Day 47

Day 47: 30 miles

I passed 3 different markers for the mid point. The first one, which was actually the correct distance, just had graffiti on a board. The second one, was the halfway point in 2018 but since then the trail has been extended a bit. The current trail is 2.1 miles (I think) longer than in 2018 so it’s about .00001% more difficult. The 3rd marker was the most robust and would’ve been a decent photo op but it was pouring, I already took pictures with 2, and my hands were becoming too wet to operate my phone effectively.

Speaking of wet, I got soaked through today. It was raining when I woke up, didn’t stop all day, and is raining as I’m going to bed. There were a few hours today where the raining became pouring. The old man must’ve been snoring.

Hiking today wasn’t very enjoyable. I spent the entire day trying to navigate the canal that was the trail. There were almost always several inches of water lying in the trail and melting snow embankments on the sides. I would try to walk on the snow embankments but would often slide down into the water. I would try walking wide legged with 1 foot on each side of the trail. This would work for a bit until I took a step in a puddle of water underneath some snow. It was also pretty inefficient. There were times today when, looking back, the trail was just absurd. There would be mini ponds forming over the trail. Streams that it crossed became more like rivers. Dry, or even not soaking wet, feet were not an option.

I did come across a bathroom with a hand dryer in the afternoon. So I tried to dry out some of my stuff but it just didn’t really work too well, only minimal effectiveness.

When I got to camp at the end of the day thankfully nobody else was there or around. Everything I was wearing was absolutely soaked through and my skin was in a similar condition. I didn’t want to get into my sleeping bag in this state so I got au naturel for 15 minutes and dried out first. It was a bit chilly but it definitely saved my sleeping bag.

I’m starting to get back into the noticeably rocky part of Pennsylvania. Thankfully I already knocked out the worst of it.

Sotd: laugh now cry later- drake