6/12-6/21: Duncannon, PA -> Delaware Water Gap, PA

“Rocksylvania.” The name strikes fear in the hearts of many a thru-hiker. There is much and more fearmongering about the Pennsylvania section on trail, with plenty of horror stories of the soul-crushing, sole-crushing terrain. So much so, in fact, that I was expecting the whole state to be super rocky and was pleasantly surprised by the whole southern half of the state. There are many opinions about where Rocksylvania really starts, but all agree that the northern half of the state is where the worst of the terrain lies. But could it really be that bad?

On the morning I hiked out of Duncannon, Dutch joined me at the church hostel to make pancakes and eggs for breakfast. I enjoyed crossing the Juniata and Susquehanna Rivers before climbing back up onto a ridge.

Then came the rain. It had been a long time since we had real rain and we definitely needed it. It felt like a relief at first, but I got over that quickly. It poured, and poured, and poured. The trail was a gushing stream at times, and a lake at others. It was the worst weather we’d had in literal months! I was completely soaked through. I remained in good spirits though 🙂

I stopped very early that day to stay dry inside a large shelter. I had a nice relaxing evening there with a ton of new faces; it was the most crowded I had seen a shelter in months! (Probably correlated with the worst weather in months.) It felt like I was back in Georgia, both from how many people were there and that I’d stopped hiking for the day before 4pm.

Thankfully, the next day was dry again, and it was a good healing day. I pushed beyond my original destination (a curiously designed shelter) to get past a section that had been flooded by beaver activity while the weather was good. I was so glad I did! It was a really pretty area, and hopping across floating logs and half-submerged rocks was a fun new experience. It was definitely treacherous, even in the sun. It felt like possibly the most treacherous section of the whole trail so far, somehow! I got across safe and dry, but there were a few close calls. It was exhilarating!

Rain returned the next morning, but it was nowhere near as bad as the other day. It had cleared up by the time I stopped by the cool, fully enclosed, iconic 501 Shelter, and it was still early, but I decided to stay the night there anyway. I was too tempted by the possibility of pizza delivery(!) for dinner, and by several new friends, including Mystery Man and Threepy. I was glad I stayed. We had a nice relaxing evening together munching on pizza and playing games. We even had an impromptu chess tournament! I had leftover pizza for lunch and dinner the next day to boot.

A plurality of knowledgeable people (past thru-hikers, locals, trail angels) declared that Rocksylvania began at the 501 Shelter. I found this to be the winning claim. The trail that next day was more consistently rocky, especially during a prescribed burn area that was long and felt even longer. None of the rocks felt that bad individually, but they took a cumulative toll over the day. The rocks are tough on your feet since they’re hard surfaces that you feel even through your shoes. They also certainly slow you down, as you have to step carefully and be alert and thoughtful.

That night, I stayed at a surprisingly busy campsite with Mystery Man, Dutch, and Threepy. It was great hanging out with them and chatting over dinner, and Threepy and I played some cards before bed. In the morning, we all descended into Port Clinton, PA, and discovered trail magic in a cooler right before the bottom of the climb!

Port Clinton was a tiny town that didn’t have much, so I hitched into nearby Hamburg, PA to resupply and get some town food. Usually, I like to go to local restaurants in towns, but I couldn’t resist the chance to get Five Guys. As I ate, a big storm came through. There was even a tornado warning nearby! I was very glad to wait out the weather dry and inside. I really enjoyed hanging out with Mystery Man during the storm. He recently finished hiking every single trail in the White Mountains, a most impressive achievement!

Soon, we went over to a gargantuan Cabela’s, which had a handy hiker shuttle back to the trail. I later found out it was the largest retail Cabela’s in the world. Cabela’s is a strange place. It kind of made me uncomfortable with its focus on hunting and fishing. Mystery Man called it “Bizarro REI.” I learned more about deer hunting than I ever needed to know.

By the time we caught the shuttle back to the trail, the storm had passed and it was a beautiful rest of the day. Perfect timing! I took a leaf out of Mystery Man’s book and didn’t look at my phone and FarOut app for the next few hours before reaching the next shelter. It was hard, to be honest, but felt pretty good. I decided to hike on from the shelter at ~4:30pm: I wanted to take advantage of the longer days with the summer solstice fast approaching!

Rocksylvania was in full swing that day, and that last ridgeline was the worst of it. The trail was rewarding, though. I loved the views from Pulpit Rock and the Pinnacle – best PA views so far! At the Pinnacle, there were tons of raptors (mostly hawks, I think, but I can’t say for sure) flying super close overhead. I also saw several deer that day, after not seeing any for a while. It all made for a great hero day.

There are two basic types of rocks you’ll find in Rocksylvania: larger boulders, and smaller “shark teeth” sections. The next day, I made a poll in a shelter log asking which kind is worse. I decided that shark teeth are worse, since I’ve never gone through one of those sections and said, “that was fun.” Boulders can be fun sometimes!

There were plenty of both varieties on display that day. I don’t think my feet had ever felt worse than at the end of that day! It was a long, tiring, but fun day of Rocksylvania. I enjoyed the scrambly section over Knife’s Edge and clambering up Bear Rocks. I must say though, if something is going to be called Knife’s Edge, it should be scarier than that. I also enjoyed the views from Bake Oven Knob (though it made me hungry!). I was beginning to like northern PA, despite the rocks.

Water was another real concern that day. Pennsylvania has another unfortunate reputation for being a relatively dry part of the AT. Mind you, we’re still waay spoiled compared to other long-distance trails. Nevertheless, water management was a new challenge, and a stressful one – more stressful than the rocks! The water sources were few and far between throughout this section, and many were dry despite the recent rains. Even those that were flowing were often really far off trail. As an example, at the shelter that night, we had to make an 0.8-mile round trip, steep, rocky, difficult trek to get water. At least I was glad to reunite and commiserate with Mousetrap and Happy Knees there.

The next morning felt like a pleasant surprise as I traversed an unexpectedly cool, exposed ridgeline with nice views of the Lehigh River and the towns below. It was a short day, however, as I met my Aunt Rebecca and cousin Jessica in Lehigh Gap! They had driven up from the Philadelphia area to whisk me off trail for the night.

It was so great to see Aunt Rebecca, Uncle Jason, Jessica, and Megan and spend a lovely double nero with them. (I guess I’m at the point where 8 miles counts as a nero day…) It felt sort of surreal to be there; I flew down to one cousin’s house, and walked all the way back up to another’s! We played games and had a lot of fun together over about 28 hours off trail. I’m so glad that it worked out for us to meet up.

Someone had given them the idea that I was missing homemade baked goods. Not sure where that notion came from, but they really pulled out all the stops to fix that! We had fresh baked whole wheat bread for dinner, and I helped Jessica make biscuits. Dessert was brownies and chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven. They were all delectable treats. Packed-out baked goods made for very special snacks and desserts over the next couple days on trail too!

I rode back to the trail with Aunt Rebecca at around 4 pm and was immediately faced with the infamous climb out of Lehigh Gap. It involved clambering up and over large boulders on a treacherous rock face that we could clearly see from the road level. I was pretty excited to take it on, although regretted that I had to do it with a fresh resupply and heavy pack.

The climb was AWESOME! I stowed my poles and had a great time scrambling up the rocks. It was quite treacherous, but rewarding with great views all around. It was perhaps the hardest mile of trail so far, but SO fun!!

It was a hot afternoon, and I got veery sweaty climbing up – probably the sweatiest I had been on trail so far. After the climb, I finished my day on a beautiful, piney, often exposed ridgeline, and camped on a bed of pine needles with my trail friend Zip. I also ran into a “LASHer” (long-ass section hiker) who was in my brother’s graduating class at our high school!! An amazing small-world moment.

I was particularly worried about water in this section after Lehigh Gap – or at least, I was, until I had an idea. Sometimes, trail angels will leave water caches for hikers, usually in the form of gallons of water left by some trailhead or parking area. This is incredibly handy, especially in dry sections like this part of PA. Already I had been so thankful to run across several such caches. So, in this area when I knew I’d need one, I decided to prepare my own! With Aunt Rebecca’s help, I prepared a water cache for myself and other thru-hikers just a few miles into my morning. It was great to know that was there and fill up as I passed! Thanks for making that possible, Aunt Rebecca.

The trail was pretty green tunnel-y all day, but lots of interactions with other people on trail made for an interesting day nonetheless. Luckily, I got more water from trail magic at Smith Gap. Sometimes, different aspects of trail magic feel like the best part, whether it’s a certain food, being able to sit down in comfy camp chairs, or emptying trash. This time, it was the water that I was most glad to see. We also snacked on fruit and delicious homemade cookies. I enjoyed a long peaceful rest with another hiker Pegleg and our trail angel Dave/70. In 2019, he thru-hiked the AT in 74 days!! I can’t even imagine.

I also finally met a nice couple Drive-Thru and Frosty, who I had been seeing just ahead of me in the logbooks for seemingly my whole hike. Towards the end of the day, I had a blast meeting and listening to Napoleon, who’s gotta be the most interesting character of all I’ve met so far. He talked my ear off for like 20 minutes. This is his 6th(!) time hiking the AT, and he’s been spending 6 months on one trail or another and 6 months working every year since 2012. Don’t worry, I’m not getting any ideas.

That night, I camped at the Gateway Motel in Wind Gap, PA, a rather crappy motel even by thru-hiker standards. The owner was very hiker-friendly, though, and he lets thru-hikers camp there for free and even did laundry for us. There were several other hikers in the same boat, and I really enjoyed getting to know a section hiker Marie, and her tiny dog Lily, over dinner. We were camping right near a highway, so I didn’t get a particularly good night’s sleep, but oh well. I knew what I was getting into. That day felt like it was about the people, in the best way.

My last day in Rocksylvania fell on the summer solstice! The solstice is also Hike Naked Day, but I didn’t see anyone participating, least of all myself. It was a great day anyway, for several reasons. I saw many deer, including several males with noticeable antlers in velvet!

As I traversed Wolf Rocks, I saw my first venomous snake on trail, a rattlesnake sunning itself on the rocks. It was startling to finally see one, but also a little relieving. Actually seeing a venomous snake in the wild made the differences between the venomous and non-venomous ones seem very obvious, so it felt like a confidence boost going forward. Frankly, I would have been completely happy not to see a single venomous snake on my hike, but I’d rather see one than Not see it, if you get my drift. The rattlesnake didn’t bother me as I gave it a wide berth to pass it by.

I also took a brief sidequest to explore a small, cool abandoned copper mine. I enjoyed meeting Dead Man Walking, and hiking with him for most of the rest of the day as we descended among rhodos and rocks into Delaware Water Gap, PA, right on the Delaware River and the NJ state line.

I got into town super early, and it was nice to have a long, relaxing evening. That night, I stayed in DWG at another church hostel (interestingly, like the Place, this one also claims to be the oldest hostel on the AT. Hmm…). Disposable bath towels were a weird novelty there, but it was pretty nice otherwise. Plenty of other thru-hikers had the same idea to stay there; it was crowded with familiar faces. I went out for an Italian dinner at a classic pizza place with Dead Man Walking and Zip. Unfortunately, I missed out on hearing jazz at the oldest continuously operating jazz club in the country, since there wasn’t a show the night I was in town. But it was a nice stay in Delaware Watee Gap to cap off Pennsylvania anyway.

So what was the final verdict on Rocksylvania? At the risk of annoying a lot of other hikers, I didn’t find Rocksylvania to be that bad. The rocks were a bit annoying, to be sure, but I felt like there was too much fearmongering and it didn’t live up to its infamous reputation, which is all for the better. I think this is another moment where hiking in the Whites has prepared me well for the AT. For now, though, I’m happy to have gotten through this challenging section and another large state in Pennsylvania!