I awoke at 5:45am and ate breakfast. Last night, I sent my son Riley an email suggesting that he call at 6am and tell me about his European bicycle adventure. He called just before 6am. He and his friend Alex had just returned from a two-week bike tour of Norway. It was a rousing success, Riley said. He and Alex are off next to Germany to visit Wolfgang, our part-time neighbor in Boulder. After our conversation, I packed and left. Light rain started falling and in an hour intensified. I donned my poncho and continued walking. For 8 miles, the Appalachian Trail was fairly flat with few rocks - easy hiking. But breakfast failed to give me much energy. At mile 9.5 on the day, just after the rain stopped, I hitched into Smithsburg for a pint of ice cream and two packages of gorp. Well-fed, I hitched back to the trail. The trail continued to be easy for two more miles then devolved into lots of rocks and short, steep climbs and descents. Going was slow, especially with wet rocks. I ate lunch with through-hiker Sequoia at the modern Raven Rock shelter at mile 15 on the day (see photo of me hoisting my peanut butter jar). At Pen-Mar County Park, I got water and quickly crossed the Mason-Dixon Line into Pennsylvania. A half mile later, I reached Falls Creek and a campsite for the night. I arranged to meet my friend Bill just east of Duncannon, PA near mile 1148 on Monday afternoon. I don't need to make as many miles as I originally planned today and tomorrow. I hiked 18.5 miles today in the same number of hours as I hiked 23.1 miles yesterday. This was a slow day mostly due to all the wet rocks. Total miles -1064.5
