Appalachian Trail SOBO Day 64 – Trail Magic Natalie
28th September 2023
Peter’s Mountain Shelter (1037.5) - Conodoguinet Creek (1063.8)
Daily miles: 26.3
Total miles: 1069.2
The snoring in the shelter was off the scale last night. I could hear it over my ear plugs. Luckily I only woke up once and went back to sleep quickly but some of the others weren’t so lucky and were awake for a couple of hours. I think it helped that I was so tired from a 30+ mile day
I wasn’t bothered by being quiet this morning when packing up because the guy next to me snored all night.
My body was sore this morning and my knees and feet were especially feeling it. I had some patches on my legs where the skin was sore and I cleaned the mud off – with a flushable toilet wipe – and my legs were grazed underneath all the dirt and it really stung where I wiped it. I’ve had this before.
Lots of small cuts on my legs (maybe from my shoes)
I packed up quickly and was out of the shelter about 6:45am when it light enough to see.
I moved very slowly down the trail waiting for my body to loosen up. Pyro caught up to me and just as he was pulling away he shouted that there was a porcupine in the trail. It was a big one! We walked behind it as it bumbled along and looked back at us a couple of times to see if we were still following, until it eventually wandered off into the forest.
I came to a lookout point and it caught my eye with the clouds in the valley. I was joined by Lemonhope and then May Queen and then Toe.
Sunrise
Me being happy at sunrise
Friends at sunrise
I love this picture that Toe took
I had planned to get a head start in these 10 miles to town but now I was with everyone, so we hiker trained all the way to town. It was a pleasant walk, we saw 2 more Porcupines and chatted the whole way. We also took a blue blaze which cut off a tiny bit of the AT.
I fell over. Again. I can’t wait to get new shoes. These ones have no grip left at all. They feel so unsupportive. My right foot is hanging out the side. The cushioning has collapsed. It’s not just my shoes though, Toe’s shoes blew out yesterday and she’s holding them together with KT tape.
Everyones shoes are falling apart
We crossed the railway, walked under the interstate and walked the long bridge over the Susquehanna River.
Following Toe in the hiker train
Railway tracks
Under the interstate
Over the river
Interesting
A road walk through Duncannon which is the official trail
I liked these old things
We had a mile or so road walk through Duncannon and then went to a Quick-Mart to get some food. It was like a gas station; not a lot of options. I really wanted real food but the closest to real food I got was a tub of Frito refried bean dip, and some crisps to eat it with. I also got a Dr Pepper and a Twix ice cream. I was full but not satisfied, but I knew I could do 15 more miles on the few snacks I had left in my fanny pack. I have more food in my food bag but I don’t want to eat it.
Crisps, refried beans and Dr Pepper
No loitering
Pyro’s sock
Rolling out of Quick-Mart
We then stopped at the outfitter which is on trail and the others exchanged their Darn Tough socks. The lady didn’t care if they were dirty. I was going to do mine but they didn’t have any in my size.
There is hostel in the back of the shop, which looked decent if you needed to stay there, and we could fill water bottles.
We hiked out. A bit more of a road walk and then uphill. I went to the back of the hiker train as I don’t like the pressure of people behind and I’m slower on the uphill, not by much though and I arrived at the lookout about 30 seconds after everyone else.
Hiker train
Views from the top
We then decided to hiker train the rest of the way as we were being picked up all together by a trail angel so we might as well arrive at the same time. Toe was leading and she was flying. I was maxing out at my top speed and there were a lot of times where I thought I was going to have to remove myself from the hiker train (of which I was now in the middle) or say I had to stop or slow down, but I kept going. I felt at times like I couldn’t breathe or that I was going to be sick. The sweat was pouring out of my face and running in my eyes. I so badly wanted to slow down but didn’t want to be the one to say it.
Me clinging on to the hiker train
I was worried at one point that I was going to hurt myself; give myself shin splints or hurt my foot. It was painful going that fast. The trail got smooth and not rocky for a moment and that made Toe go even faster! We walked through some farm land with fields full of hay bales and it was pretty even as the landscape passed in a flash as we sped through.
Gaps in the trees
Fields of hay bales
Following Toe and May Queen
We came to a climb and it really nearly killed me. Towards the top Toe and May Queen started to pull away but I just about clung on. A small gap developed but I held in there, I could feel Pyro literally on my heels, any closer and he would have been pushing me along (which maybe he should have done!). When we got to the top they had to stop to pee. Thank CHRIST! I finally got to stop. I didn’t need to pee because all the fluid in my body had come out of my face.
We had 4.5 miles to do in 1.5 hours so we were able to take the pace down a notch which pleased me a lot and it was a lot more comfortable. I felt good though, alongside being exhausted from hiking for 2 hours at top speed, I’m pleased I carried on and didn’t give up, and I don’t think I have done myself an injury.
The next 1.5 hours was a lot more pleasant. My feet were really feeling it though and in the last mile or so where there were a few wooden bridges it felt hard to step up onto them. I wasn’t the only one feeling it so that made me feel better.
We were collected by Trail Magic Natalie who had reached out to me on Instagram and offered a place to stay.
Under the underpass
On the way to meet Trail Magic Natalie
From the moment she picked us up and took us to her house it was heavenly. She is on top of everything and knows exactly what a hiker needs. Her garage was set up so we each had our own “towel station” to lay out our kit. She had made a vegan and a chicken curry which was offered up immediately - perfect because we were all very hungry. A few people needed to go to REI and they went off to shower first, and we had loaner clothes!
Home made chicken curry
After dinner the other 4 went to REI and I got my shower. It felt so good, and there was everything in the bathroom you could ever need. I moisturised my legs for the first time this trail.
Everything a hiker could need
Random bruises
Our laundry was put on for us and when they came back from REI we had dessert of a berry crumble and there was nuts sprinkled on top but only on half in case people - like me - didn’t like nuts. Perfect!
Berry crumble
We also found out the first ever hiker she hosted was Professor (who I hiked with in 2018). So cool!
Trail Magic Natalie and Just John
The stay couldn’t have been more perfect… it could have been longer, that would have made it better!
I have new shoes here and I’ve tried them on briefly. They feel ok, they will have to be ok.
We stayed up too late talking and it’s now 11pm and I can barely keep my eyes open. This is the first bed I’ve slept in that hasn’t been a bunk with a plastic mattress. Natalie has 3 spare rooms. The other two rooms have blow up mattresses on the floor. Sometimes it helps to be the oldest and pull the age rank card!
I’m also in a room alone which is nice, but it’s also weird. We have all been so close to each other for quite some time now. Pyro said we should all put the mattresses in one room and all sleep together, and I wouldn’t have found that weird, it’s oddly comforting.
