Week 2: Coal towns, sore ankles, and BK (April 22, 2001)

The weather got better after a really cruddy first week, and Mark was able to take advantage of it during this second week.

Early in the week he passed through good old 'Allentown, PA,' famous in song. (Well, one Billy Joel song at least.) A series of coal towns followed, which Mark described as 'creepy and depressing.' He walked over the top of Blue Mountain, where his path crossed that of the Appalachian Trail. Other towns he passed through include Tamaqua, Mt Carmel and Shamokin, before reaching Sunbury. (HE couldn't remember much about those towns, other than their names.) He actually spent Sunday night outside of Sunbury, towards Lewisburg. (This might seem like not a large distinction, looking at a map, to you car-driving losers, but to a walking fool, it is a an important one.) Sunday night found him camped out under the stars, near some RR tracks, not far from the good old Susquehanna River ...praying for no rain.

Annoyances: Mark's ankle has been gradually hurting more and more over the past 4-5 days, and he suspects it is sprained. He's planning on spending 2 days at a campsite not far from Sunbury/Lewisburg letting it heal, or almost heal, before hitting the road again.

Good News!

* The blisters seem to be mostly gone!
* Mark has been able to push through almost 20 miles a day for most of this past week.
* There has been a preponderance of Burger King restaurants along his route, meaning he has been feasting on BK salads and BK chicken sandwiches.