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Day 3 Sunday May 25, 2014 Swatara State Park to Yellow Springs Campsite (tenting) 10.8 miles On our way day down into Duncannon yesterday, while I was silently cursing that descent, I asked Google & Cindy what they thought of us flipping directions, starting at Swatara SP and hiking back to our cars parked at […]
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Day 2 Saturday May 24, 2014 Darlington Shelter to Duncannon, PA (Staying at the Stardust Motel) I fell today. Yes, a sacrifice to the trail gods was necessary before the descent into Duncannon. As usual for me it was on the least rocky section of trail…I loosen my focus for 2 seconds…skinned my right knee […]
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Day 1 Friday May 23, 2014 Trindle Road to Darlington Shelter (Staying in shelter) This day! Wow! Easiest hiking I have ever done on the AT if you exclude the part just before Darlington Shelter. Google and I left Trindle Road at about 10 am this morning and got to Darlington about 4:30 pm. The […]
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March 16, 2014 Two days and a night at Milesburn cabin with the Trail Dames? Oh, Let’s go! 🙂 Trail Dames Maryland had rented Milesburn cabin, a PATC cabin, in Michaux State Forest for the weekend. I had signed on for Friday and Saturday with planned hikes on the AT each day. So north on 15, west on […]
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This day. Oh goodness, THIS DAY! Hiking at Catoctin has never been this much of an adventure…but I WAS with Bag Lady and other Trail Dames… I arrived a little early and saw that B^2 was already in the parking lot. I gave her a quick wave and told her since the visitor center wasn’t […]
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Spring is finally here! I welcome the blue skies, green grass, spring flowers, and happy birds more than ever after the crazy winter we have had here in Maryland. So with a literal spring in my step I have headed out more than a few times over the last couple of weeks to take it […]
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Alright. How many of you are just done with this winter? Yeah. me too! I write this as yet another impending snowstorm looms… I have started to turn the corner on my winter funk though…thank god! Last weekend I had an absolutely terrific day hiking on the C&O canal between the Monocacy Aqueduct and Point […]
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Isn’t it funny how we can just pass by amazing things and not give them the respect they deserve because we are in a hurry, or have a different focus, or just don’t see them as wonderful as our ultimate destination? Well, not this time kiddos! Overnight I was overtaken with an urge to hike […]
Officially planning for a backpack in May! As I sort through my books…and I got a new one (insert happy squeaky voice)…I am sort of talking through the backpack. The dogs are giving me the “oh god, again?” look and the cats are quite distracted as they have found the corner of my books are quite fun to rip apart. Oh well, shoo cats, I have work to do. 🙂
So I think I will try to do 70 miles in 6 days…hahahahahaaaa….chortle, guffaw and all that nonsense. What am I thinking? I prefer 8 mile days…But I am sticking to this plan for the moment. I mean I have 5 whole months to prepare…
The elevation profiles are from my new book (yes, squeaky happy voice again 🙂 ) The ALDHA AT Thru-Hiker’s Companion. Still love AWOL’s book, but the elevation profiles are a bit more detailed in the ALDHA book. Either book is a super resource to have when planning. I take the official AT maps on the backpack.
Anyway, here’s the plan:
During the Trail Dame Camp Out: Section between PA94 Mt. Holly Springs and Pine Grove Furnace SP ~10.5 miles
The following week I will return to the area to backpack ~70 mile section.
Day 1: PA94 Mt Holly Springs, PA (1104.3) to Backpackers campsite (1112.5) 8.2 miles
Day 2: Backpackers campsite to Darlington Shelter (1127.2) 14.7 miles No camping allowed in between!!
Day 3: Darlington Shelter to Duncannon, PA. (1138.5) 11.3 miles Stay in hotel. Resupply as needed.
Day 4: Duncannon, PA to Peters Mountain Shelter (1149.8) 11.3 miles
Day 5: Peters Mountain Shelter to Yellow Springs Trail (Clearing with trail register, camping) (1163.3) 13.5 miles
Day 6: Yellow Springs campsite to Swatara Gap, PA 72 Lickdale, PA (1174) 10.7 miles
So here’s to planning on a frigid winter day! Now I am going to sit back, have another cup of Peppermint tea and figure out how I am going to day hike all of Shenandoah National Park during 2014! Hike on! 😀
Cold is everywhere. It was 1 degree Fahrenheit in Dallas, Texas today! Overnight and into tomorrow, here on the eastern seaboard, we are under a wind chill warning…negative 15 degrees…ugh. This is the time of year when it is easy for me to become a total slug. I fall into the lull of winter. I don’t want to work; I don’t want to hike. Heck, I am in some kind of winter funk!
So today I made a conscious decision to do something that would energize me. Little Caesar and I looked at our schedule a few days ago and decided that between the spring and summer semesters there were a few days in which I could go backpacking!!! This is an unexpected and absolutely phenomenal turn of events! I was pretty sure with everything we have going on right now that leaving Little Caesar with the dogs and cats in order to escape to the woods for a couple of days was out of the question. Well, okay now, … I immediately pulled out my AT maps and books. Where to hike? Where to hike…hmmm? Pennsylvania! Yes, that would be good…close to home and yet I can get new AT miles. 🙂 🙂
Trail Planning!
In May I am spending a weekend with Trail Dames of Maryland. We rented a PATC cabin in Pennsylvania and plan to stay two nights and hike our butts off! I will get a few new AT miles in just by being there. But the following week, I plan on backpacking a little further north to Swatara Gap. I contacted Google, the woman I hiked with in Georgia and Maryland, and she is game! Yes!
My winter doldrums are being held at bay for a while! Planning for a spring backpack gives me a goal to work towards. It gives me a reason to get out and walk in town or on a trail regardless of the weather! Although tomorrow when the wind chill is NEGATIVE 15 I will be inside planning! 😉
Girl Gone Hiking 