Day 75
After taking a short day, we had to get up today and make good miles to get in to Boiling Springs. Due to us walking through a lot of private land, there are strict camping regulations and there is an 18-mile stretch with no camping allowed. We started our day with easy terrain, walking past the lake and uphill on an old roadbed. The first 7 miles went very quickly and we took a break next to a creek with Flash. There was supposed to be a store about 0.4 miles down the road, but we decided to push on so we’d get to Boiling Springs early so we could get a small resupply. The next 13 miles went by quickly as well, with a ton of road crossings and some climbing that I called the Pennsylvania Rollercoaster, as we had four short and quick hills. We came to about 2 miles from town and began walking through farms! The sun was high in the sky and the tree cover was nonexistent. The grass was high and ticks were on my mind constantly, as we’d been told about the ticks being bad here. Thankfully, no ticks were on us an we got to the backpackers campsite trail just before 5 pm. We sent Flash a text to tell him we were going to go in to town and resupply before we set up at the campsite since it was farther off trail than we’d been lead to believe by our guidebook. We walked in to Boiling Springs to find that the food mart in our book was a gas station with 2-dollar granola bars (you know, the ones you can get in a five-pack for 2.50!) We each bought pop and a snack and decided to sit at the picnic table out front to figure out our next move. I said hello to a man heading in to the gas station and Nokey decided to ask the guy how far a real store was. He said he’d give us a ride if we wanted as it was a half mile from where we were. When we hopped in the truck, we noticed hiker stickers and a custom plate reading 2181, the length of the trail last year. When we got to the store, he introduced himself as Snow, a thru hiker from 2011. He offered not only to give us a ride back to the campsite, but something better - a free stay at his house (since it was going to rain all night) with showers and laundry! We told him we couldn’t since Flash was in and set up camp. He told us to call Flash and come meet us at the road, which he gladly did! Turns out the campsite was right next to the train tracks, was loud next to a port-a-potty, and smelled like cow poo! We hung out with Snow the rest of the night and exchanged trail stories. His sister, who lives next door, came by with homemade challa bread and cookies - she’s in school to become a pastry chef and had leftover from class! It was an amazing night and we were happy to be out of the rain. The photo is of the wheat field we walked through in to town.