Two Esses got up at 4:55 before her alarm. SobI followed suit. She and Hootenanny were out before 6 but my slower packing and longer breakfast saw me leave at 6:15.
The walk into the town of Boiling Springs had lots of field walking. Then I passed a strange brick structure that turned out to be all that was left of a 19th century iron making furnace. Pretty huge. At a parking lot a young man standing by the trunk of his car offered me trail magic – pop, beer, slim jims, granola bars. I opted for two granola bars.
Then the trail led along an artificial lake. The houses across the way were very quaint and well maintained.
My first stop was Caffe 102 for coffee, huevos rancheros, a place to charge my big power bank which had mysteriously gone completely dead last night, and a place to try to plan the next few days. Once the huevos rancheros were half gone, Dinner walked in. I invited him to sit with me. He had camped a mile and a half north of town but was backtracking because one of his trekking pole tips was broken and he needed to go to the outfitters. Unlike my Black Diamond poles, it seems the tips on his Leki poles are not just wedged on but glued on. He had boiled the broken top fir several minutes the night before but it was still stuck. Leki told him by phone to just buy new poles.
I offered to buy him a coffee since he seemed reluctant to spend money (he’s in his early 20s) but he said he just never has an appetite in the morning. He soon left.
My next stop was a half mile walk to the independent supermarket where I was able to get everything for resupply except electrolyte powder for my water, and sunscreen. I got those at an exorbitant price at the outfitters.
The trail beyond Boiling Springs is, for about 20 miles, a narrow corridor of forest surrounded by fields and houses, or sometimes just a path through a field. It’s very flat so I made quick progress. A few miles in I found a cooler with a note saying help yourself to trail magic. I took a small container of strawberries.
An hour later a guy just appeared from out of the forest and asked if I was a thru hiker. I said yes and he asked if I wanted trail magic. Another guy appeared – the same guy from the parking lot. The new guy had done a thru hike last year so gave me lots of tips on Pennsylvania and on how hostile some of the New England states can be to thru hikers.
I passed Two Esses and Hootenanny around 4. They had met Two Esses brother for lunch in town and he had also brought supplies she had asked for, including Leucotape for Hootenanny. He said yesterday’s tape was still helping but it was starting to hurt more.
I kept going later than I’d planned, and wound up at a shelter whose namesake I’d stayed at on day 50, Cove Mountain Shelter. This one was down a long steep hill, with its spring down another long steep hill from there, so I was pretty tired by the time I had enough water to start cooking dinner. Sadly there us no one else around. Batman alone in his batcave signing off.
Mile 1122.2 to mile 1146.7 = 24.5 miles
The blast furnace
Houses across the lake
A pretty one on the walk to the supermarket
Finally some nice views again
