In the lead up to this trip, the weather report got worse pretty much every time we looked at it. The weather people seem to me to always be predicting the apocalypse and under delivering, but it certainly seemed as if we were looking at a wet weekend. Thursday, I did something I’ve not done in a very long time—I drove my car into the office with my gear in it. B~~~ met me and we tossed his gear in the back. The head of my agency wandered by and waved. I’m sure he was wondering what the hell I was doing. Oh well. After work, I changed into my hiking clothes and set off—it took me 2h45m just to get out of the urban area. By the time we reached the Bald Eagle Forest area, conditions were decidedly apocalyptic—thunder, lightning, rain, low visibility. Additionally, I’d somehow selected the rare parking lot in PA where the trees weren’t any good for hammocking! B~~~ and I decided to sleep in my car, which was more comfortable than you would guess. We each had a Yuengling and fell asleep.
The next morning, we surveyed the damage and got organized. Aneesh too had slept in his car. Adrian, Chet, Logan, and Alyssa had all managed to get set up before the storm. Janice had called out due to a family matter. We reversed the shuttle, stopping at a Sheetz and dropping of a cooler at Pennsylvania Furnace Road. My camouflage tarp (you know you want one!) was deployed. We parked at PA-164 and started north in pretty good weather, the best we’d have for the trip. Ridge-walking ensued, then the road walk into Williamsburg. The folks there were as friendly as they could be. Some firemen gave me a Gatorade and told me I was off trail (maybe, but I was headed to the quickie mart for a beer, of course). A woman wanted to know about the seven backpackers suddenly wandering through their town. We reconvened at the convenience store, loaded up on beer and water, then set off on the Lower Trail, an old rails to trails path along the Juniata. All the terrain on Friday was beautiful and pastoral—it reminded me of the sort of garden countryside that the entwives in Tolkien might tend. At around 6pm, we pulled into Mount Etna, where camping is allowed. About 22 miles (35 kilometers). We settled in, drinking the beers we had carted. The caretaking came by and gave us some homebrewed blueberry wine, which we heartily enjoyed. In a pattern that would repeat, the rain chased us to bed and then poured all night.
Saturday morning, we finished the Lower Trail in a cloud of drizzle, which cleared as we took on the stout climb up Spruce Knob. We took a break up top and that’s where we met Colby, an MST thru-hiker whose posts I’d been seeing on the Mid State Facebook group. We complimented him on the fast progress he’s made and then leapfrogged each other on the miles north of the knob, which was very rugged, tiring hiking indeed (we compared it Seven Mile Mountain in the Massanutten, but this is longer!). At a point, I got mad and snapped a pole. I told Colby that he could partake of our cache, but only on the condition that he drank some beer. By the time we stumbled to Pennsylvania Furnace Road (about 20 mi or 32 km for the day), we were all ready to tear through the cache. We had left a lot of water, in addition to the beer, there, and it was welcome. We camped at the former site of a tower just north of there and enjoyed a convivial camp. Again, the rain came at night.
In the morning on Sunday, Alyssa was sick and needed to bail. We left her there with all our extra water, then walked off into a cloud of drizzle. I was taking a break just shy of Jo Hays Vista, when Aneesh sent me a text. He was calling an Uber! His leg was bothering him, and he needed to bail, too. In the history of DCUL, we’ve always honored people who managed to bail in a way that helps the group, and Aneesh’s was one for the ages. He Ubered to his car, drove back and rescued Alyssa, and he picked up our cooler and drove it to the endpoint (adding extra beer!!). Then, back to DC. Oh, and he left me a pole to replace the one I had smashed in a fit of rage. Truly, Aneesh should be included on a top two or three bailing list in DCUL’s history!
Then the five remaining backpackers walked north, eventually reaching Rothrock, meeting Colby’s father at Little Flat Tower, passing the Tom Thwaites Memorial, and descending to the Detweiler Natural Area. Here something interesting happened. At the intersection to the Standing Stone Trail, Logan, Adrian, and B~~~ turned right and camped. Chet and I turned left and climbed a little before camping (another 20 miles / 32km). Not a big deal, but we camped separately. I had been vague about what I had in mind. Chet and I drank some whisky and got to know each other better. I disregarded the fact that he likes Fireball. For me, it was Bulleit Rye. Again, it rained at night.
Monday morning, we pushed for the end, climbing out of Detweiler (a beautiful place), passing through Penn Roosevelt Park, then doing some easy ridge walking south of 322. People were amused by the watery culvert under the highway, then there was more ridge and a rather challenging descent down to Still Hollow Road—scrambly and slippery. This descent was the most technical few hundred meters / yards of the entire section. There, we left the MST and road walked back to the cars (and cooler) at the Sand Mountain Trailhead.
And that was it for this section—74 miles or 119 km. Overall, we had a great group that handled some challenging weather circumstances in good form. I will say that the trail was in great shape in this section. Sure, there were some blowdowns, but the footpath was well marked and walkable for the entire weekend (which doesn’t mean it was easy!). Chapeau to the MST leaders and maintainers!
We’ll be back Memorial Day weekend!
MM / U-Turn
PS … With this march done, I’ve got us at 224 km completed and 309 km remaining, which should set us up for three more marches of roughly 103 km (61mi), each. That will work fine.
PPS … A note on my fitness, likely of interest only to me. I’m in pretty good shape (!!), with no real problem handling 20+ mile/days, including some really rugged terrain. However, my Achilles heel continues to bug me, and my feet were certainly NOT toughened up enough for three consecutive 20s. I’ve been wearing my softest dress shoes all week. Jump rope exacerbates my heel problem, but I’m addicted and can’t stop.
DC UL Backpacking 
Aneesh truly deserves his trail name: “Medivac!” It looks like you all had an epic trip.
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