Fayetteville, PA to Duncannon, PA 7/19/18 – 7/22/18

Thursday hiking went so well and we had so much energy. After being fed so well the evening before by some of Lance’s relatives and also having a good breakfast to start our day, we felt so good. Food really does make THAT much difference!

We passed the HALFWAY MARK this week…1,095.45 miles!! I can’t believe we are over halfway done and are now closer to KATAHDIN than Springer! So exciting! Lance celebrated by doing the half gallon ice cream challenge!

Friday after our day hiking, we made it to Boiling Springs. We made it there early enough in the evening that we could actually explore the town a bit. It was one of the coolest little towns and it definitely made the ‘go back and visit’ list.

Saturday morning we got up really early to start hiking. We had 25 miles to Duncannon and really wanted to make it there by evening. We left camp around 5:15am to start hiking. We were hiking in the Cumberland Valley a lot of the day which was mostly flat terrain hiking through fields and farmland so we were able to make good miles. Lance’s Dad came and hiked with us for a lot of the day which was really nice! Lance really enjoyed having him come hike for the day and getting to enjoy some quality time with him. Unfortunately it rained for almost the entire day so by the end we were all pretty done with hiking. It started out by drizzling a little for awhile but towards the end it was raining pretty good and we were all cold and soaking wet! Mom came and picked us up in the car and took us for some hot food. We even got to see Nita and Jean Herold too! Was so good to see them all again!

Sunday we got to meet up with Andy and Wendy Stauffer. Their son Derek is doing a thru hike of the trail too so they invited us to come to their place for the day and stay the night. After showers, being able to do our laundry, sleeping in a warm dry bed, and eating SO much good food, we felt so grateful and very spoiled! We really enjoyed our time there and getting to know them a bit! 

So far Pennsylvania has had beautiful weather and terrain for hiking. The trails here in the beginning are some of the nicest we hiked so far. We have been taking advantage of it by doing some big mile days. BUT, I hear that changes soon. Pennsylvania is known for its rocks and the last half of the state is really rough and the next few days of our hiking the forecast is LOTS of rain!

Happy Trails!

Marlisa