(PA Route 16 (mile 1069.6) - Chimney Rock (mile 1076.5))

AC and I left our Airbnb in Center City Philadelphia just before 11am. We couldn’t leave Philly without grabbing a cheesesteak, so we made our way to the original Tony Luke's, apparently one of the best cheesesteak spots in Philadelphia. We ordered a cheesesteak with cheese wiz and fried onions according to the recommendation of the cashier. The cheesesteak was indeed delicious and I ate it voraciously.

We then drove back to Waynesboro and made a quick resupply run to Walmart before heading to the trailhead. After organizing and packing my resupply, AC and I exchanged "see ya laters" and I started hiking at about 4:30pm.

I was unsure of how far I planned to hike, but I ended up setting my sights on Chimney Rock, 6.9 miles away. The spot had been recommended to me by Josh when I hitched into Waynesboro on Friday. It was apparently a nice campsite offering excellent views. The hiking was nice and it was especially pleasant to be hiking in the new shoes I picked up in Philadelphia. Interestingly, my feet seem to have changed size considerably since I started the trail. I originally started with 11.5 shoes. Then in Erwin I picked up a pair of 10.5 wide shoes which seemed to fit exactly the same as my original 11.5 shoes. Now when I was at REI, the 11.5 and 10.5W both felt much too narrow, so I upsized to an 11 wide which seems to be ideal for my foot which has widened considerably since starting the trail.

I made it to Chimney Rock at about 7pm. When I reached the side trail I ran into Stu who was still planning to hike another 14 or so miles before calling it a day. He explained that he was trying to catch up with his trail family for the half gallon challenge tomorrow and headed down trail.

The side trail to Chimney Rocks featuring Stu in orange

At the Chimney Rocks campsite I met "JPEG," a gentleman from Atlanta (Birmingham originally) who’s a tarp camper. We discussed tarp camping and ultralight gear and he was really interested in my Tarptent. He explained that his pack was bespoke, made specifically to his measurements by a one-man company (the name of which I can’t remember). Apparently, JPEG had insisted the pack be made with a hip belt even though the pack maker thought it was unnecessary since the pack was so small.

After chatting with JPEG for a while, I ate dinner on Chimney Rock. Dinner featured cold soaked ramen with a chicken packet, mushroom spaghetti sauce, powdered whole milk, and Tuscan chicken and herb spices. The cliff itself faces east, so though the views were superb, I wasn’t able to watch the sunset. After dinner, I retired to my tent. The plan for tomorrow is to hike about 20 miles which will put me 8 miles from Pine Grove Furnace State Park, roughly the halfway point and the site of the half gallon challenge!

Returning to trail

after a weekend with love

full belly, full heart