In case if any of you live under a rock (pun intended and will be understood as you read on), the title above is quoted from “The Dark Knight.” Additionally, if any of you do not know that movie then I would advise you to stop reading this immediately and go watch the movie, after all it is about the single best superhero there ever was: Batman! So by now, since I referenced a Batman movie instead of Harry Potter or some random chick flick, you have all probably guessed that this is not Emily writing this blog but is me, Shawn. Although I must admit I do enjoy the occasional romantic movie. Before I go any further let me say that until this post, this blog has been all Emily’s doing. I have merely proofread some of the previous blogs when she has asked me to but other than that, it has been all her doing. However, she is currently indisposed and relaxing, soaking her feet, eating ice cream, and probably getting a manicure or something; ya know like most hikers do when in town. With that being said, please forgive the misspellings, the incorrect grammar, and just the overall lackluster performance this blog with undoubtedly have when compared to the others.

The metaphorical title obviously means just when things seem as if they cannot get any worse and that all hope is lost, that’s when dawn approaches and a new found hope is discovered. So let’s relate this to the AT; when we last left you we had arrived in Pennsylvania and we were pretty down on our luck with a bear taking our food and all. Well as you all can guess by now, that was simply the beginning of it.

Usually I am one to believe that you cannot take other people’s opinions about the trail to heart; what others consider hard may come easy to you and vice versa. Since we started the trail we always heard negative comments about three things: southern Maine, the Whites, and Pennsylvania because of the rocks. We always kind of shrugged it off and said hey let’s wait to see how it is and decide for ourselves. Well we are finished with Pennsylvania and let me tell you….they were right! The trail in Pennsylvania is pretty much nothing but rocks. There’s big rocks, little rocks, medium sized rocks, sharp rocks, leaves covered rocks, slippery rocks, rocks covered with thorn bushes, rock piles, rock scrambles. (Read that in a Bubba voice). Luckily it is extremely flat so there was that small benefit to cling onto. As if the rocks weren’t enough to handle, we also had to manage with about a week of rainy and wet conditions. Now hiking in the rain is not fun in normal circumstances but hiking in the rain when the trail is all rocks just makes for an extremely unpleasant time. The difficult time we were experiencing was climaxed by Emily’s spraining of her ankle when she slipped on one of the rocks. Since it’s fairly tough to hike when your ankle is the size of a softball, we took an unanticipated but much needed zero for the swelling to go down. She was indeed a trooper though and we were back on the trail in no time.

Rocks…

More rocks and yes, that’s the trail.

Have I told you that Pennsylvania is rocky?…

Ice Ice Baby

The hospital wing where Emily healed her ankle. But seriously, this place was great and kept us out of the rain two nights in a row and the owner was more than willing to come pick us up a half hour away after Emily sprained her ankle. Not to mention this garage was located right behind a diner that was owned by the same couple.

FYI…there was no room in this picture for my breakfast…

I would walk 500 miles and I will walk 500 more.

A major part of this trail I think is to overcome and surpass the challenges it presents to you and lately those have been the mental challenges for us. But please do not feel bad for us (or do and send us Oreos and peanut butter) because as the quote insinuates, dawn is right around the corner. Well that moment for us was only a day or two away when we passed into the southern third of Pennsylvania. While the the northern two thirds of PA is described as extremely rocky, the southern third is characterized as some of the easiest hiking of the entire trail and I must say, it did not dissapoint. Before we knew it, we were out of the rocks, the sun came out and we were walking through flat and open farm lands, meadows, and fields. We honestly could not believe we were still in PA and I daresay, we started to enjoy the state.

Southern PA versus northern PA

Fields > rocks

Southern Pennsylvania also served as our halfway point and we had to celebrate in the traditional fashion by consuming a half gallon of ice cream. We achieved this with extreme ease and I am still somewhere between proud and embarrassed of myself. I am not sure exactly how this tradition came to be but I’m pretty sure it’s just a guilt free excuse for people to eat a half gallon of ice cream in one sitting but hey, who am I to ruin tradition.

Ice cream for dinner and then ordered quesadillas for desert…

Mileage is a little off with the current distance but hey, we’re halfway!

It doesn’t take much to make us happy out here…a roof when it’s raining will do and this little pavilion we happened to stumble upon did the trick! It also allowed us to have a little breakfast in bed while waiting out a morning storm and staying dry (see pic below).

Not too long after we reached the half way point we found ourselves crossing the Mason-Dixon Line and officially in the south! With great enthusiasm and high spirits we started the short trek of roughly 41 miles through Maryland. Whether it was the energy high we were on or the excitement of being in the south, we were able to finish the state in less than two days. We probably could have done it quicker as Emily loves to point out if it wasn’t for my constant stopping and observing of the several civil war monuments and historical sights.

First time south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

The last 3 or so miles in Maryland was a gorgeous canal path that ran perfectly parallel to the Shenandoah River up to the Potomac River. Once we reached the Potomac, we crossed it on a pedestrian bridge that happened to be the same exact bridge that Emily walked in high school while on a field trip for her civil war class. It was quite the feeling of dejavu for her as we officially crossed into West Virginia and the town of Harpers Ferry.

She never thought the she would be crossing this bridge again, let alone walk all the way to it.

Photo taken from West Virginia with Maryland on the left and Virginia on the right.

Harpers Ferry serves as the psychological halfway point although it is some 70 miles over half way for us southbounders. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is also headquartered here and is the official check in point for thru hikers. We took a zero today to not only rest up but to also visit the headquarters and see the sights as Harpers Ferry is a national park due to its historical significance  regarding the civil war. It is a great place to zero because as much fun as the trail is, you also want to kind of escape it when you’re taking a day off and being tourists for the day was the perfect way to do that.

Remember John Browns Raid from 8th grade history class??

Checked into the ATC headquarters with our friend Wallaby; 190th, 191st, and 192nd to do so.

We are beyond excited to begin the next section of our hike: Virginia! Ok well actually first up is West Virginia but it’s like 4 miles and will take all of an hour and a half to accomplish. Once we do however, we will have hiked through 10 of the 14 states the AT travels through. Throughout this entire trip we have always talked about Virginia as if it was some distant land that, despite how hard we tried, could never be reached. We even caught ourselves talking about Virginia yesterday in this type of tone but then we realized….we are there!

One last thing, since we will be on the Trail during the best time of the year (Halloween), we are currently accepting suggestions as to how to celebrate. I think we may be in need of some help because thus far my idea is to dress up and hike in a wolf mask and a little red riding hood costume although I’m starting to second guess myself since walking in the woods with a wolf mask might not be the best idea in the middle of hunting season. Definitely going trick-or-treating that night though #freeresupply