Pumped Up Kicks

Okay. So today is Wednesday, the 26th, and I’m at the Quality Inn in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, which is 0.4 miles down the highway from the Appalachian Trail. And the main reason I’m staying here is so I can get some new shoes.

I'm also going to take a zero tomorrow, because my feet are very sore, and I’ve had a difficult six days. I need a day off. So, where do I start? This morning, I slept a little bit later than usual, because I didn't have a very long or difficult hike from Boiling Springs to Carlisle. So I let myself have a little more rest, which was necessary. I think I mentioned in yesterday’s post that the campsite I was at is literally right next to the railroad tracks.

And it turns out that it's a very active track. So several times over the course of the night — I think at least four — a rather large freight train rolled through. And there’s an intersection not far from the campsite where the trains blast their horns to warn motorists that they’re coming through. So I’d be sleeping, and then I’d hear this massive horn blast, and the bright light of the locomotive would shine directly into my tent, and then the train would rumble by for a while. So, I didn’t get a ton of sleep. I’m not upset that I stayed there, though, because the whole thing was rather amusing.

[Wife note: GEORGIA TO MAINE!!!!!]

I left the campsite at about 8 a.m. The AT went directly through a lovely little park in the center of Boiling Springs, and then there was a little bit of a road walk, and then it veered off and went back into the woods.

And today’s hike actually turned out to be pretty social. The guy from the campsite, named Pax, and I kept kind of leapfrogging each other for a while, and when I stopped for a break, Gloss and Low Key and Gentle Yeti came by. They’d camped at the shelter that was just before Boiling Springs but got an early start. So my late start coupled with their early start brought us together at the same point on the trail. And then, a little later, I saw Boots with the Fur again.

The hike from Boiling Springs to Carlisle was about 8.5 miles, and I think it was about the flattest 8.5 miles I’ve seen on the Appalachian Trail thus far, which meant they were also pretty quick miles. I came across a cooler about halfway through, right over a creek, but alas, all of its contents had been consumed by previous hikers. So I didn’t get any Trail Magic out of it. Aaron, I'm not sure where that would fall on the Trail Magic count. Is that a zero? Does it still count as one because the intention was there? Or is it a minus one for the disappointment factor? I don't know.

Anyway, one of the reasons I was feeling kind of desperate to get off the trail was that my boots had just given up. They were just done. And I really needed new footwear. I was planning on going to the REI in Mechanicsville, which is the next town over, but when I was talking to Low Key earlier in the day, he said he’d gone to a place called the Appalachian Running Company and had been really impressed with the selection there and how much the salespeople knew and all.

And when I’d bumped into Boots with the Fur, he said that he’d gotten a ride with another hiker — I didn't get that person’s name — into Carlisle the day before, and they’d gone to the REI but that the inventory and selection were very sparse. So they were only able to get a few things there and then had to go over to Dick's Sporting Goods after. So, based on what Low Key had said, I decided to check out the Appalachian Running Company.

I got to Carlisle at around noon, and the hotel is just a short hike from the trail. The AT actually crosses Route 11, but the area around here is primarily trucking companies and industrial things and not residential at all. And this Quality Inn is basically parked next to the intersection of Route 11 and 81, so it's clearly just meant to serve people who are driving from Point A to Point B. It's not a centerpiece of a town or anything like that.

Amazingly, even though it was only noon, I was able to check into my room, and it’s fantastic. It's big and clean and really everything I needed. The weather was pretty hot and humid, and there were storm warnings for the area for the rest of the day, so I was glad I was going to be inside.

I grabbed a few snacks from the vending machine, showered up, and then more or less passed out for an hour in the air conditioning. But then I rallied and found an Uber to take me to the Appalachian Running Company.

When I got there, a guy came over to help me who was former military — he was in the Army. I was wearing my Tevas but had brought my boots with me to the store so I could show whoever helped me what I’d been wearing. And the guy just kind of looked at me incredulous and was like, “You hiked all the way from Georgia in these?”

I said yes but that I was on my second pair at that point. And he said, “You are a hard dude.”

He explained that the boots I’ve been hiking in are good for day hikes and maybe short trips, but he’d never recommend them for a thru-hike. [Wife note: In Rob’s defense — not that he needs it, of course — the shoe guy in Damascus certainly seemed knowledgeable, and he thought they were a good choice. So, who knows?] He said, “I don’t mean to make fun of you or anything, but there are much better options.” So apparently, hiking 1,130 miles in Merrell boots is not advisable. And I guess I can attest to that, considering my feet were in quite a bit of pain. On his recommendation, I ended up getting a pair of Hoka Stinsons, for anyone who cares.

And interestingly, I’m a size 13 now. So, not only were my boots not particularly suited to long-distance hiking, but they were also two sizes too small. But I think I mentioned before that this is not uncommon for thru-hikers. They're a little bit ridiculous looking, kind of like having mattresses with shoelaces on my feet, but they feel amazing. I’m looking forward to hitting the trail in shoes with much more padding.

Next, I headed over to downtown Carlisle, which is very historical. It kind of has a Philly-ish vibe to it, sort of colonial American, and it's very charming. There are all these plaques on the buildings, referencing where famous figures from the Revolutionary War slept and that sort of thing. I grew up in New Jersey and went to college in St. Louis, and all I’d ever known about Carlisle was that it’s sort of at the intersection of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Highway 81, so it sees a lot of trucking traffic.

Anyway, a few days ago, when I was struggling a bit with the heat and the rocks and my shoes and not feeling particularly excited about my hike, S. encouraged me to stay in Carlisle an extra day to take time to rest and get shoes and maybe a new pack. But as an extra sort of incentive, she was looking for places I could finally get a beer and discovered a place here called Cafe Bruges, which has more than 100 Belgian beers on the menu. And anyone who knows me and S. knows how much we love Belgian beers. I was kind of stunned, actually, that there would be a full Belgian restaurant in Carlisle, Pennsylvania — maybe that's insulting to Carlisle. But basically, S. said, “If you don't go there, I might have to divorce you,” and I was not going to take that risk.

So I walked the half a mile or so from the Appalachian Running Company to Cafe Bruges, and boy, was that worth it! It was practically empty in there, but it was 4 p.m. on a Wednesday, so maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised. They had some really great Belgian beers on tap, and I started with a Herkenrode Noctis, which I’d never had before, and it was delicious. Next was a Gulden Draak, and I ordered steak frites for dinner, because I thought mussels would be too much effort for too few calories, though I was very tempted. And then I rounded things out with a Houblon Chouffe.

The law in Pennsylvania allows you to buy bottled beers to go from places, which I think is kind of unique to Pennsylvania. I remember that when I would visit my friend Rob Glinski when he was in law school in Philly, if we ran out of beer, we could go to a bar and buy more there, rather than having to go to a store. Granted, it's not very cheap to do it that way, but you know... desperate times, right? So I ordered a few more beers from Cafe Bruges to take back to the hotel and enjoy in the room.

One was a beer called Herkenrode Vesper, which is a tripel, and I also got a Chimay Green, or I guess it’s really Chimay Cent Cinquante, which is pretty hard to find, so I kind of felt I should get it. While I was at Cafe Bruges, a wave of storms came through, but then there was a bit of a window in the weather, so I got an Uber back to the hotel just before it started raining again. It’s been raining quite a bit ever since.

I'm hoping to get a lot of sleep tonight and then get even more rest tomorrow, on my zero day. After that, I should be ready to take on the world, especially with my new shoes. I'm going to hike into Duncannon and stay at the Doyle Hotel. I won’t really need another hotel night so soon, but the Doyle is a legendary spot for thru-hikers, so I don’t want to miss it.