Today’s trek was mostly on the trail, and included many bridge crossings. Normally, that’s a great itinerary. But it was supposed to rain much of the day, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
I met my shuttler, Ed, at JM Beatty Furniture, a business along the trail that allowed me to park in their lot for the day. Then he shuttled me to the trailhead at Lawhead Service Station. Yesterday, I thought the trail popped me out to the trailhead and right back into the woods, but another hiker said no, I had a short road walk first. So I headed out along the road – only to discover I should have, indeed, tucked back into the woods. Oh, well. I only missed less than a mile on the trail, as it soon crossed the road I was on.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links (among regular links) to products I own and like, or which I think you might like. This means that, at no extra cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Heading Toward JM Beatty Furniture
Once on the trail, I had an enjoyable morning. Most of it was relatively scenic, although there were definitely some muddy, overgrown sections that I carefully navigated. It began to rain late morning. Not a downpour, but steady enough that I fished out my hiking umbrella.
I’d hoped to lunch at Vulture Bear Rock, where there might be an overhang to keep me dry, but there was only a bench up top, where I’d get soaked. So when I later reached a pine forest that kept much of the rain at bay, I decided to stop for a quick lunch.
Due to the rain and mud, I ate standing up under my umbrella, which I propped above me on a broken tree branch. Not the much exciting way to lunch. Then I soldiered on.
Wishing the Day to End
The afternoon devolved quickly. I opted for a few road walks where the very-overgrown trail roughly paralleled some gravel roads. I didn’t want my feet and legs to get anymore soaked than they already were. At one point a parks person told me about another road walk I could take that went up a steep hill. I wasn’t quite sure what he was referring to. But when I saw more overgrown, wet trail next to a gravel road, I took the road.
Long story short, I never found the road the man mentioned. Instead, when the road I was on was going to dead-end up ahead, I decided to bushwhack 
back to the trail. It looked like relatively easy going, as there was an old logging road going in the direction I needed. Bad decision.
The logging road led me toward the trail, but I spent quite a bit of time navigating a very steep downhill that was hard to hike down due to all of the rain. The terrain was soft, muddy and lumpy, so it took forever to get to the road and, soon, back on the trail.
From there, I finished the final trail stretch and got back on the road for the final piece back to JM Beatty Furniture. The rain got heavier, and it was a relief to reach my car and be done for the day.
Snowshoe
Pennsylvania miles today: 15.1 (24.3 km)
Pennsylvania NCT miles to date: 84.8 (136.5 km)
Total NCT miles to date: 3,967 (6,384.3 km)
Total NCT miles to go: 633 (1,018.7 km)
My most useful gear today: My lightweight Six Moons hiking umbrella, which helped keep me dry.
