Date: 2007-10-25
From: Peter Mountain Shelter 

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: overcast clouds

I am writing this in the morning after it rained all night at the Peters Mtn Shelter. Last night was very misty and we were glad of all our waterproof bags as the mist rolls into these open-sided shelters and makes everything wet. It is 10oC (50oF) this morning, but seems colder due to draftiness. Yesterday just before arriving here we passed what must have been the original Peters Mtn Shelter. It is tiny, and today it is wet inside right to the back wall. I suppose the theory is that if you're here when the weather is bad you just go out to the carpark, get in your car and go home to dry out. I am interested to read (on the map) that the Pennsylvania Game Commission manages its lands (some of which the trail goes through) ¢primarily for¢ . . . sport hunting! It ¢recognizes¢ use by others such as hikers. I suppose in such a huge country you can afford such exclusivity. We have arrived at Duncannon and are staying overnight in the Doyle Hotel. We were told it is a real dump, but we have a nice room in the corner on the 3rd floor with a view over the Susquehanna River.Our room at the Doyle Hotel The bathrooms are not much but serve the purpose, and there is a bar, a foodservice area (lunch and dinner), a laundry and internet service. It may have its reputation as a dive because of getting overwhelmed by NOBOs. Certainly that reputation is undeserved as far as we are concerned. And the people are very friendly and helpful. There is, however, one serious disadvantage with it. We were warned about it by some NOBOs and they were right. The place oozes smoke from every pore. The proprietor smokes and as far as we could see, so does every last one of the patrons and permanent residents. A sign on the door proudly announces that they have no non-smoking area. It cost them most of our food business despite the poor options in town (pizza, pizza and more pizza!). I wonder if they went smoke-free if business would increase or decrease. But there is no chance, the proprietor struck me as a die-hard smoker.Dave is upstairs doing the laundry. All my clothes are in the laundry, so I am confined to our room till I get something to wear (not such a bad thing). We had a straightforward 10 mile run into town today along the relatively flat ridge which has come to typify the AT in Pennsylvania (along with the rocks, of course). We forgot to record the climbing but it would not have been much. As we neared Duncannon, the ridge became narrow enough that we could sometimes see into both valleys at once. There are lots of power lines crossing the ridge and the clearance around them affords views over the countryside. Well, ¢countryside¢ is not quite correct, as this area appears extremely highly populated. From the shelter last night we could see lights everywhere. I have decided that it is too hard to find the time and the computer access required to keep up the journal myself and have asked Cathy if she would do the entries if I snailmail them to her. She is already doing us a great favour by setting up my entries in a daily format and adding photos where we cannot as yet. We certainly owe her a debt of gratitude. [You¢re very welcome!] Here is an update on the Salomon boot saga from the start of our trip. If you recall, my new Salomons fell apart after the stresses of going through Maine and I mailed them back to Salomon. Well, they have agreed it should not have happened and have offered to replace them. I will be looking for Salomon boots from here and once I find some I can use I will notify them and they will send me some wherever we want them sent. Salomon have certainly stood behind their product. We are mailing a couple of food parcels from here using the Post Office pre-paid boxes. They have to be mailed from the Post Office, however, not from any mailbox. This is because, we are told, they might have a bomb in them! So, the woman from the hostel will post them for us tomorrow as the Post Office will be shut when we leave.Doyle Hotel