Sheesh. Did I really go through ALL of Pennsylvania (not to mention little Maryland) without posting?
I guess it was just one of those states I wanted to get through, though- don't get me wrong- I really enjoyed it. It was beautiful, and much of it reminded me of Ohio (which BC had to hear over and over and over again every time we walked through a grassy meadow or the wind blew just so on a cool sunny day). True, PA lived up to its rocky reputation, but it was mostly flat and straight, not to mention that we saw THREE rattlesnakes and multiple copperheads in PA- the only state so far in which we've seen venemous snakes. Pretty cool if you ask me. It struck me as I was walking away from the last rattler I'd seen (a long, thick yellow-phase timber rattler that I nearly stepped on as it crossed the Trail) that I'm out here with venemous snakes and bears... sometimes just FEET away from them, and if this would have happened at the Zoo there would be people running around with guns and nets and tranquilizers and people freaking out and keepers pulling their hair out wondering what to do! But out here in the wilderness I walk among "dangerous animals" and we get along- somehow- and everyone is fine. And there really is a mutual respect between creatures out here. I was thinking of this the other day, as I realized that the MILLIONS of chipmunks and millipedes and daddy long-legs and ants and rat snakes (etc.) are as much my companions as the handful of other hikers I'll see in a day. And I (and most others) would go out of my way to avoid at any cost harming any other living thing on the trail. This means I spend a portion of my day dancing around them on the rocks and grass so as not to step on them. But that's a part of being an inhabitant of the forest, I guess...
But speaking of bugs, let me again state how HORRIBLE the gnats are around here. My rule is that I won't harm anything unless it attacks me first... so biting gnats and mosquitos have it coming! Honestly, the gnats were worse than the rocks in PA. There's a particular tiny species that follows along in front of your face right next to your eyes and periodically dive-bombs them (and your ears, nose and mouth) in search of who-knows-what, leaving you cursing and flailing on the Trail trying to get them out of wherever they flew into! My final technique was part acceptance and part trickery: I'd let them land on my eyelids and then close my eyes really hard, hoping to squish them that way. (You know, typing that out it sounds kinda gross... but completely normal for the Trail.) It worked about 35% of the time. Resiliant little buggers...
Geez. Not to go on about bugs, but I can't write about PA without mentioning that a bunch of people are getting Lyme disease this year. People falling out left and right, going to the doctor with weird symptoms such as lethargy, muscle aches and pains, joint pains, loss of appetite, etc. And what's scary is that, though I check myself for ticks, there have still been two instances in which I've found a couple attached to me that were on me for at least the night- one of which had gotten swollen with blood. Now, that sounds gross, but keep in mind these are tiny, MINISCULE, little ticks... most look like a speck of dirt or freckle. I'm not used to that, coming from Ohio where we have the large dog ticks. Deer ticks are new to me and a whole other ballgame. PA is the state with the hightest number reported cases of Lyme, and Lyme is the fastest growing and number one diagnosed infectious disease in the country. So far, I seem okay. If I make if off the Trail without getting Lyme, I will consider myself lucky, though.
So, a little about the Trail in PA. Like I said above, it lived up to the reputation of being a rocky, aggrivating state in some areas. PA is where they say boots go to die. Indeed, my new boots, with less than 200 miles on them, now have parts of their soles ripped off in places, chunck by chunk. It was inevitable. But the berries more than made up for the rocks. There are innumerable blueberry bushes, blackberry and raspberry vines, mullberry trees, and a new one to me (but very tasty) that is called Japanese wineberry. I was unfamiliar with that one, but it looked so similar to black and raspberries that I picked one and took a chance. Tastes delicious. I didn't die, so I continued eating them. :)
The weather has been hot but not so humid, with many days having a steady cool breeze. Hiking has been wonderful on those days, many of them reminding me of childhood summers in Ohio. I wish I could capture those days and share them... but a picture won't get the sound of the robins, or the soft leaves hitting each other in the tree tops, or the warm coconut-y smell of the fields of forest ferns wafting across the mountian ridges. I take a picture of this beautiful place that I wish to share with everyone back home, and it basically turns out as a picture of a bunch of bright green contrasted too sharply with a sky of blue. Hmm... disappointing. Some things just have to be experienced to be understood, I guess.
I only have a few remaining minutes, but I'll add that by entering northern PA, I finally feel as if we've reached "the North". Different foods, different accents, different ways of living up here. But the forest looks different, too. Birch, maple, walnut, and even some sort of poplar or aspen are trees that I'm seeing a lot of now, as opposed to mostly tulip poplar and oak of the south. Soon we'll be in New England, and I really am so excited to be hiking in an area of the country that I've not even visited by car.
When I think of my hike so far, I see a string laid out over the eastern coast of the US, going up and over the highest peaks of the mountain chain there. And I think, incredibly, that I've WALKED that string. It's crazy, but wonderful.
Have to run... till next time.
