Hello everyone! I do apologize for not writing since Harper's Ferry, WV, but it has been hard finding a computer to use through the last few states. Yes, I am still on the Trail! In fact, I just arrived in Kent, Connecticut yesterday. So, since my last blog, I have hiked through West Virginia, Maryland, Pennysylvania, New Jersey & New York. West Virginia and Maryland were very short and a breeze to walk through, but then there was Pennysylvania....the rumors of the rocks were true. I will never, I repeat...NEVER hike through that state again. The trail was so unbelievably rocky that it took quite some time to get through that state. Someone even posted a sign at the beginning of the trail apologizing for all the rocks! The only thing that was positive about Pennysylvania was that it was the actual half way point on the trail and when you make it to Pine Grove Furnace State Park, PA, it is hiker tradition to complete the "half gallon challenge". What is the half gallon challenge? It is the challenge of eating a half gallon of ice cream as fast as you can! I gladly took on this hiker tradition and finished the task in 51 minutes. I thought I was not going to make it about half way through, but my hiker friends cheered me on and i finally finished. I didn't set the record for the day (which was 20 minutes), but I was the only girl who took on the challenge...I was pretty proud, but it took a good solid hour to recover! I also went cliff jumping into the Schuylkill River outside of Port Clinton, PA...that was pretty exciting but I haven't been able to hear out of one of my ears so well since that day. I finally got out of PA, but all the rocks caused me to have a pretty bad shin splint, so I had to take it pretty slow through the beginning of New Jersey. New Jersey was very pretty and the hiking was nice and gradual. I think I just ate my way through New York because there was a hot dog or pizza place at almost every road crossing. I must have stopped at every single one! I didn't mind one bit walking a half mile off the Trail just to get a chili dog! (They weren't as good as Monroe's Hot Dogs, though!)

Now I am in Connecticut and I feel as though I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It didn't hit me how far I had actually walked until I walked over the Hudson River in New York. The Hudson River bridge is quite an impressive piece of steel and as I am standing on the bridge looking at the river, I thought to myself, "wow...I actually walked all the way here from Georgia!" I couldn't get over it. I have now walked 1,455.9 miles. I have 722.3 miles to go until I summit Mt. Katahdin in Maine. Everyone has been asking when I plan to finish...hopefully, the answer will be the last week in September or the first week of October. That is the plan. My shin has healed and I am doing great. Thanks to everyone for the cards, letters and packages. My next big town stop will be in Dalton, MA. The zip code there is 01226 if anyone would like to send something. I will write again further up the Trail...I am going to see how many hot dogs I can eat through Connecticut!