August 10, 2024 4 min to read

AT Blog: 87 and 88

Outta Pennsylvania, but not Done with My Shoes

Day 87:

I sleep in a little at the Super 8. They have some muffins and orange juice so I fill up. As I wait for the store to open at 10, I relax and pack up. Eventually I head over to the store.

Unfortunately my research was lacking. While I verified they had the shoe brand and size I needed I failed to account they didn’t carry it in a wide. In fact they didn’t carry any wide versions for all of their shoes. So it meant I was out of luck, as without a wide the shoes would fall apart on me, like my Olympus shoes did on the side.

I kinda had to scramble for a new plan. In the end the best and fastest option would be buying the exact shoes via Amazon and delivering it to a drop box in Jersey. But it meant one more day with the worn down shoes.

I eat lunch at a taco place called Tacos Los Morros to liven my spirits then head back to the trail.

I finish Pennsylvania today and enter into New Jersey for the first time. This section is still rocky but not as consistent as the last sections of PA. Also there are lots of creeks and springs here to pass by.

I meet a ridge runner named Hoots who did the trail in ‘18. She was very informative and cheered me up. She talked about signs for snakes and such.

I kept hiking going by Sunfish Pond, a glacier formed it and it holds rare fish species due to its high acidity. It was a pretty pond. Oh and by pond that means it’s several hundred feet long, covering over 40 acres.

Towards the end of the day I hurry up to the Apppalachian Mountain Club (AMC) center so I can get some snacks and a proper dinner. I got their after the grill had closed but they had nice sandwiches. I got a rattlesnake sandwich with fresh avacados.

I refill my water at their pump then head on to the fire tower to camp. It’s the first tower on the AT in a while, and it’s several stories tall, going well above the treeline. I set up camp there but no one else showed up so I had the site to myself. There was a couple who came to see the sunset their but left quickly after seeing it.

Day 88:

Start the day at the base of Catfish Firetower. Today’s plan is to get to Culver’s Gap and get my new shoes. I can tell my feet are becoming more and more worn down throughout the day.

Last night I was like 80% sure I heard a bobcat kill something like a rabbit near my tent, but as it was night, I couldn’t see it happen.

It did rain a little last night, but the fog has soaked my tent through. One big issue of any single layer tent (as in there’s not a separate rain cover) is that condensation occurs inside the tent. It can get my stuff wet, but it’s never been so bad that it soaks anything. It’s just annoying as my tent is wet packing it away.

I visit the top of the tower one last time and head out. Early on I pass by Beaver Pond, which is exactly as it sounds like, a pond with a beavers dam. The trail passes right near the dam in question and previous attempts by people to lay pvc pipe to unflood the trail have been blocked by the beavers. There’s also a beavers den in the middle of the pond, with lots of fallen trees and chewed down logs as evidence.

Beyond that there’s views over the ridge to Crater Lake and beyond into the surrounding areas. My feet tire me throughout the day, requiring a few stops to ensure I don’t exhaust them. After 15 miles total I make it to the gap, where I grab a Lyft and head to get my shoes. The fastest and most direct way to get my shoes was to send them to an Amazon drop box at a Staples. There is a Motel nearby that accepts guest packages but unfortunately they were booked out. So I head about 20 minutes off trail.

I get to the Staples and grab my new shoes and quickly switch them out. The insoles I bought at Cabellas are trashed too since they were cheap, didn’t fit perfectly and they had been giving me some blister issues. They did make it more comfortable for those last miles.

I eat a KFC big meal with chicken sandwich, chicken tenders and gravy. I then pass over to Burger King and grab two milkshakes to fatten up.

I precede back to the trail and hike 4 more miles to Gren Anderson shelter at mile 1329. The hiking day was a little under 19 miles but thts OK due to me having to take a long side trip.