Date: 2007-08-30
From: Duncannon, PA

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

At last I managed to find a town with internet. Sorry to worry you all with the huge gap between my last entry. Where to begin? Yesterday I did my biggest day yet of 29.5 miles to get into Duncannon, PA. Duncannon is home to the historic Doyle Hotel where hikers have been staying for years to lick their wounds in the middle of the legendary PA rocks. I rolled in last night, haggard, and they welcomed me with warm food and cold drinks, God bless them! I've been hearing since the start of my trip how awful the rocks are supposed to be in this state, and to be honest, they are not that bad. PA is flat at least. So while you're constantly on rocks, at least you're not climbing up and down. I've been having a great time as of late. Sadly I got separated from Sweet Tea in New York but he is only a few days ahead, so I plan on catching him soon.I am two days away from crossing the midpoint of the AT which will put me at just under 1100 miles all told. I still look at that number and think to myself, "did I seriously do that?" It feels amazing though. While I still have plenty of trail left to hike it feels great to be hitting a big milestone like that. Traditionally, when you hit the midpoint of the AT you are supposed to attempt to eat a half gallon of ice cream--a sort of right of passage thing. I am torn as to whether or not I will do this. I mean, honestly, do I really want to pay someone five bucks to make me sick? Not so sure yet. As for the past few weeks, there's been so many great things that have happened. And of course, a few downers as well. About a week ago I somehow managed to pick up some poison ivy. Now, I can handle an isolated patch of poison ivy here and there, I'm tough like that. But because I have all of two changes of clothes and because I sleep in the same filthy sleeping bag night after night AND because I scratch like crazy in my sleep, I have managed to basically spread it anywhere and everywhere. A patch on my shoulder that I think is under control will suddenly jump to the back of knee, and then onto my forearm. Each new day brings a new patch of bubbly itchy skin, gotta love it. So hopefully I can get that under control eventually. I've been joking as of late though that I may as well plan on summitting Springer MT. in Georgia with poison ivy I've carried all the way from Jersey. Now that would be something. Apart from that though, I feel great. REI sent me a new pack recently that weighs about half as much as my old one and I managed to shakedown my pack pretty good. So I'm somewhere between 30 and 35 pounds with food and water. A drastic change from the 50 I started with. I've managed to meet some more extraordinary people on the trail as well. From the mayor of a small town to a police hostage negotiator, to a guy named Paddy-O from New York, I've managed to receive some unbelievable trail magic. It's humbling when complete strangers open the doors to their homes just so you can have a hot meal, a shower and a warm bed. To all the people like this I've encountered on this trip, which only grows, I am eternally grateful. That's all for now. I hope to be able to update much sooner rather than later. I'm looking forward to seeing family and friends in a few weeks for my sister's wedding. My best wishes go out to you all---thanks for sticking with me, despite my laziness with entries.Onwards!Dutch MEGA 07ps: The mileage thing on here is messed up and I can't seem to fix it. My current mileage is 1041.