The first section of PA was very similar to northern MD. Not overly difficult terrain profiles but littered with rock. And the temperatures were soaring. Ambient highs in the high 90's and 90% relative humidity resulting in a feels like temperature of 110 degrees. I made my way north to the official 1/2 way point and to the 1100 mile marker. It was hot and the water was getting scarce. I was stopped at the Pine Grove Furnace Store for a snack and to consider the 1/2 gallon ice cream challenge. Fortunately, I was interrupted by Kula and Pappa Smurf ( two fellow Warrior Hikers). While we were catching up and complaining about the heat wave, I got a text from Butter Tea, a Warrior who I had hiked with for a stretch. His text was short and to the point - he asked if I wanted to go to Maine and work south to finish. It's called a flip flop and is fairly common on the trail in order to seek better weather.
I told him I'd think about it. So, I went to my best source of sound judgment - Cristina. We talked it over and decided the that it made good sense. I let Butter Tea know I was in and we arranged a rental car. Two days later I picked him up near Harrisburg PA and off we drove to Maine.
I reached out to my first hiking buddy Bill (AKA Shades). He had to get off for medical reasons (leaving me as the oldest guy in the Warrior Expeditions group). He lives in Maine so I figured he could help point us in the right direction in regards to Baxter State Park - the home of Katahdin and our start point heading south. Little did I know that this spur of the moment call would have such a positive effect on my journey.
A word about NOBO, SOBO, YO-YO and flip-flopping.
A NOBO is the traditional northbound through hiker. GA to Maine. Start in the Spring and end in the fall. A SOBO is southbound and usually starts in the Summer ( when Katahdin opens up after the Winter snow is gone). A YO-YO starts in the South, completes a NOBO and the turns around and completes a SOBO. These people should not be allowed to drive.
Then, there is the flip-flop where one starts somewhere, does about 1/2 the trail and flips ends to hike the other half. There are numerous variations but mine was GA to PA to Maine to PA. Simple enough. Our hope was that we would avoid the heat wave (we both have medical issues that don't do well with extreme heat), the main bubble of hikers and the drought. As an added bonus we would get a change of scenery - we had no idea what a change it would be.
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