Day 65: Dancannon, PA. 1051.7 miles from Katahdin, 1137.3 miles from Mt. Springer

This doesn't look like the Appalachian Trail! Because it's not. We escaped and went to Florida to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday. There were so many family members there, this is the most that could be captured on camera at any one time. 

After 5 days of feasting and sunning, Forrest returned to the AT and met his friend Travis to continue south from the EXACT point where we left off.

I, however, went to visit a friend before meeting Forrest back on the trail further south, at Duncannon. 

This is "cheating" at the Appalachian Trail and I feel I could become very good at it. I didn't know a trail could have 'rules,' but my personal rules trump them. My rules have a clause something like, 'if you live in Alaska where you never get to see anyone and you walk 900+ miles within 70 miles of one of your best friends, you stop and see her.' My rules have the benefit of much more calorie consumption.

I have skipped about 120 miles of shoe tearing, rock stumbling path and feel zero remorse about it. 

It is never logistically easy to get to or from the AT, and this detour required "planes, trains, & automobiles." I took an Amtrak train to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's Capitol, and then Ubered (a taxi service you can call from an app on your smartphone) to the trail.

Forrest, who changed to new shoes in Florida, says they are already destroyed-- the rocks in Pennsylvania are that awful.

We still have a lot of Pennsylvania to go, so I didn't even do a great job at cheating.