Waynesboro, VA

Did a quick resupply in town last night, heading back out in alittle. We're finished with Shenandoah National Park. It's really nice to be back in the mountains. We got some awesome views despite the fact that the park is laid out around skyline drive so the cars get most of the views instead of the trail.

We decided to do the suit-case challenge our first day in the park. You carry a case of beer and do 24 miles in 24 hours while wearing a suit. The toughest part was just having 18 lbs of beer in your pack. we looked super classy though, I went for the unfrozen caveman lawyer/Angus Young look.

Front Royal, VA

A lot has happened since my last update. I caught up to Beat Feet and Flakes a day before the PA-MD line. Crooked Sticks just caught back up to us last night after a weekend off in DC. I found the best trail magic ever in PA, a 6-pack and it was still even cold.

The Maryland challenge turned into a bit of an epic. I started hiking at 2am and felt pretty good until the 27 mile mark where I hit the wall. I pushed through and felt great after another 10 miles. Once I got to Harpers Ferry I couldn't find a place to camp so I said screw it and did the 4-state challenge instead. The only problem was that halfway up the ridge out of town fog rolled in and visibility dropped to almost nothing. I stumbled along past the state line (it wasn't marked at all) and ended up walking 2 more miles past the line further into Virginia before stopping at 10 pm after 20 hours and 45 miles of hiking. I started in PA, hiked the entire state of MD, and crossed through WV to finally camp in VA.

I ran down the ridge back into town the next morning to eat a huge breakfast because all I had for dinner the night before was 2 cliff bars and 2 shots of bourbon. I took the rest of the day off in Harpers Ferry and got back out the next day.

It's nice to be in Virginia. I'm getting back into the mountains which means more interesting hiking and views again. Yesterday I hiked the northern VA section known as the rollercoaster for its constant ups and downs but it turned put to be pretty easy. Heading into Shenandoah National Park this afternoon.

Oh and I also had a toenail fall off yesterday. I stubbed it so hard coming down Stratton Ski Mtn in Vermont that i thought I broke my toe and the nail just finally fell off. Good ridden, it's one less nail to clip.

Just south of Pine Grove Furnace State Park, PA

Didn't realize I was gonna hit this today. I was booking it to the shelter after the half gallon ice cream challenge at the park (exactly what it sounds like). Coming up to it I thought it was just a really fancy shelter sign. Hell yeah!

Boiling Springs, PA

Pennsylvania has been interesting. I started out pulling big miles through the rockiest part of the state trying to catch up to the guys I was hiking with. My biggest day was a monster 34 miler. Oh and I almost stepped on a timber rattlesnake towards the end of that day, came within a foot or two of it before I saw it and jumped about 10 ft back. I absolutely hated PA when I was doing that, big miles and the rocks were just too rough on the feet and ankles to have any fun.

I caught up to within about a half a day of the group and said screw it right now and have been having a blast ever since. I'll catch back up after harpers ferry WV. I don't need to hurt myself before the Maryland challenge (hike the whole 42 miles of MD in one day without camping in the state).

I just resupplied in Boiling Springs. It was an easy day cruising through farmland. I got a bit of a late start because i got distracted this morning playing with the cat that lived at the last shelter. There was no mice problem there. I ended up snacking on corn all day while I hiked. I'm gonna take it easy the next few days doing two 19's and a 14 so I can rest up for Maryland on Friday.

Delaware Water Gap, PA

Well I'm not actually in Delaware water gap right now. I crossed into PA Thursday afternoon and then got picked up and am taking the weekend off to visit family in New Jersey, my mom even flew up. It was nice spending the last few days watching the olympics, eating, and hanging out in my cousins' pool during the heatwave up here. I'll get back on the trail tomorrow morning to start tackling PA.

NY and NJ were both surprisingly pretty and as easy as expected. I did go through a pretty weird place, Bear Mountain State Park in NY. The trail goes through a zoo where the bear cage is the lowest point on the trail both in elevation and morals. The park also had a public pool and was full of people out for the day from NYC that had no idea what the AT is or why there were hikers with backpacks passing through the park.

NJ was really nice, especially around Delaware Water Gap. It also turned out that it was blackberry season in jersey.