Category Archives: AT – Pennsylvania

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Meeting Up with the Southbound Niblings!

Thru-hiking the 2190 plus miles of the Appalachian Trail is a grand undertaking and surely a test of mind and body! Catnap and Sweet Tooth, my niblings, are completing a thru-hike this year. They started at Katahdin, in Maine, and are hiking south. I planned to meet up with them as soon as they came within range of my area. Last week they appeared on my radar! We were messaging back and forth and planned in advance to meet up on Sunday. The morning dawned bright and beautiful, a wonderful day to meet up with Catnap an Sweet Tooth, as they passed through Pine Grove Furnace State Park, approximately half-way on their southbound AT journey!

You might be asking yourself…what is a nibling? Nibling is a non-gendered term for niece/nephew. There are three great people in this story, who are all adult children of my siblings, and they all have different pronouns, so niblings it is!

The first nibling, Izzy, my nephew, had stayed overnight at my house. We were up early and headed out the door just in time for an 11:00 meet up. Pine Grove Furnace State Park is about a two hour drive from my house in western Maryland and it was great to have Izzy as company for the drive!

Reaching Pine Grove, we spotted and joyously celebrated with Catnap & Sweet Tooth (because of course they got there first)! They had toured the little AT Museum and highly recommended it for anyone who has not been to visit. As we talked, we walked. Right back to my car where the requested goodies were. Bananas and chocolate chip cookies were on the requested list…but I threw in some salmon jerky and powdered electrolytes, as well. Nothing was refused! …nom, nom, nom…😍

The Niblings

*Sidenote* – my hiking pal Queen V now volunteers on the weekend at the museum and is a GREAT person to tap for information regarding the trail!

Ok, back to the niblings! We all moved on over to the Pine Grove store for lunch. This is the home of the “half-gallon challenge” where some thru-hikers will eat a half gallon of ice cream. Catnap told us the evidence of this could be found at the first north bound shelter past Pine Grove. 😝 Interestingly, Catnap and Sweet Tooth abstained!

As we sat down, Catnap told us she had lost her wallet along the trail, so that was a point of concern. She had posted on the FarOut app. I assured her that things get found and told her about my friend, Roxanne, who had lost her phone a couple times along the trail and has gotten it back every time! I loved sitting there on the porch of the store listening to trail tails as they retold harrowing experiences of the crazy flooding in the northeast and the male hikers that had been dubbed the “dude bros”(not a complimentary term, fyi)! 😂I hated to wrap up lunch but it was getting late and these thru-hikers needed to hike! We made a plan for Izzy and me to drive up to the Michaux Road trail crossing and hike in to the half-way point sign to wait for Catnap & Sweet Tooth to CELEBRATE!!!

At the Michaux Road Crossing with Izzy
Easy and lovely walking along the AT to the Half-Way Point Sign

It was amazing to meet up and share part of their AT journey with them! The day after meeting up with them I received a message on Instagram, tell Catnap to check her dm, we found her wallet!!!!! The BEST kind of trail magic!

Sweet Tooth & Catnap!

Catnap & Sweet Tooth are now long gone and moving fast through the easier terrain south of the half-way point. They took 80 days to hike from Katahdin to Pine Grove and that was the hard part! I assured them they weren’t going to hit any of the big mountains for quite awhile, so picking up speed and miles per day is assured. Last I heard they hit a personal best of 28 miles! If you are on the trail, don’t blink or you might miss them!

Love you Catnap & Sweet Tooth! Hike on! ❤

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Weekend Do-over Needed ASAP!

Currently immersed in Teacher Week…or “administrator week” as my partner, who is also a teacher, called it this morning. 😏 So…after a day of attending professional development sessions that our admin thought might be useful, I am cooked. The last session was on health and wellness … I skipped it … for my health and wellness! 🤣 Time to exit the building and start home. My commute was spent reminiscing on a quick overnight trip I led for Trail Dames last weekend along the Appalachian Trail.

This was truly a quick, low mileage, backpacking trip giving us the opportunity to relax and unwind. Another teacher, besides me, came along and I bet she is also holding the weekend close this week as she prepares for her incoming 5th graders!

We started at the Appalachian Trail crossing on Rt. 233 near Caledonia State Park. A very small pull off with space for two cars. We had a group of five, so only one car and one spot needed. I crossed my fingers that no one would block the car in overnight (no one did).

A jolly bunch of Dames we were as we started down the trail just after 8:00 AM. The last of the cool air was dissipating as we started the climb to Chimney Rock. The change in temperature as the sun rose above the ridge was palpable. Ohhh, it was going to be a hot day! Many a break was taken as we plowed uphill to the overlook. Mostly in the shade, the trail takes a gentle uphill path, but when temps rise into the upper 80s and humidity increases without bound, it is a butt-kicker!

Chimney Rock has a lovely view, but you have to climb to the top of the rocks for it. One Dame was a little fearful of the climb so she stayed down in the shade eating her lunch. By the end, however, fear of missing out overtook the fear of the climb! And while she did not go ALL the way to the top, she did push her own boundaries and got close! 🎉 That is what Trail Dames is all about…providing a safe space for women to get out there and try things…climb that mountain, cross the creek, camp, backpack, and have a great time!

The descent to Tumbling Run Shelter was as long as anticipated. When I arrived at the shelter, there was already someone there with a big tent (like a car camping tent) set up by the creek and music blaring. Ohhhhh nooooo, I had wondered about weekend party campers since this shelter area is close to a road crossing. Hoping this would not be a loud night, and ignoring the camper, I turned away from the creek and headed back to check out the group camp site.

Amazing site!!! We quickly set up while exclaiming our sheer delight at this site. Six nice tent pads, picnic table, benches, and firepit. It was better than a lot of car camping sites I’ve seen!

We lounged around the site all afternoon. Absolutely wonderful! In the later afternoon, we had a visit from Kurt, who is a member of the family that maintains the shelter area, and has maintained it since 1991. He gave us the history of Tumbling Run Shelter, how he and his family keep the weekend party campers away, and how the creation of the beautiful group site came to be! What a treat to have him take the time to chat with us!

Once he had left, I headed up to the shelter/privy and noticed that the camper with the music blaring was gone, along with the big tent. Much applause for Kurt!!

Kurt also made sure we knew storms were forecasted (we knew) …and sure enough right about 11:00 pm the wind whipped up, lightning lit up the forest, and thunder rolled through the mountains. We were never in the bullseye, just a good ole storm! It stopped before dawn giving a nice dry pack up and walk out. 🙌

The sunbeams through the raindrop laden trees was a perfectly magical sendoff.

But, yeah, I could go for a do-over right now! 🥾🥾Hike on!

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Rock Hopping with the Dames

Big rocks are where it is, friends!

A Maryland Trail Dame’s hike on the Appalachian Trail between Rt. 233 and Caledonia State Park (Pennsylvania)

Tailgate of my RAV4 open, I sat, legs dangling, phone in hand, mindlessly swiping through Pinterest as I waited on the Dames. A blessedly cool morning, I thought, as I swung my legs back and forth, and kept swiping. A car turned off of Rt. 30. Someone was yelling from their car as it was driving by. What the…? It took a minute for me to drag myself from a cute backyard firepit setup that I had been getting ready to pin, so I only heard “…have to pooooo!” Ahh…Queen V had arrived. Well, almost. 😂

A good bathroom is a godsend at a trailhead. Especially for women hikers. Yes, we can go in the woods and do…but a nice bathroom at the beginning. It’s a plus!

Once we had everyone together, we piled into two cars, rode down to the Rt. 233 trailhead, and began our hike up and over Rocky Mountain. We all agreed that the weather was an awesome change from the hot and muggy swamp weather we had been having previously.

This hike is mostly regular dirt trail, but just after the cut-off to Rocky Mountain Shelter, it goes through some spectacular rock formations. OH…and in my previous post, I stated that Dames always stop at the shelters. I should have added IF and only IF (that’s IFF for you math folks) the shelter is a reasonably short distance from the trail! 😁 The Rocky Mountain Shelter is 0.3 miles from the trail, so that was a no go!

The Dames did great along this stretch of the AT. Their comments were it was a shock to the body to get out of the car and immediately be expected to go steeply uphill. AND that Queen V was so not truthful about it being just one climb up, then the rest of the way down. 😆 For the record, I never made any such claim! 😏

After the initial climb, the trail was easy walking until just after the shelter cut-off. Then the trail turns right, climbs a short hill, and we entered the jumble of boulders that make this hike one of my favorites.

We slowed down, picking our way through the rocks carefully. Stopping frequently to take in the wonder of these big rock formations, we theorized how they had come to be. No conclusions, as none of us on this hike are geologists. However, none were necessary. It is enough to be in awe of these phenomenal formations.

Coming down off of the rocks, we descended into what was becoming a hot and humid day. Summer is back. We kept our spirits up and our feet moving by chatting about wading in the creek at Caledonia, then going for ice cream. You do what you gotta do!

The creek was as amazing as we thought it would be! So, so, so good!

The ice cream, friendly service, and cute decor at the Caledonia Cafe was a perfect way to celebrate! Highly recommend if you are in the area. 🍦🍨🧁

Enjoy a Reel with more pics of our adventure!

Hike on!