The Rockets Red Glare

Happy 5th of July everyone!

I am having a great time at my grandparents house here in fabulous Brogue, PA. I rented a car and headed down here for some r and r and good old fashioned 4th of July fun. I was really excited to see some fireworks without a bunch of kids in tow which I haven't enjoyed since I was 20 years old. I attended a few picnics and BBQs in preparation for this event and the family made a plan to go to a park that overlooked the Susquehana river valley to watch the Wrightsville fireworks show. This was a good plan because we thought it would be less busy and not have to deal with the crowds. We got up there and it wasn't crowded, but there were probbaly about a hundred people up there with the same plan. We settled in to our blankets and enjoyed the last of the daylight there. It soon appeared that most folks there were not quite sure what time the show started. You could hear people asking about the start times and what not. At about 9:15 you could see a bunch of fireworks shows starting in far off places from our high perch, and yet nothing from our beloved Wrightsville. At about 9:45 we were getting a little concerned and some other spectators were packing up and leaving. My cousin Carla then got on her phone and looked up the event. I had always thought that independence was on the 4th, but like so many other things I was wrong. Turns out the show is tonight on the 5th. Does that say something about your country or what. We had a good time though laying on the blankets.

The hike is going well. Sorry I haven't updated the blog in a while. I've gotten a little overfocused and am cruising. Lots has happened. I have made it to New Jersey since my last blog, meaning that I have hiked through the Shenendoahs and reached Harpers Ferry, WV. I hiked through Maryland, and then reached PA. I passed the 1000 mile mark, the half way point, the 1100 mile mark, the 1200 mile mark, and the 1300 mile mark. Having hiked more miles than I have miles left to hike has drastically changed the mental game of hiking the trail. At the beginning hiking 200 miles seemed like a big accomplishment, but then I would look at the column in my guidebood that gives the mileage to Kathadin and it would say 1900 miles and I would get really disheartened. Now I look in that column and it ONLY says 800 miles. Totally doable. Its amazing what changes a different perspective can make.

I've met quite a few hikers along the way and received generosity from locals along the way. I started hiking with a guy named Marty McFly early on in PA and we hiked together to Glenwood NJ before I got off to come here. He was trying to catch up to some friends who had gotten ahead and he thought if he paced himself with me he could catch them. We did and pretty soon I was hiking with a pretty large crew. We don't hike together, but you walk for awhile and then take a break and everybody catches up and you eat together and rest together and camp together. There has been quite a few more restaurants close to the trail so we all go out to eat together which is pretty fun. There were 9 of us when I got off the trail.

This next week I'll be hiking with Ally who has come out for a visit. Hopefully that works out well. I am looking forward to it. We are going to leave here pretty soon and drive back up to NJ. She'll be with me through NY and then into CT. Hope everyone is well and I'll try to update more frequently than every 400 miles.

Hike on! -Wrong Way