Renee's Trail report

Here is a trail report from Peeps' friend Renee who with her boyfriend David joined the adventure for a couple of days.

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We started out Saturday night at the famous Doyle Hotel. It was pretty clean (except for the bathrooms!) and quiet. We met a few other thru-hikers and section hikers including Spice Rack, Clockwork Orange, Forever North, Snail, and Lo Di Do. No euchre tonight as David and I had not slept much the night before. It was good to see Peeps (Kasey) again.

Day 1 – We covered about 11 ½ miles from Duncannon to a shelter. Saw a timber rattlesnake in the trail that rattled at us, and then it finally decided to move off of the trail. We scrambled over many good-sized rocks while traveling along the ridge line. The rocky trails out there are nothing like the dusty (and smooth) ones here in California. I kept wondering what I had gotten us into.

Day 2 – More mileage today, about 13 total. The first half was fairly easy, and then we began a long uphill climb over smaller rocks that kept wobbling every time you stepped on them. There wasn’t very much water around, and I think I must have been dehydrated because I got a migraine around mid-afternoon. I kept telling myself not to throw up. By the time we got to camp my head felt better, but my feet were killing me. My hiking boots didn’t have enough arch support, and my until-then mild case of plantar fasciitis (from running) was now full-blown.

Day 3 – We turned around about half-way through the day after having lunch with Peeps, as we wanted to have a bit of a time cushion to get back. Today was supposed to be Naked Hiker Day, but we only saw one couple wearing strategically-placed bandanas. Everyone else had clothes on, so no exciting photos – ha ha! I can’t imagine hiking with only boots on – the chafing would be brutal! I think we covered about 12 ½ miles.

Day 4 – Back down the wobbly rocks for about 13 miles again. We saw a doe, a black bear, and a snake today, in addition to hiking through a small thunderstorm. David was sick and dehydrated, and my feet hurt so badly I was nearly in tears. I think we covered this section slower than on the way out. There was just way too much drama today.

Day 5 – We met some really nice trail volunteers and their dog Casey. It was cool in the morning but got much warmer later on. We eventually made our way back to Duncannon and I was SO happy to get off my feet! Later that evening we decided if we were thru-hikers and had trail names, David’s would be No Sweat (because he sweat so much even his shorts got soaked) and mine would be Cat Lady (because I have 2 cats and volunteer at an animal shelter).

Friday we visited Gettysburg, and Saturday we went home. We ended up getting home about 10 hours late due to flight delays and cancellations (note to self: don’t fly Northwest!)

Despite all the foot pain, it was a fun trip. I will be much more appreciative of the dirt trails out here from now on!

I really want to thank Peeps (Kasey) for inviting us to join her, for cutting her daily mileage in half for us slowpokes, for running down to the spring at Peter’s Mountain shelter (that was a LONG way down the hill!), and for the Slim Jims! Also thanks to Spice Rack for waiting for us periodically and for letting us use his spices for our mac & cheese! The mental and physical strength that the thru-hikers have is really impressive. Happy travels to Maine, Peeps!