This morning around 3am I woke up to it absolutely dumping rain. There was thunder and bright cracks of lightning. There was a tarp hanging from the ceiling of the covered picnic area we were laying under. So we got up and unrolled it so it would prevent the wind from blowing the rain in. Then once that side of use was protected I pulled my sleeping pad and everything further onto the porch. That way I wasn’t getting splashed with rain.
After that I laid back down and went back to bed for a while. When my alarm went off around 4:30am it was still dumping. So I rolled back over until some time after 5am. There was no point in leaving super early if the rain was going to stop around 6am. It’s not supposed to rain for the rest of the day. So I don’t want to get soaked unnecessarily.
Sometime after 5am I started to boil water and make coffee. Then slowly started to get packed up and ready to roll. I sent a text to Jeff to let him know we’d still be out of camp early, just not as early as we normally get going. Once we were packed up we got moving and headed to the next road, which was only a mile and a half away. That’s where Jeff was going to meet us with breakfast! Jeff and I have been corresponding since I was on the CDT last year. Maybe even closer to when I finished the ECT. He reached out when we were down in Florida and actually put us up in a room for the night in Troy, FL. Which was so incredibly kind of him!
Walking in the early morning after the rain stopped.
Now we’re in his neck of the woods and he came out to help and support us. It’s hard to imagine that all of these wonderful humans have been following along on my journeys over the years and are reaching out to support so much this year. I’m so grateful for all of the comments, kind words, and other support that has been coming in this year so far. It’s truly more than I could have ever imagined. And helps to fuel me so much mentally and physically.
Breakfast! Thank to Jeff.
When we got to the road Jeff was there waiting for us. It was so nice to finally meet him in person and put a face to the name I’ve been writing online. Jeff was a super nice we talked with him and got to know him a bit more. He had brought us breakfast sandwiches and chocolate milk! What a way to start off a day. We stayed there for a while and I drank so much milk. Then packed out a breakfast sandwich and a honey bun for the road.
There were a lot of very nice Appalachian trail signs through this section.
Jeff made plans with us to meet us further down the way. There are a ton of road crossings over the course of today, so lots of opportunities for him to stop off and meet us. That’s so exciting and I know it’s going to make the day feel so much easier and fly by much quicker. When we left there the trail was so nice and easy. It had been a great morning so far with very little elevation gain. Today we’re planning on doing just about 33 miles. And over those miles there is only about 3,000 feet of climbing! Which is insane! We’ve done shorter days with closer to 10,000 feet over the last month or so.
Today was so utterly magical! I’m so grateful for all of the support on this hike.
The time passed quickly as we walked along. And it felt like there was so much to see. We went by a bunch of signs, a cabin, and the bug infested shelter that we heard about last night. Of course though when we passed the bug shelter there were guys there packing up! I was wondering how the night treated them. The comments from just a few days ago had said a hiker woke up covered in welts from the bat mites.
The official halfway point! (From 2024).
After another hour or so we ran into Wooderson, who camped with us last night. He arrived after us and I recognized him from his photo in the book at Harper’s Ferry. He was hiking the AT in 2019 and got Lyme disease before Harper’s. So he got off and had to go home to heal and sort that out. Now he’s back out on trail to finish his hike from Harper’s to Mount Katahdin. We walked with him for a while and he said he wanted to try to stick around for the day and do about 30 miles. That was super cool and he’s only the second person we’ve crossed paths with who has wanted to do that.
Crossing the AT 1,100 mile marker!
When we passed road later on in the morning Jeff was set up there as well. He pulled out two camp chairs and we sat by his car and drank chocolate milk. What a dream! It doesn’t get much better than this. After sitting there for a bit we got ready to roll again. Jeff planned to get lunch and meet us down at Pine Grove Furnace. Which was about 5 miles away at that point. This time of year the store at Pine Grove isn’t open yet. Usually they serve hot food and that’s where hikers embark on the iconic half gallon challenge. I had considered attempting it this year, as I didn’t do it in 2023. Back then I just ate a pint of ice cream and called it there. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do the challenge so I didn’t want to waste the ice cream in my attempt.
The official halfway marker on the trail.
From there we didn’t have far to go, and the trail was pristine. Other than a couple short sections with some rocks, the trail felt like a bike path. It was so cruisy and flat. You hardly had to think and could just go on along. That was a really nice change of pace. It’s funny how quickly this trail can change terrain. Last week we were doing a bunch of climbing. Two weeks ago that was all we were doing! And now the trail has leveled out immensely and it’s a completely different animal.
Around 12:30pm we got down to the road and walked over to Pine Grove Furnace. This place always feels special to me. It was here that for one of the first times in my life I set foot on the AT prior to hiking it. I passed through while I was living in my vehicle traveling the country. This state park is really nice and I explored the area and went to the old furnace. I even went into the AT museum. At the time I didn’t have any intentions to hike the AT. My plan was to go back and finish the PCT though in the near future. But at that time the idea of doing the AT wasn’t even remotely in the cards. And now I’m back here again, for the third time. And it’s the second time that I’m here on foot after having walked all the way up along the trail. Life sure has a funny way of working itself out.
Arriving at Pine Grove Furnace.
When we got over to the store at Pine Grove Furnace, Wooderson was sitting there with Jeff. Jeff had gone down to the store and got lunch for the three of us, which was so incredibly kind of him. Nothing quite compares on trail to eating real food. I know we should be eating 3,000+ calories a day out here, but I rarely do. Unless we’re stopping through towns or places to get actual food. Having Jeff out here today to load us up with calories is an unbelievable blessing.
I sat there at the picnic table outside the store just like I did in 2023. But this time I ate a cheeseburger and fries! No ice cream in sight. Jeff had told us that he would happily supply ice cream if we wanted to attempt the challenge. But honestly I don’t know if I could even do it now! After hiking over 2,400 miles across the country I’m still not sure I have it in me. I don’t know how anyone eats that much ice cream in one sitting.
It was so nice taking a long break and eating so much food. I even took down 32 oz of Mountain Dew. That’s the thru hikers soda right there. One liter of that is nearly 500 calories! Which is wild to think about! How can a beverage have that many calories? By the time I was done eating and finished off the soda I was stuffed. One of the hikers who was in the shelter last night walked up while we were there. But he had actually called a shuttle because he wasn’t sure he could make it on foot. He was an older guy and fell yesterday and really bruised his hip. I think it was a very smart call to get a ride and not risk putting himself in a bad situation.
Enjoying lunch at Pine Grove Furnace.
After we ate we continued along the trail. Jeff planned to meet us later on toward the end of the day. And yesterday I was corresponding with a woman named Sandy on Instagram. She had been watching the vlogs on YouTube and really wanted to meet us. So she reached out and asked if she and her husband Perry could come out to a road at some point today. It can be hard to coordinate that, but she made it super easy. She just picked a road and we were able to plan out the rough time we would be there. So it looks like we’ll be seeing them and Jeff in about 12-13 miles! That should be around 5pm and will work pretty perfectly.
The time definitely got away from us a little bit today with all the breaks. But I was so happy to be feeling full and fueled up. We don’t have any place to be per se. Our end destination for the day is a shelter, so there isn’t really any rush to get there. If we were going to town I definitely would have probably stopped off a bit less today or stayed for shorter breaks. Today though it just kind of felt like we had nothing but time. It was nice to slow down a little and actually take breaks to eat.
Only 1,090 miles to Katahdin from here.
When you leave Pine Grove Furnace the trail is pretty much a bike path for a while. Then you begin a really gradual climb up to a rocky overlook area. On our way up we went by two day hikers with two cute dogs. The little dog was a wiener dog and was adorable. She was scampering around and did a couple big jumps. Then came over to say hello as we talked to the ladies. Before we left she jumped up on my leg and I gave her some pets. Then we continued on our way.
Once you got up to the top of that climb the next hour or so was all easy. We passed by a hiker taking a break, who appeared to maybe be a thru hiker! Then continued along for a while until the trail slowly began to descend down to the next road. That road is where you can walk .2 down to a small general store. They serve hot food and have a small resupply. But I knew we didn’t need anything, so we just kept on going.
We walked past this pond near Pine Grove Furnace.
There was a gradual climb leaving there. Then the trail leveled out once more and descended a bit down to the next road. This was where Sandy and her husband were going to be set up. When we arrived we could see Jeff’s car parked there. Then a truck and an awning pitched up with a table beneath it. It looked like we had just arrived at a bbq! That was such an exciting sight. Sandy was so stoked when we arrived. It was great to meet her and her husband Perry, who have been watching the videos and following along since we got on the AT.
The two of us sat down and enjoyed a nice cold drink. Then talked to Sandy, Perry, and Jeff. Perry had a grill going and was making steaks for everyone. I can’t say that I’ve ever eaten a steak at trail magic alongside a road before! That’s a first for me and was honestly a surreal experience. These last few days we’ve been spoiled rotten! There aren’t words to express the gratitude for all of this support. It’s honestly hard for me to fathom at times.
The trail magic set up that Sandy and Perry had waiting for us for dinner.
It was so nice sitting there and having dinner with everyone. The steak was delicious and I ate it with some baked beans. Then finished off some chocolate milk and an arnold palmer. You can’t make this stuff up! It’s just pure magic. It feels like the last few days have just been a dream. And I could blink at any second and wake right back up.
Punisher and I at trail magic this evening.
Everything was so delicious and made for an incredible end to a day filled with magic from beginning to end. We stayed there for a while hanging out with everyone. Then made some plans with Jeff who is planning on sticking around tomorrow to help us some more. He’s going to camp somewhere by Boiling Springs, which is only going to be about 4-5 miles into the morning tomorrow. It looks like Jeff is going to meet us a do some miles with us. He wants to do about 15 miles with us, which is going to be really cool!
Steak for dinner was beyond my wildest dreams.
After that we got packed up and ready to roll. Wooderson had walked by around this time and joined in on the magic. He also planned to go to the next shelter, which was about 5 miles away. I’m hyped that he wound up doing the 30+ mile day today. So after we said goodbye to Sandy, Perry, and Jeff we set out to get those last miles in.
Punisher and I with Sandy and Perry! Two incredible trail angels.
There was a small climb leaving that road. Then we had a couple rocky sections of the trail to navigate through. It was a neat section though with large boulders you had to climb up and through. I really enjoyed that and it didn’t slow us down at all. Then we descended again briefly before we had another couple small climbs. That would be the last climbing for the day though basically.
Climbing through a rocky segment of the trail.
When we got down to a low point there was a water source there. So we filled up because the shelter ahead didn’t have water right by it. I was just going what I always hope at the end of the day, the shelter would be empty! There was a decent length side trail to get over to the shelter. But I was actually glad that the side trail was uphill. That meant it would be downhill back to the trail when we left tomorrow!
I was so happy when we arrived to the shelter and found it empty. Then the three of us got set up in there for the night. And within the next half hour it started to rain! There is nothing better than beating the rain. I was still full from dinner so I just had a few snacks. Then got some video work and writing done before calling it night.
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