Day 74. Week 10 video is up. Tons of family in this one as I close out SNP and reach Harpers Ferry. Enjoy!

Bad weather loomed above me today, but I was able to stay dry most of the morning. Eventually I was overcome by late afternoon and the rain opened up over me, but even then it wasn’t so bad. It’s definitely easier when you know you are hiking to a fine bed at the lovely Allenberry Resort again.

After last night’s late night escapades (hockey playoffs, beers, and jigsaw puzzles), it was slow moving for all of us in the morning. Eventually we made our way to breakfast at Cafe 101, which has a big backpacker breakfast of eggs, toast, potatoes, meat and pancakes for something like $9. I of course ordered it, though couldn’t come close to finishing … I think a half gallon raspberry ice cream is still taking up most of the real estate in my stomach.

following breakfast, I made a quick stop at the outfitter for a new food bag, then we went back to Allenberry to pack up and hit the trail. One of the backpacks I ordered came in on Thursday as well, so my sister brought it up and I transferred the contents of my old pack to the new ULA OHM 2.0 to test it out. It was perfect. The size was perfect, the fit was perfect, and the comfort was good. I say only good for that last one because after a full day of use, I can tell I need another day or so to “break it in”.

With my shiny, new, waterproof backpack, I was in great spirits and ready for some rain hiking. The family joined me for the first couple miles, but then we said goodbye and I continued on northward. This was the last weekend with them, though they will be joining up again for part of the White Mountains.

Besides it being a much longer day that I first thought, there were only two memorable moments in today’s hike to share:

1) The Rock Maze. A 1 mile stretch of trail that meandered over, under and around giant boulder crevices and throughways. It was a bit frustrating to get over one obstacle, only to have to scour your surroundings for the next directional maze clue. But it was also really fun, as you can get creative exploring and figuring out which way to turn next. A good activity for a normal day, albeit not as much so in the rain.

2) The pastures. The final 2 miles into Boiling Springs cross through big farm fields. The trail was purposely setup to cross through here in order to maintain the historical accuracy of the trail’s footpath trough farms of this area in the past. It was wet and smelly, but otherwise calm and relaxing.

The rest of the hiking today was the usual … mostly just uphill and downhill. But it was dry-ish until close to 5pm. It was drizzling all day, but at 5pm the storm finally hit me and it rained hard the rest of the night. Since today’s hike had me hiking late into the night, that proved to be a pretty long time. Three cold hours.

But eventually I got to PA Road 174 and walked back up the hill to the resort. I am exhausted as I type this, so I’m headed to bed. Tomorrow brings more storms unfortunately. Happy trails!

Hello Neiman (Sharkbait)!

• Start Mile: 1103.4
• Start Time: 12:30
• End Mile: 1122.7
• End Time: 20:15
• Miles Hiked: 19.3
• Miles to Go: 1068.2
• Lodging: Allenberry Resort