Pennsylvania Border —> Duncannon, PA
I hiked to a parking lot at a trail head just over the PA border the next day and asked some kind older folks for a ride into town. There was a phone store and I was luckily able to buy and activate a new phone on the spot. I felt very grateful and for a moment I was happy. Once the transaction was completed my heart sank knowing I would have to return to the trail and place myself in the path of the person I was escaping, again.
I got a ride back to the trail and immediately started walking as fast as I could, back on the run. I was a gazelle alluding the cheetah stalking me. I hiked another 30 mile day and ended up at a shelter after nightfall. I ate a bar and went to sleep. Getting off trail might have put Safety Shawn ahead of me and maybe he’d never find me. Maybe I had escaped after all.
In the middle of the night I was startled awake by someone shaking me. “I hiked 72 miles straight to hike with you bitch and you couldn’t even text me where you were stopping for the day? Why the fuck did you abandon me. I thought I could trust you. You’re just like all the others. Fuck you,” he said then stormed off. “Where are you going?” I called after. I glanced at my watch - it was 3AM.
“I can’t trust you anymore Sarah. You betrayed me. It’s fucked up what you did.”
“Wait can you just stay and we can talk in the morning please?” Mostly I wanted to placate him enough to have the peace of mind that he wouldn’t murder me in my sleep. Reluctantly he laid his sleeping pad and bag next to mine and eventually my heart rate slowed down and I fell asleep.
In the morning I calmed him down. I don’t remember what lies I told him to get him to let me hike alone the next day but I did hike on. I hiked all the way to Pine Grove Furnace, the actual halfway point and home to the (in)famous half-gallon challenge.
On the porch of the general store sat four dirty hikers - two boys and two girls; Cobra, Mountain Cat, (Leslie) Knope, and Sparky. I was nervous to approach them but they invited me to sit. This was the first time I had interacted with women since starting the trail a month before. It was such a welcome and sorely needed energy in my life.
I turned on peak charisma and they loved me. They seemed to want me to stay with them so I did. We swam in the lake, ate ice cream, and camped together that night. Complaining about my tent compelled Sparky to invite me to sleep in his. We stayed up chatting and possibly flirting but that wasn’t confirmed until later. Sparky was nineteen and told me how he forfeited going to college for a real-world education by hiking. He wanted to experience
the world instead of study it. He was sweet and funny and definitely not as psycho as Safety Shawn and that was good enough for me. I slept peacefully by his side.
The following day we woke up slowly and meandered over to the AT museum. The owner gave us our own personal tour. Sparky and I got called away for an interview by some foreign journalist studying the AT thru-hiking community and as we were conversing I saw a bright orange spot emerging from the dim woods.
After the interview we sat away from the group and this time Safety Shawn was friendly and apologetic for his behavior. Initially I felt guilty for abandoning him but then I remembered that based on past experience, the remorse he expressed would be temporary.
I hiked out with my new friends and he stayed behind. I couldn’t lose the first group of people who truly felt like home. They were loving, funny, and appreciated my contribution to the group. It felt like I had hiked with them the whole time. The only problem was, they hiked slower than me - a lot slower. I was doing 30 mile days and they were doing 15. They said I inspired them to hike more but I was getting antsy. I felt pressured to hike ahead
of Safety Shawn. If I let him hike ahead of me there was always the chance I would see him again and I couldn’t risk that. I stayed with them as long as I could.
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