As we broke down camp in the morning, we looked over the trail guide to figure out how far we wanted to hike that day. We were debating whether we wanted to hike to a shelter 15 miles away, or push on to another shelter, 9 miles farther. We left camp undecided, but halfway through the morning we decided to make it a shorter day, so we could hitch into the small town of Hamburg, PA. Seth’s poison ivy was spreading and he wanted to call his doctor for a prescription. At least that was what we told ourselves was the reason, but we all knew the real reason was so we could eat lunch at Wendy’s. It may sound ridiculous, but we were in the woods eating the same thing over and over again. Something like the idea of fast food was enough to change our entire plan. Plus, just the name of the town, “Hamburg” was tempting me with a Wendy’s burger.
A photo of me posing on the rock that smashed Freight Train’s face.
With thoughts of greasy delicious food dancing in our heads, we picked up the pace. Seth and I were hiking about twenty yards behind Freight Train, talking and joking around. All of the sudden I glanced up, and saw her face plant directly on to a large boulder. The sound of the impact echoed through the woods, and we immediately rushed over to see if she was alright. She fell with her arms out to the sides, so from a standing position, her face took the entire impact. I was sure she would be missing teeth or have a broken nose. Luckily I was wrong. She just had a gash on her forehead and a good cut the bridge of her nose. A couple of trickles of blood were running down her face. She was a little shaken up, but after we got the bleeding to stop, she rallied like a champ. I joked that I was going to leave her in the woods if she threatened my Wendy’s trip with her unprofessional hiking. Laughter always seemed to help, but she didn’t know that I wasn’t joking.
About an hour later, we heard the sound of cars through the trees. The trail switch backed violently down the side of the hill and spat us out on a side street next to a busy road. We waited for a few minutes trying to get a hitch, but I knew it wasn’t going to work. Even if someone wanted to pick us up, there wasn’t enough time for the driver to slow down and pull over safely. My extensive hitch hiking experience informed me that we would be better off walking. It was only a mile into town, but none of us were excited about walking on the narrow shoulder of a super busy road. One mile might not seem like its worth trying for a ride, but road walking is more painful on the feet and knees than trail walking.
When we reached Hamburg, we found a Walmart and Seth got a prescription for his poison ivy. Then we sauntered across the street to Wendy’s and stuffed our faces. After lunch, we poked around the Bass Pro Shops, and started walking back toward the trail. My thumb was out while we walked, just in case someone felt like pulling over. We did get a short hitch from a woman in an old van. It only saved us about half a mile of walking, but we were very grateful.
Immediately after stepping back into the woods, we faced a 1,000 foot climb back up onto the ridge. With the power of a big bacon classic surging through my veins, I smashed out the hill with no problem at all. So..much..power! Right after reaching the top of the ridge, my old ememy showed its ugly face. There was poison ivy everywhere, leaving only a tiny path in the center was “safe” for walking. All of my burger energy got sapped by constantly having to scan the trail and stepping around or over the vile plant. When we finally got off the ridge, the poison ivy became less and less dense and the rest of the hike was pretty pleasant. By late afternoon we arrived at the Windsor Furnace Shelter. The shelter was pretty run down, but we found a nice flat spot on a hill just behind it. While we set up camp, the clouds overhead became darker and darker. I ate a pasta sides dinner, and looked over my trail guide for the next day. From what I could see, 22 miles would be the goal. I fell asleep quickly in my flat tent spot on the soft grass.
Smooth's Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike 