A wild and colorful natural spring

I wasn't sure whether to drink from this water source or not. Turns out the water is crystal clear. The ground beneath however is collecting mineral deposits from the water.

This spring was located near Pine Grove, PA. at approx. mile 1210

Caterpillar

I have no idea what this dude's official name is........ but I thought he was very cool looking.

Hamburg, PA.

A view of town from the ridgeline. Closing in on the New Jersey border approx. 100 mi. away.

Susquehanna River

A shot of the river as I cross the bridge heading out of Duncannon, PA.

Duncannon, PA.

The infamous Doyle Hotel. This place is well known as a hiker friendly establishment with great burgers. It was originally built and operated by Anhieser-Busch over 100 years ago.

Pilgrim and other hikers enjoying some cold beers and food inside the Doyle Bar.

"Berries" and me after just arriving at the Doyle.Wet, tired, and very hungry !

Let the ROCKS begin !!! mile 1,130

Wet and raining heading into Duncannon, PA.  This was ridiculous how rocky and steep it was. A hiker should have to obtain a license to walk on this stuff !

Heading toward Pine Grove, PA.    Not getting any better, in fact it's getting worse.

How's this for an uphill climb ? At least this section had smaller rocks mixed in with the large rocks.

Rock Bridges, wow.... what's next

Trail Magic !

My friend Kim (Loopy) holding Gatorade a "trail angel" left under the road in the tunnel for hikers to enjoy........ which we did!

The Fields

No rocks so far. The trail does however spend a lot of time running through and next to fields of soybeans, corn, hay etc.

The Allenberry Resort and Playhouse

This nice place in Boiling Springs, PA. lets hikers enjoy their resort for a mere $40 per night. The normal rate is $130-150 depending on events and season. They offer a $6 all you can eat breakfast buffet, and $15 dinner buffet. The game room has foosball/ping pong/pool tables , as well as air hockey. They have a theater on site and conduct live plays each day at 1pm. There was a two week acting camp going on while I was there..... very cool.

The road leading in/out of the enormous grounds the place sits on.

A shot of the Playhouse .

Hiker friends as we attack the dinner buffet..... Suschi bar!!!

Pennsylvania - state #7

The trail as it crosses an Interstate in southern PA near Boiling Springs.

I have now reached Pennsylvania and the dreaded " rocks" everyone talks about. Apparently there are miles upon miles of trail where a hiker walks on rocks with very little ground to put your feet.Some of these rocks supposedly move when stepped upon. Others are jagged and sharp, poking and gouging the feet when you step on them. many claim they ruined a pair of boots..... just in Pennsylvania. This state contains 230 miles of the Appalachian Trail so I hope it's not as bad as they say !

Tough Section

My friend Andrew as he negotiates a rough 2-mile section of Maryland rocks near the Pennsylvania border. Andrew is a runner by nature so this type of terrain was difficult for his 6' 7" , size 50 feet?

Update

I am now at mile 1140 in a place called Duncannon, Pennsylvania. The weather has been tough the past couple of weeks ( high 90's with lots of humidity) Camped in a horrible thunderstorm Thurs. night and walked in heavy rain all day Friday. When I arrived in town all my clothes, tent, and pack were soaked. The trail goes right through the center of town so I stopped at the laundrymat to do some washing. I actually had to hang my boots in the dryer by the laces to dry them out.West Virginia was very short but a lot of fun. I took a side trip into Washington DC for a day.Then, I took a shuttle 10 miles the next day to the CharlesTown horse track/casino. They had the best buffet that I've found thus far. Maryland was a great state to hike through. The trail is 2-3 feet wide across the whole state. The PATC maintains the trail to perfection and builds the nicest shelters a hiker could want.I met a guy named Andrew in maryland that was doing a few days on the trail. He was from Philly and we had a lot in common so we spent a couple days hiking together and staying at a hostel.  Stopped in Boiling Springs to stay at the Allenberry Resort. They offer hikers a $40 room rate versus the normal $130-150 rate. All my hiking friends were also there for the night. They had a $15 dinner buffet that inc. sucshi and prime rib, and lots of good desserts.The resort also has a theater for live plays. There was a staff on sight that was conducting a two week acting camp. It was fun to watch the kids practice their lines and act out scenes. Pennsyvania has a reputation for having a rocky trail. So far, it has not been too bad. Yesterday I did hit a 6 mile stretch with nothing but rocks. The hard part is watching where you place your feet as many of the rocks stick up like sharks teeth. The rocks are also very slick when it's raining like when I walked over them. I have spoken with several hikers in town that fell yesterday, luckily I wasn't one of them. The town I'm in now has a 100 year old motel that was originally built by the Anheiser-Busch company. It is called the "Doyle" and has trail famous burgers. ( which I can vouch for being very good ! ). The next thing of interest along the trail is the Yeungling beer brewery. I guess its right near the trail and they offer tours. The trail supposed to get extremely rocky after Port Clinton for the last 80-90 miles before New Jersey. I am still 75 miles from Port Clinton so I have a few days to psych myself up for what's to come. I had a bit of good fortune this past week. At a road crossing I found a $200 Gerber knife w/sheath laying in the middle of the trail. I carried it for 5 days and asked if anyone lost it, no claims. So, I went to the post office in Boiling Springs and mailed it home...... Bonus !!

Thanks to all for following and posting. I miss everyone and hope to see you soon !

                                                                                       Tony

Trail Angel

Tammy, the Greenbriar State park ranger was nice enough to give me a ride back to the trail after I walked into her park. The story goes as follows; I left the trail and walked about a mile into the park in order to get something to eat at the snack bar. A bad thunderstorm hit just as I entered the park so the snack bar closed about two hours early. I stopped to ask Tammy for directions back to the trail. She decided to take me to the nearby store and buy me dinner and something to drink. She then drove me to the trail and posed for a photo.

Washington Monument State Park

This was the original dedication to George Washington, well before the one in DC was built. I am about 20 miles into Maryland at this point.

Taken from the top of the Washington Monument. The open fields in the distance are the sight of the famous Antietam civil war battle. To the left is West Virginia, and to the right is Pennsylvania ( not pictured ).

I love Maryland !

The wonderfully flat trail !

The clean, well-built shelters !

Maryland - state #6

This particular park is the where one of the civil wars most well known war correspondents lived. He later paid to have several buildings built on this sight. Later, the state has rebuilt or refurbished all the buildings to their original state. This entire area was home to many civil war battles.

Washington, DC. side-trip

Because I was so close to the capital a train trip seemed like the thing to do..... so I did. The ticket was only $11 each way from/to Harpers Ferry. After the hour and a half train ride, a quick three stop trip on the subway and I arrived at Pennsylvania Ave. (White House) I was hoping Mr Obama would come out and have coffee with me, no luck.

With a little effort, I was able to lift the Washington Monument completely off the ground !

Town Hall in Harpers Ferry

If you look closely you will notice something unusual about this building........ the post office, police dept., and liquor store are all neighbors. Seemed a bit odd to me for a Town Hall.

Who is this bearded man ?

I am standing in front of the Appalachian Trail headquarters bldg.

Harpers Ferry

My buddies the "broomstick brothers" as we enter Harpers Ferry, W.VA.

and 10 minutes later when it began to pour. Taken from my hostel , the Town Inn.  Harpers Ferry was a very important town during the civil war. It was here that the bloodiest day of the war took place. An estimated 21,000 men were wounded during the battle of Antietam nearby. The town was very strategic because this is where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers meet.

A new State..... Finally !

 After a long and hot 550 miles, I have entered West Virginia. The home of the Appalachian Trail headquarters in Harpers Ferry. Mile 1017

Bear Den Hostel

One of the nicest hostels on the entire trail. It is owned by the Appalachial Trail Conservancy, and operated by the Potomac AT club. The hiker special ; bunk, pizza, shower, laundry, and a pint of Ben & Jerrys ice cream. All for a mere $27.50.......WOW !   only drawback, no a/c.

Sunset as seen from Bear Den Rocks about a 1/4 mile behind the hostel.

The " Roller Coaster "

This section of the trail is/was very difficult. The nickname comes from what is 10-12 closely packed steep ascents and descents with no flat ground in between. It was at least 100 degrees with 90+ % humidity the two days I rolled through here. Thank God there was plenty of streams to refill my water bottles.

On my way up a 400 + ft. steep and rocky section of the roller coaster. What a Ride !

Sky Meadow State Park, VA.

There were wild rasberries and blackberries along both sides of the trail through this beautiful sate park. Another day of 100 + temps, but we did have a slight breeze.

Virginia shelters

I slept in this shelter becuase I did not want to set up my tent in a terrible thunderstorm on the 4th of July. it was constucted by a local boy scout troop and is the smallest shelter on the trail. It is called "Dicks Dome ".

On a brighter note...... the nicest shelter I have seen on the trail. Complete with covered picnic table, solar  shower, and wooden adirondack style couch. Life on the trail is not always rough and tough.

Snake

A Northern Virginia brown water snake. I actually thought it was a water mocassin until I looked it up later on a hostel's computer. It was still scary looking and guarding the water hole that I wanted to fill up from.

Nice lunch break spot

I came across this bench under an apple tree one day. It was a great spot for a break in the 100 + degree heat.Notice the A.T. white blaze on the tree next to my very wet and dripping shirt.

Flowers in Northern Virginia

Field of Black-eyed Susan's along the A.T. north of Front Royal, VA.

Shenedoah campsite/ Storm Night

The broken tree that could have ended our my hike and possibly more. My tent was pitched just to the right of the tree to the right of the picnic table. This storm carried 60-80 mph winds and closed the entire southern section of the park.

Park personnel trying to clear the road from fallen trees.

More damage along the trail. We would eventually go around, over, or under 25-30 of these trees in the coming week.

Shenendoah National Park

A shot of the trail as we entered the park from the south side. Shenendoah park has approx. 100 mi. of the trail within it's boundries. Most of the trail closely follows the Skyline Drive. This pic was taken a few days before the severe storm hit that closed the park (and trail).