Burch Run Shelter 1095.2 to Tagg Run Tentsite 1112.3 (17.07 miles)
Last night it not only rained, it also poured. I laid down just after 8 o’clock in my tent, which was pitched next to a little babbling spring. Around 10pm I saw bright lights outside my tent and faintly heard voices coming from the shelter, even through my earplugs.
It had started raining by then, as I had been warned about earlier from Scout Master. So I grabbed my umbrella and made my way up to the privy because my bladder was full and I was wide awake again. Birch Run has one of the nicest privies I’ve seen yet, it is almost the size of a whole room by itself.
I went back to my tent without seeing who the group of guys were at the shelter, they didn’t seem like thru hikers to me or even section hikers. I did see in the morning they had fishing gear at the shelter so I was right about that.
It rained all night very heavily, and the rain bounced right under my rain fly and got the whole bottom of my tent wet and dirty. My pack liner held well but the outside of my pack was muddy and dirty, my shoe liners were wet and dirty, my rain fly was soaked, and my tent footprint was also disgusting.
It was a little overwhelming at first, but I took it one step at a time and I put on my favorite podcast that I had downloaded to get me through the packing for a little morale booster. I packed up the inside of my tent like normal, then geared up to pack the tent itself.
I knew I was going to have to pack the tent wet, but I hoped it would get sunny later so I could dry it out. When I asked him, Scout Master said the same thing happened to his tent and it should be sunny later in the day. I took off the rain fly first and tried to shake it out a little and then folded it up and set it aside.
I picked up my entire tent and I moved it to a grassy area closer to the shelter, because there was water all on my footprint. I shook off the tent and I folded that up wet as well.
It was fortunate that I was camped right next to the pooling spring, because I was able to rinse off my footprint so it was only wet and not both wet and muddy, and I was able to rinse off my pack straps and back pad, which were also muddy.
I had packed my puffy already so that the down wouldn’t get wet, and I wore my fleece for the first time, very happy I had brought it. It was pretty chilly, plus I did not want to put on my wet pack with just my T-shirt on. Sounded like chafe city to me.
Next I went to fetch my food bag off the bear hang. Ursacks are notorious for collecting water, and this was the first time mine had been tested being rained on all night. I have an opsack that seals tight inside of it, so fortunately all of my stuff stayed dry overnight.
I packed just the food in the opsack into my pack, and folded the Ursack and put it in an outside pocket to dry out later. I didn’t want my sleeping quilt getting wet as that is also down.
The entire shelter area was wet and cold, so I had no desire to sit and eat my breakfast there. Plus stuff from the late arrivals was strewn about all over the eating area.
I mixed up my instant breakfast in my Powerade bottle, and hiked out with it, drinking it as I went. It was 7 o’clock when I left camp, about 7:15 by the time I started really hiking. My earliest start time yet.
It was cold with gray skies almost the entire morning, and I was grateful for my fleece. I kept it on for probably four or five miles. The sun kept peeking out here and there then going back under cover of the clouds, so I kept it on for a while.
My pack was definitely heavier with all the extra water weight that I was carrying with my wet stuff, and I was feeling the 20 miles I did yesterday. I was not feeling as strong today, and I shuffled up and down the trail like a little old lady. I didn’t feel like I had pushed too hard the day before, it just felt that my body had a different level of energy today.
The trail was pretty easy-going for the most part at first, not too many rocks or roots or anything all the way to Toms Run shelter, five and a half miles from Birch Run. It was a pretty small shelter so I only stopped for a few minutes to rest my feet, because they were feeling sore from yesterday still.
Toms Run was right near a creek, and the trail after it for a couple miles was extremely wet and muddy. It had clearly rained through here too all night and there was so much water on the trail, I could’ve probably collected it in my bottle and filtered it if I wanted to. One of my feet got half soaked stepping through it all.
I started singing a little song to myself about rocks and roots as I moved along, until my brain started thinking about some things that had been bothering me before I had decided to hike the trail again. Things I had thought I’d mostly gotten over, but I guess they decided to come back up again.
I hadn’t seen anyone since I left Birch Run that morning, so I took that opportunity to go ahead and vent my frustrations out loud as I hiked along. I used the empty forest as my own form of therapy and I really let some shit out.
After crossing Michaux Road, the trail took an upward turn and carved gradually along the side of a mountain. There was a lot of grass and tall plants to either side of the trail, so I was glad that I had applied some Picaridin bug spray to my legs before I had left Toms Run shelter.
The sun was finally fully out and the clouds had cleared and it was getting warm. I preferred that to the cold wet conditions of this morning though, and I felt optimistic that once I reached Pine Grove Furnace State Park for my lunch break around noon, I would be able to dry my tent in the sun.
After a bit the trail took a downturn to a area with more water, lots of bugs, and high humidity. It was like that for a couple miles to the state park, and for the last half mile or so there were adorable little cabins that I was walking past, and then a little bit of street walking in the hot sun till I got to Pine Grove Furnace General store.
Pine Grove Furnace Store is the home of the half gallon ice cream challenge. As a flip-flop hiker I hadn’t taken part in it last time, and I certainly wasn’t taking part in it this time, either. It’s more for hikers whose have hiked 1100 miles from Georgia, and have the type of hiker hunger that allows for that kind of indulgence.
I did get a large ice cream sandwich, a Gatorade, and an order of hot oily and salty fries, which I quickly devoured.
As I was finishing my fries I recognized a hiker walked up who I had seen at the shelter the night before. He had been laying down when I got there, so I hadn’t talked to him, just said hi briefly. He introduced himself as Maui and we talked a little bit about the fisherman who had shown up at the shelter the night before, and about our hike so far.
Maui had started in Georgia on March 1, and he was hiker number 184 at Harper’s Ferry, but started in GA as hiker 660. He said he was going to do the half gallon challenge, and probably stay at the Ironmasters Mansion Hostel that was right across the road from the store.
I was quite tempted by that hostel, for only $35 you get a bunk and breakfast and dinner during your stay. You can also do laundry, take a shower, etc. However I had just stayed in Waynesboro only a few days ago, and I wasn’t ready quite yet to give up the 17 miles that I wanted to hike today.
I spent longer than I expected at the store, watching Maui spend exactly 20 minutes eating a half gallon of ice cream and catching up on some stuff using the Wi-Fi there. Still no service to be had.
I moved on after about an hour to the park itself, where I finally found a very sunny and grassy spot to lay out my tent, rain fly, and footprint and also soak my feet in the running water.
Everything dried surprisingly fast, and a whole group of students on a class trip walked by, looking at me curiously, before getting in their school buses and driving away.
I filled up water at the spigot on my way out of the park. It was a flat section for a bit through the park, and I saw across the water a spot I vividly remember camping at with some trail family back in 2015. I allowed myself a moment to reminisce as I walked.
Back into the woods, the trail was rocky and steep for about a three mile climb. My feet were already hurting again, despite a two hour lunch break. The rocks were killing me, even the small ones, and I kept having to loosen my laces to accommodate the swelling of my feet. When I first started last Friday I had to tie them very tight as they are (were) one size up. How quickly that changed.
I skipped the quarter mile side trail to Pole Steeple; I didn’t have any blue blazes in me today. I kept trucking on, this time downhill, but that didn’t help because the impact on my feet became worse.
Rocks kept cropping up – I am in “Rocksylvania” after all – then teasingly short sections of flat, soft dirt here and there. Up on the ridge, the sun and blue skies were lighting up the bright green new growth trees I was hiking through, and a strong cooling breeze was rippling through.
Just like the last three reps at the gym, I find the last three miles of a long day are the hardest. I was struggling, and kept having to stop and let my feet catch up. My legs felt great, my lungs and everything were, it was just my feet aching. Gone was the manic hiking high of yesterday, today was a slow shuffle up and down the trail.
My mind drifted to all sorts of places, the beginning of Chamber of Secrets, random songs, memories, people I’d met on the trail. I just let it do its thing.
I realized at one point when I was stretching, crouched down on the ground, holding myself up by my trekking poles, that I could officially smell myself for the first time on this trip. And I smelled like a hiker. For those who don’t know, it’s not a pleasant smell. But to me it smells like hard work and dedication, and most people go nose blind to it pretty quickly, at least, fellow hikers that is.
I met a young hiker and his dog going the opposite direction and got to pet the dog, which energized me. That or the packet of caffeinated powder I had mixed with water guzzled down right before that. At one point a trail runner said hello to me, running up from the trail behind me, and gave me quite a shock. I hadn’t heard him coming over the sounds of my trekking poles clicking on the rocks. We chatted for a minute after he passed me.
I kept checking my app to see if I was at the shelter yet. I was heading for the James Fry Shelter, and it was taking an agonizing amount of time to get there because I was moving so slow. I was able to have just enough service to check in with Turtle, who wasn’t too far behind me.
Finally, a mile before the shelter I just sat down on the ground by the trail and took of my shoes to let my feet rest. The struggle was real. The upshot was that I ended up browsing Far Out about the James Fry shelter, and reading several comments that said the side trail to the shelter was long and the shelter itself not that great, and there were nice tent sites at the creek (Tagg Run) just ahead of it.
I had seen way more tent sites in PA than MD so far, and they were all tempting, but I hadn’t tented alone yet. However, I made my decision to go tent by Tagg Run, as a long side trail to a shelter felt like too much today, and I’d rather be by a water source. It was my first time tenting not at a shelter the whole trip, so I was curious what it would be like and if anyone else would be there.
I dragged myself the last mile, even though it was downhill, trudging through the rocks, knowing it was almost over. Still loving the type two fun even though it sucked in the moment, still knowing there was nothing else I’d rather be doing.
Eventually I heard water up ahead, and the sounds of a road further out. I saw the sign for the shelter, and saw to my left a group of tents and a hammock already set up, with a few people sitting around talking over by the water.
I scouted around for a more private location, not sure who the people were, but ended up back at the other tents. Two women and a man were there and said hello to me, and I asked if they minded if I set up my tent next to another one there. They told me to go for it.
It was 6pm, and I set up even faster than yesterday. Eleven minutes, shaving a whole minute off my record. The soft ground made it very easy. I was so tired, though. I put my socks and shirt on a nearby branch to dry, and got my mattress and quilt set up. I took out my food bag and thought about eating by myself, but told myself to get over it and make friends. I thought I recognized one of the women from earlier I had seen at the general store in passing.
I went over by the empty fire pit they were sitting around and said hello and introduced myself. There were two flip floppers that started a day or two after me, one was named Phoenix and the other one didn’t have a trail name yet. We talked about our experiences so far as I ate cheese and pepperoni on a tortilla. I didn’t feel like cooking after two long days in a row.
The other woman’s name I didn’t catch but she mentioned she hiked a lot of the trail back in 2017 and was completing sections this year. We talked a few minutes about the experience of coming back out several years later as I finished my meal with peanut butter spread on a chocolate chip cookie dough Larabar.
Soon after, everyone started to get ready to turn in, hanging food bags and brushing teeth. I collected some water and soaked my feet for a couple minutes, intending to come back to that in the morning.
It is 12 miles to Boiling Springs tomorrow. I still have two full days of food, so I’m gonna come up with a game plan for next steps. Either way, my feet are telling me to take it easy. I think tonight I’ll take some ibuprofen for the first time on trail.