So I woke up this morning to swollen ankles and knees. Pretty sure this is due to too many miles hiked yesterday and not an actual injury. So I treated my self to a lovely brunch sitting outside on a balcony overlooking the river. Pennsylvania has some incredibly beautiful spots to see when you aren’t staring at your feet trying to dodge rocks 😀.

After brunch I found a nearby hostel and arranged for a ride and three nights stay. The hostel is right on the trail, which will allow me to slack pack a couple of days and give my joints a break from lugging a 30 lb pack up and down the mountains. My ankles swell everyday, but this is the first time the swelling hasn’t gone down overnight. My number one goal of this hike is not to get injured because if I fail at my number one goal, I can’t accomplish my number 2 goal – have a good time or my number 3 goal – finish the trail. So I am going to be kind to my body and hope it holds up for the entire 2197.4 miles of the trail.

Under the “it is a small world” category of events (yes I too will have that song stuck in my head for a while), the first hiker I met at the hostel, Firefly, is from Massachusetts. Some of you may know that my two of my nephews grew up in Massachusetts. So the only small town I know in Mass is the town of Agawam, where they grew up. So if I meet anyone from Mass I automatically ask them if they know where Agawam is. Today I met the first person who ever said yes. Not only does he know where it is, he used to work for the EMS/Fire Department in Agawam. We both got a good laugh about it. I got to ask him if he knew my nephews, sadly he didn’t. However, I told him all about them and bragged on them anyway. He is planning on going back to work there after he finishes the AT and the CDT (he is trying to do a 20 month triple crown and has already completed the PCT). So he might know them someday. He also told me that I would love the PCT and that if I could hike 200 miles of the AT I could for sure do the PCT sooo . . .🤪