Date: 2015-06-28
From: Duncannon

To: Stealth Camp North of PA 225
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: mist

Today was a bit of a roller coaster, and I don't mean the one on the AT in Virginia!As is my habit, I woke up several times during the night and one of those times I wanted to check what time it was. Apparently it was 'my phone is dead and cannot be revived' time. It was plugged in to charge but it wasn't charging because the ceiling light was switched off (don't ask) but it had plenty of power when I went to sleep. My charger had gotten wet so I was using one of Ahab's ports. After realizing I had a phone problem, that was it for solid sleep for the rest of the night. Without my phone I can't get in touch with Gary or anyone else, can't call for rides or accomodations, can't take pictures, can't write my journal (I don't carry paper), in short I did not want to hike without my phone. I feel like a spoiled 16-year old saying it, but it's the truth.I also could not get ETA updates from Valerie and Stephanie. Ahab kindly lent me her phone so I could try to send them a message through Facebook. After Ahab and I had breakfast across the street, she left to go hike and I went back to the room until check out time. Then I went across the street again and got a large tea to go and waited in front of the Doyle for Valerie and Stephanie to arrive. And apparently was looking in the wrong direction because they pulled up without me noticing. Everyone was ready for more food by this time, so we all went back across the street yet again for the next round. After that I tried on my new shoes (I am so excited about the new shoes!)!which were perfect so I tossed the old ones in a nearby dumpster. After yesterday, they looked particularly nasty. Valerie and I were going to hike 8 miles to a road crossing and Stephanie and their son Brick were going on adventures in Harrisburg. At the end of our hike Steph would then come pick us up again and we'd go back to Harrisburg to see what could be done about the phone.The first couple of miles went through residential Duncannon and (far worse) across a really busy, ugly and noisy bridge. I felt bad for showing Valerie such an unappealing part of the trail but fortunately we got the actual trail pretty quickly. The trail itself was mostly unremarkable. A couple of views, a bunch of rocks (nothing out of the ordinary yet) and a whole lot of poison ivy. But it was fun to hike and chat, and to watch her dog Cairo enjoy herself. We got to the road right when we thought we would and Stephanie got there within 5 minutes so everything worked out as planned. I love it when that happens! 20 minutes or so later, I was in front of the Verizon store and waved them off. I thought it would take a long time, with data having to be transferred to a new phone and such, so I didn't want them to wait, as they also had a long drive back to DC.As it turned out though, it didn't take long at all. The check-in person at the door did a reset on the phone (who knew? I have a droid in my normal life!) and that revived the phone but it was out of battery. I also had a sneaky suspicion that my charger was broken as it had gotten wet. So when it was my turn to talk to somebody, they confirmed the phone was charging normally on their charger and that the plug on my charger was kaput. I bought a new plug for twenty bucks and they charged my phone so I could at least use it. That was a lot easier (and cheaper!) than I had imagined. Verizon's customer service is pain to deal with over the phone, but in this store they were nothing but helpful.The area where the store was had lots of restaurants so I went across the street and ate at a Mexican place while charging my phone completely. I also tried to call a local trail angel to arrange for a ride back but never did hear back. I was about to ask the staff to call a taxi for me when one of the other guests came up to me and asked if I was thru-hiking. We chatted a bit and he mentioned he and his wife don't live far and had been hiking today. I boldly just asked if they could take me back. He didn't know the trailhead but I showed him on my phone (see how handy it is!) and they agreed to take me. They hadn't their dinner yet, but I assured them that waiting was not going to be a problem! And so I got driven back to the trail by Cory and Erica Kaplan who very kindly went out of their way home to get me back. Thank you so much, you have no idea how much I appreciate it and I hope that if and when you go on your hike, you will meet many of the same kindnesses!It was already after 7 when I started hiking again, so I did not go very far. I knew that in the worst case I could get to the shelter three miles down the trail but I was hoping to stealth camp before it would be getting dark. I found a spot that is flat and not too rocky within half an hour and called it a day. It is cool again and I predict I will sleep well after my semi-sleepless night.I also just calculated my mileage for the week ending today; 115. I'll be doing that on Sundays from here on out. My very loosely defined plan calls for 100 miles a week, so I'm pleased with 115. I do want to step up the overall mileage a little so as not to have too much cold weather in Maine.I have no idea what tomorrow will be like, but if my phone keeps working and it doesn't rain all day, it'll be a good day. 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