going to happen. We pretended like we were going to get ready but we didn’t fool anyone. It was obvious that we were just staying put. 

So today, we knew we had to move a bit. We got up quickly (especially quickly given the handle of fireball had come out last night) and were out the door on time. Lauren took us to Dunkin where we all bought alarming amounts of food and then she dropped us off back on trail. Since the first mile or two of the trail was through a city, I used the time to call my dad to wish him a happy birthday, a happy Father’s Day, and remind him that he could still bail. He didn’t have to put himself through this torture where Dunkin breakfast is the highlight of your day. 

After walking through the depressed town of duncannon for a while, I was excited to get back into the woods. Even if getting into the woods meant that it was time for one of two climbs of the day. Pennsylvania is a fairly flat state so the climbs aren’t too bad. The real challenge comes, apparently, in a few more miles when “rocksylvannia” hits and the trail turns into one giant rock scramble after another. But there were just small little tasters of that today. No real rocksylvania yet. 

I stopped at the top of the climb, not to admire the view (it was foggy. There was no view) but because there were two goats staring at me. I stared back at them, not sure why they were there, before I moved on. 

“Did you see the goats” a small child asked me coming from the other direction a few minutes later. When I told her that I had, she shrieked excitedly. Her father explained that these goats were not regulars but that they were very excited. “Big day!” I said and left them on their goat hunting adventure. 

I then caught up to Hi Ho, a warrior expedition guy who I had met at the beginning of the trail. We caught each other up on our hikes and injuries and chatted mindlessly about life back home. He had just gone home for a week for his son’s high school graduation. He made me feel better when he said that getting back on the trail was not nearly as hard as he had feared it would be. Because he knew he was only home for a bit, he let himself enjoy the creature comforts but not get used to them. He told me just to focus on eating while I was back and I promised I would. 

I walked on from him and found myself at the first trail magic of the day. Atop a ridge sat a group of 3 hikers who had apparently hiked together last year. They shared stories of their hike as well as Oreos, chips and oranges. I sat around chatting with them hearing about their journey and how they had prioritized “smiles over miles.” They were very proud of yesterdays accidental zero. 

Once again, I felt great today. I was moving. I caught up to rocket (which had probably never happened before) and we were about to have lunch when a civilian came up the trail and told us she was waiting for her son in the parking lot in half a mile. And she was waiting with a bunch of trail magic. “Say less,” we packed up our peanut butter and put away our stale bagels. Whatever they had was what I wanted. 

Down at trail magic, Larry made us loaded quesadillas as we stuffed our faces with brownies, fruit, chocolate milk and more. I caught up with a few other hikers there who I hadn’t seen in a while. I saw Haribo, who I hadn’t seen in weeks since Damascus. I had convinced him to get new shoes there and when he saw me he broke into a big smile. “I was just telling people about you today! I’m preaching new shoes to everyone now!”

Camp was just the three of us as usual. After all the trail magic and town food, camp food has gotten harder and harder to eat. It took me almost half an hour to finally finish a portion of instant rice. I finished it to mock applause from the other two and then immediately chased it with a bag of sour patch watermelons and some chocolate. Camp snacks still taste good, thankfully. 

But the rain has come through so I’m tucked away in my hammock early tonight. 

Key stats:

Miles: 24

Elevation gained: 3900

Mile marker: 1175

Goats: 2