Our Unconventional Life

There are 229 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania. I'll be hiking in Pennsylvania for a while now. The southern part of the trail passes through Cumberland Valley.   5/22 South Mountain, PA to Big Flat - 15.9 miles Another rainy night and continued rain when we got up in the morning. It's supposed to rain all day, but calling for less rain than yesterday, so I'm planning on hiking and getting a little wet in the process. Angelika drops me off at the trailhead, but has no interest in joining me for a rainy hiking day. It's just drizzling now and very cool, so it's comfortable to hike in my rain shell. The trail takes me right through Caledonia State Park where we're camped. By the time I get there, the light rain has gotten distinctly heavier. I stop under a picnic shelter to get out of the rain for a while and decide if I should call it a day and just go back to the van. Just then, the rain stops and so I decide to forge ahead. Of course, about 30 min...

After leaving Shenandoah, what remains is finishing off the rest of the trail in Virginia and then crossing into West Virginia and Maryland. The halfway point of the trail is very close now. Harper's Ferry, WV is the unofficial halfway point, but the halfway point by book mileage is actually further up the trail in Pennsylvania. It will be satisfying to reach both these milestones in any case. 5/15 Manassas Gap to Ashby Gap - 12 miles There was more rain again last night, but just 30% chance of rain in the forecast this morning.  Nonetheless,  when we got to the trailhead it was already drizzling. I thought it would be a good idea to put my rain shell on when I set out to avoid getting too wet, but within a few minutes my opinion changed. It was so humid out I was quickly getting soaked from the inside. I hiked the rest of the day in shirt sleeves. The trail now skirts the ridge and follows the slopes across public land. There are a lot of short ups and downs along the way wit...