I can’t believe that today is day 100 of the border to border calendar year triple crown. It definitely feels like I’ve been on trial for a while, but it’s hard to imagine. It’s already been 100 days. We’re almost 1/3 of the way in for the year! Not quite yet, but soon enough. This morning I slept in a little bit in the shelter. I didn’t even wake up to my first alarm going off. Then woke up, rolled back over, and didn’t actually start making coffee until sometime after 5 AM.
That’s ok though! We only have about 20 miles to go for the day. I didn’t want to have a super late start, but starting a half hour later than usual wasn’t going to hurt anybody. Eventually I got up, packed up, and was ready to go. Then we only had about 4 to 5 miles to get down to the next road. We knew Iceman was going to be there waiting for us with some breakfast. Which definitely got me moving and I was very excited for that.
Another beautiful sunrise on the Appalachian trail.
The trail was fairly rocky over the course of the morning, but nothing particularly bad. I think I’ve already gotten quite used to the Pennsylvania terrain and really don’t mind the rocks much. For the most part they’re all very easy to step around or between. I think I prefer large rocks because you can just hop around between them. But the small ones typically aren’t that bad either and you can just set between them around them as well.
I loved the way the sun looked from behind this blazed tree.
It was a pretty cold morning, but not nearly as cold as yesterday. I kept my Sambob alpha 120 layer on for the first hour or so of the day. And was almost too warm with it on. I just planned to keep it on until we got down to the next road, and then I would take it off before beginning the last climb off the road. As we walked, we got to watch a really nice sunrise through the forest. And it was a pretty perfect start to the day.
A large Appalachian trail sign alongside the road.
So far the weather doesn’t seem too bad or gloomy. But I think sometime after one or 2PM some rough weather is supposed to roll in. We’re just going to play everything by ear and see what happens in the next couple days weather wise. Friday and Saturday are definitely not looking good! But I know we’ll still be out getting miles in.
We ended up getting down to the next road just before 8 AM. Iceman was set up there waiting for us, and was making hot chocolate for us on the stove. He’s so incredibly thoughtful and it’s just been wonderful enjoying his company the last few days. He let us sit inside the car to eat breakfast because it was pretty cold out. When you’re walking, the temperature is pretty comfortable. But when you stop moving entirely, I’ll typically cool down very quickly.
Breakfast of champions!
Iceman had gotten us McDonald’s breakfast sandwiches and hashbrowns! I sat in the car and ate everything and drank my hot chocolate. Then I still had some more milk left over from trail magic at the Lookout Hostel yesterday. I basically finished the whole thing and only had maybe one or two glasses worth left. I can’t believe I drank a whole gallon of chocolate milk in about 24 hours. That’s definitely got to be a new record for me.
After we hung out there for a bit and had breakfast, we continued along. There was a road about 7-8 miles ahead where Iceman planned to meet us next. But then we’d probably be ready to eat again even though I’m currently absolutely stuffed. But after a couple hours of walking, I knew my body would burn through everything I just ate. So we set out to make our way there.
Only about 900~ miles remain to Katahdin!
There was a fairly steep climb going out of that parking area. We had dropped down off the ridge and pretty much had to climb back uphill to get back onto the ridge. It was probably one of the steepest climbs that we’ve done in a while. But it was pretty short so it was over quickly. Then for the next couple of hours, we were just riding along the ridge once more.
This next section was probably the most rocky section that we’ve done in Pennsylvania. It’s kind of hard to judge and remember exactly what each stretch has been like. I would say generally though it seems like this section had more continuous miles with rocks covering the trail. Especially more miles with smaller rocks all over the trail. It really wasn’t too bad though, and I didn’t notice that the terrain slowed me down very much. I just kept hopping and skipping along, making my way there.
This section of forest really caught my eye. The trees looked so symmetrical and the forest felt barren of other plant life.
By the time we would get to that next parking lot I knew the trail was going to calm down a lot too. I didn’t remember the trail being very rocky from Fox Gap parking area to the Delaware water gap. It’s also pretty much all flat or downhill for that last stretch of the day. So that’s always nice too.
I continued walking after that, just making my way toward that next parking area. The rocks kept up for the next hour or two. I was just taking my time and wound up actually being pretty productive. I used voice to text so I could get some blogs written up. Then got my week 14 part two YouTube video posted. So that should be live when you’re reading this.
The trail brings you out along these cool cliffs.
After continuing along the rocks for a while, I got over to an area with ledges and cliffs. I remembered this section of trail from 2023. I got here right around sunset and it was so beautiful. I remember getting out to the road right as it got dark and I never had to put my headlamp on. Then I met up with my buddy Road Soda and he hiked out with all of us to the next shelter, which is right past the road. This time I climbed around the ledges and enjoyed the really nice views. It’s been overcast all day and the temperature has dropped a bit in the last hour. Prior to this I really wasn’t sure it was going to rain today. But over the last hour it’s definitely felt like rain will be coming in.
This was one of my favorite sections of trail for the day.
I passed by a couple of day hikers before I got out to the road. Then when I got out to the trailhead, Iceman was set up with lunch and Punisher was there with him. I was a few minutes behind because I stopped a couple times and was just dillydallying. The last couple days I just really haven’t felt super rushed to get anywhere. I’ve been taking my time on the rocks to avoid injury. And my knee has felt so much better than it did a few days ago so I’ve wanted to try to maintain the slightly slower pace. More than anything I’m just trying not to jump between rocks with as much force. I think that can be understandably pretty hard on your knees. I’m not sure what I’ve been doing to have my knees feeling better, but I’m just trying to keep that going. Though I do think that it probably has more to do with the terrain that we’ve been in for the last week. We basically did all of Pennsylvania in a week and it’s been a really strange mixture of perfectly flat trail and super steep rocky trail.
Heading through the trees, out onto another rocky ledge.
When I joined the guys out at the road, I loaded up a plate with chili cheese dogs covered in coleslaw. Then I also had potato salad, macaroni salad, and a Mountain Dew. I love all soda, but I’ve really been loving Mountain Dew recently. It just has so much sugar and caffeine. It’s the perfect trail soda. But I’m the type of person that drinks just about every soda on rotation when I’m stopping through town.
As we sat there and ate the temperature felt like it dropped even more. The wind picked up a little bit and I decided to switch my layers up. I took off my Montbell wind gear and I put my Sambob Alpha 120 top back on. Then I put my Montbell rain pants and rain jacket on, just in case it does rain. I really don’t want to get my wind gear soaking wet. And it seems like it’s going to be cold enough to wear my alpha for the rest of the day.
The AT goes across these rocks before dropping down to Fox Gap.
From there, we only had a little over 6 miles to go from the day. That would bring us to Delaware water gap, which is the boundary between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. So we’re about to embark on a new state! Maybe not today, but definitely tomorrow. When we set out after lunch I was feeling fantastic. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten more food is my life than I have this past week. The amount of support and trail magic that we’ve gotten has been unbelievable. I’ve been eating some sort of a home cooked meal or “real food” every single day. I can only imagine how incredibly good this has been for my body this past week. Especially being 100 days until this hike. I think I probably needed this now more than ever.
Another incredible lunch, thanks to Iceman!
When we first set out from lunch, I wound up talking to my dad on the phone for about an hour. I love talking to people on the phone while I hike. It kills time really fast, which is amazing. And I also really don’t like spending an hour or two hours on the phone when I’m in town. All I want to do when I’m in town is rest and relax. Especially if I have work to get done. I just want to get it done as quickly as possible. So spending time on the phone certainly isn’t ideal. Especially when you’re sharing a room. Then you wind up having to take phone calls somewhere else outside of the room. When all you really want to do is just lay comfortably in bed. I try to talk to people on the phone when I’m on trail if possible.
After we finished up on the phone, I used my service to watch a couple videos. I also got one of my YouTube videos up and did a little bit of blog work. I’ll definitely have some stuff to get done when we’re in town today, but comparatively it’s a lot less than I normally have to do. I also have a couple ideas for various YouTube videos that I would like to film. If I have the time and everything works out, maybe I will film one or two of them today. I’m just trying to use my time well and attempt to create content pretty much every single time we’re sleeping in a hostel or a hotel room.
There were a couple of these “markers” placed along trees in this section.
At this point it was about 1:45 PM and had a couple more miles to go for the day. For a mile or so right before this, the trail was actually following along a wide dirt road. It was super nice and made for very easy walking. Then the trail popped back into the woods and got a little bit more rocky and technical again. But it really wasn’t anything too crazy. I was looking forward to getting into town and being able to have a nice early day. All I want to do is just rest and relax. I’m also really hoping that which ever place we stay at might have a bath. I really wanted to take a bath for the last couple weeks.
Over the next hour or so I went by a couple day hikers. And eventually, the trail leveled out and became a flat dirt path again. This continued all the way out to the road where you can walk into Delaware water gap. On my way into town, I ran into Marty who runs Marty’s Yellow House. That’s a hostel in town which I believe is $50 a night and you get a private room and private bathroom access. That’s a really great deal for someone who’s hiking by themselves. I do believe we’ll be staying in a hotel tonight, but otherwise that would’ve been an incredible option.
The first sightings of the river down by Delaware water gap.
Marty had a teeny tiny little puppy with him and recognize me when I walked by. So I got to play with the puppy a little bit and chat with him before continuing on. Then I just walked the rest of the way into town where Iceman and Punisher were waiting for me. The trail skirts along the edge of town and then you cross the bridge going from Pennsylvania to New Jersey. But the motel we’re staying at is a little further into town. That’s also where all of the restaurants and things are. So Iceman drove us over there to save us the walk.
A tiny waterfall!
After he dropped us off, we said goodbye to him. It has been so wonderful hanging out with him for the last few days. I can’t express how grateful I am for all of his support. It would’ve been a really tough week without all the support that we got. Especially that 42 mile day when it was freezing cold and rainy. I don’t think we would’ve done that mileage without Iceman around. It just would’ve been too cold to stop and take breaks. So we wouldn’t have been able to eat enough and fuel ourselves. His support has really kept me going the last few days. And on top of that, he’s just super nice to talk to and also really funny. There’s a chance we might see him further down along the trail somewhere. That would be awesome! We’ll just have to wait and see.
Marty’s Yellow House is one of the first things you go by on your way into town.
After we said goodbye to him, we headed into the hotel. We didn’t have a reservation but just made one on the spot. I contemplated getting it for two nights because we’re considering doing some kind of a slack pack tomorrow. But we haven’t actually coordinated anything so I decided to wait. Once we were checked in, we just headed to the room to relax. I feel really exhausted from not getting super great sleep the last week or so.
Inside the room, I just lounged in bed. I got some other work done that I needed to do. But I’m pretty much caught up with YouTube stuff. It was a relief not to have too much stuff to get done. Then I took a nice hot shower, which was amazing. It didn’t really rain on us at all today, but it was still quite cold out. The last handful of days we’ve experienced temperatures in the middle low 30s for at least some part of the day, everyday.
For the rest of the day I just relaxed and passively got a little bit of work done here and there. Moving forward it looks like I’m going to be doing 2 to 3 weekly vlogs on YouTube rather than one longer vlog. This last week I just got a lot more content, so 2-3 days of footage produced a 30 minute video. Prior to that, seven days of content was generating a 30 minute video. So if you’re enjoying the vlogs, you’re going to be getting a whole lot more which is exciting. I’ve also made a bunch of other videos that I’ll be coming out in the next week or so, talking about my PT and exercise routine, gear, and things like that.
Around 6 PM I figured it was now or never when it came to getting dinner. There are a few places walking distance from the Fairmont hotel, but I decided to check online and see if any of the delivery apps were within range. There are a couple bigger towns near here so I was able to just order DoorDash. I’m really craving Chinese food and also loved the idea of not having to walk anywhere.
I ended up getting noodles, crab rangoons, and dumplings. I ate a ton of food and was watching the Goonies! I forgot how good that movie was. Then I started trying to figure out plans for tomorrow. There aren’t a ton of options when it comes to roads and parking areas. And the weather looks really bad for tomorrow and Saturday. I did find one road that goes to Crater Lake trailhead. When I put it in Google maps to looked like it was a 45 minute drive from here because of back roads.
Around this time, I texted a woman named Misty, who I found on Far Out. Apparently she shuttles in this area and I was hoping that she might be able to take us out there. Otherwise, I really don’t know how we would get there. And I don’t think we would be able to hitch back to town from there because it’s in the middle of nowhere. Misty responded super quick and said she could take us out there tomorrow morning about 8 AM. That means we’ll just walk the 20 miles back to Delaware water gap. Then we’ll just get a ride back to that trailhead the following day
Once all that was figured out, I renewed the room for another night. Then just kept hanging out, watching TV, eating food, and getting a bunch of more writing and video work done.
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