[Gear Review] My 4 Favorite Pieces of Backpacking Gear

When you are hauling all of your belongings up and down mountains all day long, the items you choose to keep in your pack become incredibly important. Most hikers strive to keep their pack weight down and carry only what they absolutely need to stay healthy and somewhat comfortable. 

As I made my way from Georgia to Maine, I came to know every item in my pack intimately. If I wasn't using it often enough, I shipped it back home to Austin. By the end of my trip, only the essentials remained.

I tried to narrow this list down to three items or expand it to five to make a nice even number, but I couldn't bring myself to leave any item off or throw one more in just to round out the list. I've only included my absolute favorite pieces of gear. Sure, I was happy with most of my gear choices and continue to use them to this day, but these are the standouts.

Nearly all of my favorite pieces of gear were things that helped me get a good night's sleep. At the end of a long day of hiking, there's nothing better than climbing into your sleeping bag and recharging for the next day's adventures. Many of the items below made it possible for me to sleep like a baby every night.

1) Thermorest NeoAir XLite

I have to say that this was hands-down my favorite piece of gear. I had heard rumors that the Thermorest NeoAir XLite pad was loud and easily punctured, so I was hesitant to drop over $100 on it, but I was won over by how light it is! Weighing in at just 12 oz. for the Regular size, I couldn't resist. 

This quickly became my favorite piece of gear. Although it did take a while to blow up each night since it is not a self-inflating or closed-cell foam pad, my friends and I would race to see who could inflate theirs faster. Or we'd see who could do it in the fewest number of breaths. I guess we were easily entertained. 

Once inflated, the pad provided a cushy cloud that kept me comfortable and warm all night long. It did make a bit of a crunching noise, especially at the beginning of the trail, but I didn't find it very noticeable. If you are sleeping near others, odds are someone will be snoring, nocturnal whip-poor-wills will be calling, or there will be some other offensive noise that is much more obnoxious than a little crinkle from a sleeping pad. Don't lose sleep over it.

I also found this pad to be quite durable, although I did take good care of mine. I slept on it for approximately 180 days and I never experienced a leak. I did notice that it would "deflate" a bit on cold evenings when the air inside of it cooled and compressed, but that was easily remedied with a few extra puffs of air. One of my hiking buddies was messing around in his tent and accidentally dropped his knife blade-first into his inflated NeoAir Xlite. Not missing a beat, he grabbed his patch kit and had it repaired before the pad had even fully deflated. The patch held for the rest of the trip.

PROS:

• Comfortable
• Light (12 oz)
• Compact

CONS:

• Expensive
• May make crinkling noise
• Must manually inflate
• Less durable than closed-cell foam pads

2) Rain Pants

I think rain pants are one of the most underrated pieces of gear on the trail. I know many people don't even carry them, but I found mine invaluable. I used them on a regular basis even though I didn't hike in a very wet year. I find the best uses for rain pants have very little to do with rain. On cold, windy days, I'd slip them on over my shorts and long underwear to keep me warm while hiking. If I wanted to stop for a snack break where the ground was wet, I could pull them out of the front pocket of my pack and use them as a sit pad to avoid soaking my shorts. I also wore them while I did laundry in town. 

I purchased my rain pants from the now-defunct GoLite, but many brand sells them. I've linked a similar pair above.

PROS:

• Versatile
• Protection in many types of weather, not just rain

CONS:

• Some may consider them unnecessary weight (7 oz)

3) Possum Down Socks

I'm a cold sleeper and have poor circulation in my fingers and toes. Sleeping outside in cold weather used to be nearly impossible. I'd try curling into a ball to try to warm my extremities, but that doesn't work well when you are balancing on a coffin-shaped sleeping pad or sleeping in a crowded shelter. When I discovered Possum Down socks, cold weather camping changed forever.

These socks are so soft and warm! Apparently, possum fur is hollow, so it does a great job of trapping heat and is lighter than wool (mine weigh 45 g). It was such a luxury to slip on fluffy, dry socks at the end of a long day of hiking. I find that when my feet and head (see next item) are warm, I can sleep like a baby no matter the weather. I still carry my Possum Down socks with me when I'm traveling, even if I plan to sleep in a hotel. I love them that much!

One drawback to these socks is that they are not designed to be walked in for any length of time, so you shouldn't use these as your hiking socks. I carried two pairs of Darn Tough socks for hiking and kept the Possum Down socks tucked away for when I arrived at camp each night. I definitely think they were worth the extra bit of weight.

PROS: 

• Incredibly warm and soft

CONS: 

• Not durable for daily wear
• Expensive

4) Down Beanie

Being born in Florida and raised in Texas, I can't say I'm particularly adapted to cold weather. And if I'm cold while I'm trying to fall asleep, forget about it. That's one reason I loved the Black Rock down beanie so much. Yes, I had a hood on my down puffy jacket, but I preferred the down beanie for several reasons. For one, a hood can restrict your visibility and doesn't necessarily move with you when you turn your head. Also, some hoods can't be pulled low on your forehead or snug against your ears the way a beanie can. If I was extra cold, I'd pull my hood over the beanie for an added layer on insulation.

One drawback of this beanie is that, since it is down, it shouldn't be worn in the rain or when you are sweating heavily (although if you are sweating, you wouldn't want to wear a beanie anyway). I rarely found that I needed to wear my beanie when hiking in the rain because the exertion of hiking warmed me up. That said, Black Rock now offers a water resistant version of this same hat for those worried about wet weather hiking and camping. It also now comes in many colors, although my hat is basic black.

This hat is also super lightweight and compact. I purchased a unisex size large to fit over my giant bobblehead and it weighs in at 27 grams. I love this little guy!

PROS: 

• Warm
• Lightweight (27 grams)
• Compact

CONS: 

• Expensive at $70
• Can't wear in the rain

Have you used any of my favorite items? What did you think? What are your must-have gear items for a few nights out on the trail? I'd love to hear your ideas!

I'm back from the dead!

Surprise! Yes, I'm alive! And yes, I'm blogging again. After a brief three-and-a-half-year hiatus, I've decided to take this back up again. 

For those of you that were following my AT thru-hike journey, I apologize for allowing the blog to fall to the side. Daily blogging became such a burden that I found I was spending nearly all of my zero days in town typing away just to try to catch up. I decided to focus my energies on my hike rather than my blog. It was tough to shake the guilt of not keeping my supporters updated, but in the end I think it was the right decision.

In case you were wondering, YES! I finished my thru-hike. I summited Mt. Katahdin on September 24, 2014. It was a beautiful blue-sky day and I was able to summit with a great group of people, including Tigger, whom I had met at the very beginning of my hike.

You can catch a glimpse of me summiting in Red Beard's YouTube video linked below.  I'm the one with broken trekking poles that wouldn't collapse. (Note to future thru-hikers: You won't need trekking poles to climb Katahdin.)



Thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail was absolutely the best experience of my life and something I doubt I will ever be able to replicate. When I finished, losing my trail family and day-to-day trail life left me feeling like I had broken up with dozens of people at once. I was so glad to be done, but it was tough transitioning back to my other life. I refuse to call it "real life" because I quickly came to realize that life on the trail was more authentic than the rat race back home.

I wanted to get caught up on this blog when I returned home from my journey, but I found revisiting those memories too painful at the time, if painful is the right word. I wanted to keep those memories private for a while until I was ready to share them with the world. 

I'm not sure why I had that reaction. As I mentioned, my thru-hike was the highlight of my life so far. I never had a bad day, although there were some less-than-stellar moments. When I came home, I was surrounded by loving friends and family that were eager to hear about my trip. And I definitely talked their ears off. But I know despite their best intentions, people that haven't thru-hiked the AT can never truly understand how transformative and deeply personal it is. I just couldn't bring myself to put my reflections down in words. Until now.

I may go back to my journal and finish reporting on my thru-hike. I haven't decided yet. But I definitely want to talk about the impact the trail had on me and document my future adventures. I'd love to do some things like gear reviews, tips, trip reports and other non-AT related things. I hope this blog will help others with interests similar to mine.

If you'd like to hear more about my hike in my own words, I encourage you to listen to a podcast by a member of my extended trail family, Steve Adams aka Mighty Blue. A few weeks ago, Mighty Blue interviewed me for his Appalachian Trail podcast. You can listen to it here: 

https://mightyblueontheat.com/episode-60-stacey-bucklin-stylez/

If you like it, please help support him by subscribing and reviewing his channel. You can also listen to the reflections of a few other members of my trail family. I'll link them here:

Wing-It
Tigger
Muffin Man
Beans


Thanks, as always, for taking the time to read my ramblings. I hope to be better about keeping this blog up and perhaps branching out into other content formats soon!

Day #79 - 85

June 8 – June 14

Miles Hiked: 980.8

Miles to Katahdin: 1204.5

When I woke up on June 8, I went to use the privy. There are sometimes buckets of wood shavings or leaves (called duff) next to the toilet that you throw in to help the decomposition process. When I picked up the duff bucket, there was a cute little mouse living underneath it! We were both surprised to see each other and neither of us moved. I carefully replaced the bucket and reported my finding to my fellow campers. Later, one of the hikers left the mouse a few nuts and some toilet paper so that it could eat and build a nest.

The night of June 7 was one of the scarier nights on the trail. A deranged animal ran through our camp weezing “Yeti! Yeti! Yeti!” It sounded like an escaped mental patient with Tourettes. All of the girls in camp woke up. None of the guys did. I’m not sure what that says about the genders. I had to pee but just laid there until the sun came up because I was too scared. Bluebird decided to just pee in her tent’s vestibule. I still haven’t figured out what that was. I told someone that if that was a bear, I’m getting off the trail. Some people think it was a deer calling to her fawn. Whatever it was, it was pretty terrifying to listen to.

I was trying to beat a storm into camp on June 7 so I decided to wait to each lunch until 2:00 or 3:00. I’m glad I did because I came across the most awesome trail magic at a road crossing! They had a pop-up tent, chairs, and were cooking sloppy joes. They also had all sorts of snacks and drinks and a box full of bandages, bear line, and just about anything else a hiker might need. I asked the trail angels what brought them out to the trail and they said their son was hiking the trail. I asked who their son was and they said Wiki! I hiked with Wiki for hundreds of miles! What a coincidence! At the end of lunch Wiki’s dad pulled out a box of mini liquor bottles and let us each choose one. Best trail angels ever!

I hiked alone most of the day on June 8 and encountered seven deer at different points standing on or near the trail! Like I said, the deer in the Shenandoahs don’t fear humans at all. I hope the bears aren’t as chummy. 

I stopped for lunch at another camp store along the trail. Sherpa was there and said that yesterday was one of his worst days on the trail. He said some southbounders told him about some amazing trail magic at the next road crossing. He got there but there was nothing there! He thought maybe they had the wrong road crossing so he continued to the next road. Still nothing! I broke the news to him that there had been trail magic, but when Wiki and his group showed up his parents probably packed up and drove them into town. Poor Sherpa. At least the mystery is now solved.

Bluebird loves relish and her birthday is coming up, so I snagged a bunch of relish packets from the camp store to give to her for her birthday. I left four for anyone else that might want to use it. Muffin Man and Bluebird showed up shortly thereafter and went into the store. When Muffin Man came out, he handed Bluebird four relish packets. He said, “They only had four left.” LOL Oops! I guess Bluebird got ALL the relish. She won’t know about the stuff I took until next week though.

I walked over a mile each way to take a shower on June 8. I even had to pay for the shower. That’s when you KNOW you need a shower. It felt amazing though and I have no regrets! I did have to put on dirty old clothes, but every little bit of cleanliness helps me feel slightly more normal.

On June 10 we stopped at the Skyland Resort for lunch. I went into their bathrooms, took one look in the mirror, and stripped off my shirt to do sink laundry. The sweat stains were just too much. I was standing there in my sports bra, so luckily the only other person to enter the bathroom was a fellow thru-hiker. She completely understood. I put back on my wet but somewhat clean shirt and went outside to dry in the sun. It didn’t take long at all given how hot and sunny it’s been recently. I had my tent fly spread out on a rock next to me to dry as well. I felt like a lizard and very much like hiker trash, but at this point I don’t let things like that bother me much.

The local newspaper was at Skyland photographing some blueberry icecream pie. The restaurant was closed at the time, so my friends inquired where they had acquired the dessert. The photographer said she’d be right back, and when she returned she simply handed the dessert to them. I walked in just in time to get in on the action. The photographer took photos as six thru-hikers demolished the pie in under 60 seconds. It never stood a chance!

June 11 was a fun day! I hiked most of it with just Bluebird. It was fun to have a “girls’ hike.” We saw deer and even a bear early on in the day. We also stopped at an overlook called Mary’s Rock so I could journal and Bluebird could take a catnap. It was clear when we arrived but covered in fog as we left. It was fun to watch the clouds roll in so quickly.  

It stormed that night and many of my friends’ tents got flooded out or collapsed. I wanted a bit of separation from the group and just happened to pitch my tent on the high middle ridge of an old gravel road. The rush of water channeled through the lower tire ruts on either side of me and I stayed high and dry! I needed to pee before bed and just decided to pee in my vestibule. The rain water running down the road flushed out the pee. It was like having indoor plumbing! Sorta.

It was still raining as I packed up and left the morning of June 12. I hiked with a guy named Owl Bear for a few hours. He’s a super nice guy from Georgia. We decided we’d try to hitch in to Front Royal, VA together when we reached the road. My group had a reservation there so that we could take a zero on Bluebird’s 25^th birthday. When we arrived at the road, Wing It, Owl Bear, and I were able to join on to another group’s hitch in the back of a pickup. We didn’t have to wait for a ride at all! When the rest of the group caught up in town, we had a lazy day watching movies in our rooms and watching live music in one of the local bars.

June 13, Bluebird’s birthday, started with a bang. Literally. Early in the morning, someone started beating on our door. I let Bluebird answer it, figuring it was the boys wishing her a happy bday. It was, but we both went back to sleep after saying hello. Later, we presented her with our gifts. The guys had passed around a card and had a bunch of thru-hikers sign it. They also got her vegan-friendly food, made her a vodka-filled watermelon, and gave her a pouch of margarita. I gave her some relish packets and a blue titanium spork (she has already broken two plastic sporks) wrapped in a blue bandana. I managed to find a felt bluebird “card” at the grocery store that I clipped to the front. She now has it clipped to her backpack.

That afternoon, we walked to the local movie theater and watched The Fault in Our Stars. It was a good but sad movie about teenagers living with cancer. That night, we ate some Japanese food and then howled at the moon at Bluebird’s request. It was Friday the 13^th and a full moon after all! It definitely seemed appropriate.

The next night we stayed at Dicks Dome Shelter. There was water EVERYWHERE! It was the land of 1,000 streams. We hiked up behind the privy to an old gravel road and were able to find dry spots to pitch our tents. Wing It rigged up a stone oven in the fire pit and baked Bluebird and gluten free cake for her bday. It was ugly but delicious. We used the candles as eating utensils to scoop it into our mouths. We also lit some fire crackers he had been carrying for the occasion.

Day #73 - 78

June 1 – June 7

Miles Hiked: 891.7

Miles to Katahdin: 1293.6

We made it up and over The Priest on June 1! I’ve been dreading that mountain for a while because the descent on the other side leads down to Cripple Creek. That name makes me cringe and I have been envisioning being crippled by the time I reached the bottom. My knees don’t love downhills, but this wasn’t so bad and we got some great views.

We’ve really lucked out on the weather so far. We haven’t had many crazy storms and the temperature has been pretty tolerable. Last year they had a ton of rain which is no fun to hike in, especially for days on end. In those cases, your stuff never dries and starts to smell terrible.

There have been a lot of rocks to traverse lately. I almost did the splits when I slipped on a root. It doesn’t count as a fall if your butt doesn’t touch though! I haven’t fallen yet! Knock on wood!

We reached Waynesboro, VA on June 3. When we reached town, we grabbed some delicious hot dogs from a trailer near the road before calling a list of trail angels to get a ride to our hotel. A woman who goes by Miss Lady picked us up and gave us a tour of town before taking us to our hotel. Waynesboro is incredibly hiker friendly and you can get a ride pretty much anywhere.

I was able to wash my pack in the hotel bathtub. It is/was disgusting! I scrubbed it with some Camp Suds in warm water and was able to get a bunch of dirt and grime off, but it still smells pretty nasty. At least washing it should help a little. I put it outside to dry in the sun and was shocked at how fast the water drained and the pack dried. I’ll definitely need to wash it again before the trip is over.

On June 4 I spent a few hours at the local library updating my blog. I had fallen really far behind but made some good progress. I was also able to call my sister to wish her a happy birthday. I was craving Arby’s for dinner so a group of us headed that way. True Story and Wiki met us there. It was so good to see them! Our group is finally staring to join back up again. We walked back to the hotel in the pouring rain. Luckily, Bluebird and I had the forethought to bring our rain jackets to dinner. The rest of the group joked about making a Chinese dragon out of their tent flies and using that to keep dry on the trek back to the hotel. I would have loved to see that!

We stopped by the Chinese buffet on our way out of Waynesboro on June 5. A fellow hiker’s fiancé joined us for lunch. Someone burped and another hiker said “Hey guys! There’s a lady in our presence!” referring to the fiancé. I said, “Hey, what are Bluebird, Simba and I then?” I guess female hikers aren’t considered ladies.  

We made it to the Shenandoahs on June 5. We each had to register when we entered the park and carry a permit on our packs. No one ever checked them, but at least we can say we followed the rules. I used my first bear pole today. It’s a tall metal pole with hooks arranged around the top. You use another pole to hoist your food bag onto one of the hooks. I did it on the first shot! It can be tricky because you can’t really see the hooks well and food bags can weigh around eight pounds. At the end of a long pole extended over your head, that weight can get tricky to manage. True Story said it’s like playing a carnival game. Everyone watches you and laughs. Definitely true!

On June 6 I arrived at the shelter we planned to sleep at early in the day. The terrain in the Shenandoahs is really easy, so I did 13 miles by 2:00. I had to shoo a doe off the trail because she wouldn’t get out of my way. The deer in the Shenandoahs are very used to humans and don’t run off when you approach. It’s great for wildlife sightings but not so great for the safety of the animals.

I was flipping through the shelter register and noticed that someone named Plan B on the AT said they had left a dozen four-leaf clovers in the back of the book. I checked and they were still there! I grabbed one and have been carrying it in my journal ever since. I’ve spent my whole life looking for a four-leaf clover and have never had any luck finding one. I can’t believe he (or she) found so many! Soon after I put the clover in my journal, two trail angels named T-squared and Mama Bear showed up at the shelter. They pulled cold beers and soda, apples, and candy bars out of their day pack and put them on the picnic table. It’s amazing how fast that clover worked! They also left a sign saying they would be cooking hot dogs for hikers the next day at a campsite a few miles away. Double trail magic! T-squared and Mama Bear’s son hiked the AT a few years ago and is hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) now. They are doing trail magic as a way to repay some of the kindness he has received. So awesome!

The night of June 6 a whippoorwill kept me up most of the night. I consider myself an animal person, but I would have gladly paid someone to shoot this thing down. Whippoorwills tend to start calling as soon as the sun sets and continue loudly throughout the evening. It’s like a rooster crowing just outside of your tent. They definitely are NOT a favorite of thru-hikers.

I hiked part of the day with a guy named Thor the Red. He’s around my age and studied political science and public policy and has a master’s degree. I think people would be surprised at how well educated many of the hikers are out here. It’s not a bunch of reject hobos. Just a group of people that decided to break away from the “norm.”

We stopped at a camp store today where True Story tried to buy three cans of beer. The cashier told him it was a two drink maximum so he had to put one back. Muffin Man purchased a 6-pack, which counted as one drink, so he had no problem.  True Story was less than pleased. 

Day #69-72

May 29 – May 31

Miles Hiked: 828

Miles to Katahdin: 1357.3

The weather finally cooled down a bit and hiking has become pleasant again. It’s been foggy out, so we have to be careful not to slip, but the humidity has brought out a lot of efts and makes the trees look extra green!

We took a shuttle in to Glasgow where we stayed in a shelter right in the center of town! Most of my group has taken to tenting these days, so we pitched our tents just outside of the shelter. Glasgow doesn’t have much going for it, but it’s friendly to hikers and has a post office and Dollar General within walking distance of the shelter. Can’t ask for much more. The people that maintain the shelter also stacked a bunch of firewood nearby, so we (actually, just Muffin Man) built a raging fire and we made s’mores.

The next day we hiked up a mountain and passed the Ottie Cline Powell Memorial. I don’t remember the details, but he was a very young boy who wandered away from school in the early 1900s (or maybe even the 1800s) and became lost in the woods. They didn’t find his body for several months. It’s tradition along the trail to leave an “offering” in these types of spots. I looked for a flower, but the only one in the area was growing from the site where they found his body and I didn’t feel appropriate picking it. I found a small rock instead and placed it on the memorial.

On May 31 we had several trail magic encounters! We were the only hikers on that section of the trail, so some trail maintainers offloaded a bunch of trail magic on us. They gave us all of the apples, bananas, string cheese, and Hershey bars they were carrying. It was a lot of heavy food!! I ate one and a half giant Hershey bars that day. I’m surprised I didn’t get sick. Or just sick of chocolate. My inner fat kid was very happy.

We hiked over some pretty terrain until we reached Hog Camp Gap, an open grassy area near a parking lot. We camped there and soon some hikers named Mother Earth, Indy, and Longhorn joined us. Longhorn had to get off the trail for several days because of severe heel blisters and just got back on that day. It’s amazing how you keep bumping into the same people over and over again. I never know whether someone is way ahead of me, way behind me, or just around the corner!

Day #86 - 92

June 15 – 21 

Miles Hiked: 1088.4

Miles to Katahdin: 1096.9

We’re in the middle of the “roller coaster,” a section of trail with many steep ups and downs in a row. It’s not nearly as bad as it sounds. I feel like it must have been named by weekenders. The terrain is hardly noticeable to a thru-hiker.

When we arrived at camp the night of June 15, it smelled like a large animal had died nearby. I had to investigate! I was hiking around in the woods when Muffin Man, who had fallen behind, came up behind me on the trail and said, “Man! It smells like shit!” Then he saw me in the woods and tried to disguise his disgust. He thought it might be me!!! I told him I was looking for a dead animal and he joined me in the hunt. We never found anything, but the smell persisted and none of us got water from the nearby stream.

On June 16, we passed the 1,000 mile mark! Woohoo! We’re ALMOST halfway there. It feels like quite an accomplishment. We also crossed out of Virginia and into West Virginia! 

After talking to the caretaker at the Blackburn AT Center, we made an unplanned stop at Torlone’s pizzeria. We wanted to fill up on good water (she said there wasn’t any for several miles) and avoid an oncoming storm. We left our packs outside and sat down to eat. I looked outside and saw that it had started to pour. I jumped up to grab my pack and the rest of the hikers in my group immediately followed. The other patrons just stared in amazement. I don’t know if they thought we were bailing on the check or what. It all happened so quickly. No hiker wants wet gear though so we moved at lightning speed and totally forgot about our hiker hobbles. At the end of dinner, we were surprised to hear that a local woman had taken care of our check. Being out here really restores your faith in humanity. People can be so nice if given the chance and shown some appreciation. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to thank her because she had already left the restaurant. We’ll all be able to pay her kindness forward in the future though.

I woke up on June 17 to find a deer tick embedded near my rib cage. Man! Those are the teeny tiny kind that can carry Lyme disease. I check myself every night, so I’m not sure where it came from. I removed it with tweezers and have been keeping an eye on it to see if I develop the telltale bull’s eye rash. So far so good! Lyme is one of my worst fears on the trail. It can have lifelong consequences if not caught early, but they say a tick needs to be embedded for a day or two before it can transmit the disease.

It was a HOT hike into Harper’s Ferry for photos at the psychological halfway point. My shirt was soaked by the time I made it to the ATC. I dried it on the sidewalk in front of the building for two hours before putting it back on for my official photo. I was thru-hiker #636 to pass through Harper’s Ferry this year. I think I was in the early 600s when I left Springer. There are a lot of hikers this year! I’m guessing there are at least 500 behind me!

While I was waiting to have my photo taken for the album, I flipped through last year’s and this year’s albums looking for my friends. They have albums dating back many years. I’d love to go back and take a closer look someday. I didn’t have nearly enough time to look as much as I wanted to.

I left town before the rest of my group and found a beautiful campsite at an overlook. I pitched my tent near a rock “couch” someone had set up. As I waited for Bluebird to arrive, a goat appeared. That goat was relentless! It really wanted some of my food and kept licking my Ziplocs and even trying to carry some of it away. Then it tried the guilt trip method. It stood in my line of sight and started chewing on a branch full of dead leaves. Didn’t work. I didn’t give it any food and I didn’t let Bluebird either. I think that goat gets plenty of handouts from other campers. I don’t want to contribute to the problem.

June 18 was another hot one. I got to take a real shower at a picnic area. You can’t truly appreciate a good shower until you haven’t had one in several days. The rest of our crew caught up to us while we ate lunch after our showers. Everyone besides me decided to hitch into town. Our plan was to meet at Annapolis Rocks, a campsite at an “outstanding” overlook (according to the guide book) that night. Luckily for the group, the man that gave them the hitch offered to let them stay at his place overnight. His wife apparently cooked them a feast! I stayed at Annapolis Rocks riding out a thunderstorm. The lightning was striking really close to our tents and I was pretty freaked out, but I lived to tell about it. I was pretty close to running across the campsite and jumping in Sherpa’s tent for safety, but that wouldn’t have helped either of us much.

Earlier that day, I visited the original Washington Monument. It was pretty cool and I met some nice section hikers there. One was an engineer and one a teacher. They were both men in their 50s and want to thru-hike someday. I love meeting new people along the trail! We definitely have a shared passion and sense of ambition.

June 19 was a race against the weather forecast. I lucked out and each time I checked the forecast, the rain had been pushed back to later in the day. I reached Raven Rock Shelter just seconds before the skies opened up. My timing was impeccable. It was mid-afternoon, so the only other people there were two female section hikers. The shelter was really nice with polished floors and large windows to let in light. I immediately set up my stuff and snuggled into my sleeping bag to read and journal in the rain. The rain on the roof was far too loud to permit conversation anyway. My friends showed up a few hours later soaked to the bone! They had to forward some streams too. I’m so glad I hustled to get to the shelter early. Their stuff was still wet in the morning when we left camp.

We crossed the Mason Dixon Line into Pennsylvania on June 20. I’ve been a bit worried about Pennsylvania for months. It’s known for being incredibly rocky. I don’t like rocks and it takes me a long time to cross them. They aren’t supposed to be too bad until the eastern part of the state though. I hope that’s accurate!

We spent a long time lounging and enjoying trail magic at Pen Mar County Park. It had beautiful views of the valley below and we gorged ourselves on the delicious food some former thru-hikers had brought for us. 

Most of us were dragging after that, so a few of us decided to stealth camp in the woods short of a shelter. It’s fun being away from the crowds every now and then. I threw a picture perfect bear line and the boys hoisted them up and tied them off. I’d attribute the perfect line to my skills, but really it was the perfect branch. It was a nice strong, long, horizontal branch extended from the tree at just the right distance from the ground. Needless to say, no bears got our food that night!

June 21 was the summer solstice and Hike Naked Day! It was also an unusually cold day for the time of year. I think the highs were in the 70s. I only heard of one hiker that hiked naked. He hiked behind Simba most of the day. Poor girl. I did see Muffin Man’s butt because he decided to dig a cat hole far too close to camp. Not sure if that counts though.