The start of this 500 section was a climb out of Harpers Ferry in West Virginia into Maryland. The miles started going by very quickly Maryland had some amazing historic sites of the Civil War and bushes of black raspberries that made this state very enjoyable. Pennsylvania went very fast as there was a lot of field walking which made for a nice change of pace. While in PA my new tramily met a nice trail angel couple that asked if they could help us in any way, we talked to them and we decided that we would go into town on the 4th of July and get an Airbnb and take a zero-day. The next day they offered to drive us to Hershey Park which was a crazy change of pace after living in the mountains for the past couple of months roller coasters felt as though They had gotten so much faster because I was so used to the only going as fast as my feet could carry me. The latter half of PA was rough I felt as though trail maintenance teams were intentionally setting up Rocks to gouge hiker’s feet. I know that is not true but the rocks there are sharp and they sit perfectly to gouge your feet. New Jersey and New York were Easier as the mountains there weren’t too difficult and hikers were able to do what people on the trail like to call deli-blazing. Hikers would often pack less food as they would set their miles per day to line up and eat at delis at road crossing which made for some really good eating along the way. The heat in New York was brutal though reaching high temperatures throughout the day and even the night was so hot it was uncomfortable to sleep. Things then calmed down temperature-wise into Connecticut but this is when the bugs started to come out in force. Miles 1000-1500 felt the fastest of all of them and it was starting to hit me that this amazing experience of hiking the trail was getting closer and closer to its end.
