We knew we had a long day ahead of us since we fell short of our goal yesterday, which means an early start. We were up at 5a. The goal was to leave between 6a and 6:30a. In reality, we were on the trail at 6:45a – our earliest morning yet. The air was cool still. It was amazing. Let me be clear, I did not enjoy being up so early. However, I did enjoy the benefits that came with that decision. We got more miles covered sooner in the day than normal and in lower temperatures too.
It was eight miles to the town of Boiling Springs, PA. We arrived there around 11a. The place was teeming with 4th of July celebrations. On the pond they had a “Everything Floats” competition, where people tried to make boats out of ridiculous items. Everyone was in patriotic colors. Flags and decorations were everywhere. It was so much fun to see. People stopped us as we walked into town. They either wanted our stories, were suggesting things to do while we were there, or were asking if we needed anything. We felt welcomed. As a person just passing through, that was an incredible relief.
The first place we stopped at was a local cafe. We ate dinner and had lemonades on their patio. I saw a little girl wearing a queen’s cloak ordering ice cream. It was the cutest thing.
After the cafe, we stopped by the gas station for new water bottles (Warthog used his to wash out his mouth after he vomited – gross) and most got ice cream too.
Then we headed down the street to the ATC regional headquarters where there were several other thru-hikers hanging out. Only one guy was working. He welcomed us all in and was extremely friendly. As we left, he asked Warthog and I if we were a couple. I told him we were and that we are about to hit our eleven year anniversary. He proceeded to give us couple advise. He said, “Enjoy these times together. My wife and I used to do everything with one another. Then she became disabled – neither of us saw it coming. Now the only thing we can do together is I take care of her. Enjoy each other.” His eyes were welling up with tears. I was moved by the sincerity and assured him that we will. I shook his hand, thanked him for the words, and told him it was a pleasure to meet him. I meant it. I drew a little bit closer to Warthog as we continued on the trail. I don’t know why it takes other people’s losses to remind you of what you have, but sometimes we are a bit daft and it does.
After leaving town around 3p, we still had about fifteen miles until we would be where we could camp. When the government took the lands for the Appalachian Trail, the farmers were worried about people camping in their fields. As a compromise, there’s no camping in this stretch. There’s also little to no water. The water that is there runs through fields. I’ll pass. We carried heavy on water to get us through.
We knew it would be a late night, but waited until late afternoon to push on so hopefully the main heat of the day would be over. We expected much of this stretch to be through open fields. To our surprise, it was mostly wooded. There were some exposed areas, but not many. There were, however, lots of ticks. We all pulled them off of us. Luckily, we seemed to find them while they were just crawling. None had bitten yet.
We hiked while playing games, trying to help pass the time. All of a sudden we heard rustling and looked to our left as a squirrel chased another. They went down one tree, across the ground, up another, the one jumped, didn’t quite make it, somersaulted and kind of landed with a thud. He was shocked for a moment and then regained composure. He ran across the trail about two feet ahead of me and up another tree. This time the aggressor squirrel stayed back. The poor squirrel that fled sat on the trunk, his chest rising and falling from the quick little breaths he was taking. He was tired. But he was free. We all felt kind of bad for him. I don’t know what he did to the other squirrel, I’m sure he won’t repeat it!
Storms were coming in and we were about halfway through this section when we passed by a diner. We decided to take a break. All of our bodies were tired and we hoped the rain would run its’ course by the time we were finished. We had an amazing waitress that made us feel like normal customers and not stinky, dirty hikers. The rain never came, but our feet did feel better. We still had seven miles to go. It was 8p when we were getting back on the trail.
The sun set a little after 9p. We heard some fireworks and caught just glimpses of them through the trees. We were starting to get nervous, I’m not sure why. Then we all heard the scariest animal noise I’ve heard in the woods yet. Warthog thinks it was cats fighting. I don’t. Although I think it was a bobcat or something killing another animal. Someone said it sounded like a child or woman screaming. That’s pretty close. We tightened up the group (ladies in the center) and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one thankful to be hiking as a tramily that night. I’m positive it was an animal, even so… it was creepy.
Around 10p my mom called just as I was heading up a mountain. She stayed on the line with me and talked while I huffed and puffed up the hill. I needed the distraction and was grateful to catch up. Honestly, after such a long day, she was the only reason I could get up that thing as fast as I did.
It was 11:30p when we got into camp. We set up quickly and dove in. My body throbbed. It was a twenty three mile day. I took a couple of Tylenol PM’s with the hope of crashing. They finally set in about 1a. Before that, I kept waking up to leg pain. It was not fun. Thankfully, it was only temporary and after 1a glorious sleep finally came.
-ansel