An Up and Down Day

Today started out well, with a nice gentle down slope to some level walking for the first 2 miles. The trail was good to us. Flat, smooth, sometimes covered in soft pine needles. The kind of walking that says “you could do this all day”.

Sadly things did not stay that way long. The day turned into a up and down day. Hiking this trail you expect to hike some hills, but today was especially brutal. We hiked a total of 12 miles. 7 of those miles were some of the toughest we have come across.

At one point, the passage between rocks were so close together we were not sure we could make it through with our packs on. I expected a sign like at the carnival rides displaying a height required for a ride, but it says “must be this skinny to hike this trail”.

Throughout this 7 miles, our elevation changed a total of 2200 feet up and 2500 feet down. Thankfully the trail gave us a reprieve near the end and gave a leisurely stroll alongside corn fields to the town of boiling springs.

Our intention was to spend the night in Boiling Springs, but there were no rooms available where we were planning on staying.

While discussing what to do, a fellow hiker mentioned that there is a strong storms blowing in tomorrow, expected thunderstorms with hail and possible tornadoes. Hearing that made us decide to take a zero day (day off from hiking). And with our sister living within a 45 minute drive, it was an easy decision.

Tomorrow is a zero day!

After our sister got to us. We had dinner at the Boiling Springs Inn.

I highly recommend the grilled walleye. The Yuengling is even better!