We had some pretty big storms early last night, but kept the streak going of no hiking in the rain. Bring it on, jinx!!

Today we hiked down off South Mountain through a “rock maze” (bunch of large rock piles you have to navigate over and through) and into the Cumberland Valley. The morning light was brilliant and cut through the high humidity.

Morning light on South Mountain near the Rock Maze

The Cumberland is the longest continuous valley section of the AT. It’s almost 15 miles of near flat hiking through Boiling Springs, PA, fields, farms, roads, pastures, and treelines. It alternated between novel and slightly boring at times.

Hiking through the corn fields

Round bales in the valley

We stopped in Boiling Springs in the morning and dominated the Backpackers Platter they offered, which consisted of 2 eggs, 2 pancakes, home fries, BACON, and toast. Delicious.

Eventually we climbed out of the valley and back onto the ridge. We ended up about 10 miles or so from Duncannon. We are hiking in tomorrow morning to town and then we’re off for 2.5 glorious days.

Vital stats :
Miles hiked today – 23.6
Mood – wooooooooooooooooohooooooooooo!
Physical state – a bit tired and sore from pushing about 115 miles in the last 5 days
Smell – like that terrible whiff you get from a dumpster in the summer
Song stuck in my head – Nova Scotia by Magic Man