This was an absolutely exhausting day! I did 19.8 AT miles but really 20.43 miles. There wasn’t any water near trail. It was all off trail and not near either. Because of that, I was carrying a lot of water for most of the day. There was about a 4 mile section or so that was absolutely amazing! It was an old forest road so not super rocky or steep. I was able to do some great miles in a quick amount of time. That was definitely needed because the rest of the day was pure rock hell! I had heard of “the knifes edge” in Maine as a trail you can take down from Katahdin but I didn’t know there was a knifes edge here in PA too. I do now! Man, that was scary! It was all massive stones, many of it at a steep angle so it was like trying to climb along a sharp edge. Unfortunately, after the knifes edge, I was in a section with a lot of those medium sized rocks that are scattered all over the ground close enough that you have to step on them so you pick which ones look safe. Don’t step on the ones that are tilted too much. You can easily slip. But even the flat looking ones that look like they’re stable could surprise you. That’s how. I broke my trekking pole the other day and today, it happened again. I had to lunge to get to another rock and it wasn’t stable. It tilted hard in the direction of the side I didn’t have a trekking pole. I went down hard putting my hand out to stop myself. I had caught a rock but it too was loose and down I went, so hard that I cut my knuckle, scraped my knee and hit my head next to my left temple on a rock. I have small scrapes and my temple area is VERY tender and stings now. It’s also turning purple and there’s a bump. Glad I’m getting off trail tomorrow. I’m a wreck. I get it! It’s easy to say, “be careful on those rocks,” but it’s not that simple when you’re trying to traverse these rocks the best you can with a pack loaded with water you have to carry on your back throwing you off balance. You can only do the best you can do and hope the rocks you pick to step on will hold. My feet are beaten up and now my head hurts. I’m happy to be getting off trail. I need a break. I ordered my 4th pair of shoes because I need a pair with more cushion than the Altra Lone Peaks I’ve been wearing this whole hike. These rocks will either destroy my shoes or my feet soon so I might as well get new shoes to take on the rest of this State. I believe the horrible rocks continue all the way into New Jersey. I look forward to getting out of them and hopefully to some flat land soon. I’m writing this in my tent at a stealth site. I have 5.6 miles to go tomorrow and then I get to see some familiar faces. Happy to see Alyssa & Zach and they already received my new trekking poles I shipped to their place. Thanks to the amazing Venmo trail magic from my incredible friends, I was able to get a really nice pair of Leki poles and I’m excited to check them out. They are highly recommended.