Date: 2016-05-18
From: Alec Kennedy Shelter

To: Darlington Shelter
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: broken clouds

If yesterday was a tough hiking day for Debbie because of her fall, today was tougher. But she's one tough cookie as she managed to get 18.2 miles of the AT done in addition to the bumps in her game plan. Bump #1 was when she accidentally over-slept but she did a pretty good job of scrambling to catch up hustling up her morning chores. We were the last ones out of camp and Debbie headed out first between us. I returned to the campsite to retrieve a forgotten piece of gear sending Debbie on ahead. Sadly she made novice hiker mistake #2 when she turned SoBo instead of NoBo leaving camp. As I came behind her I turned NoBo with Jackson not knowing her mistake. I hustled along down the trail under the belief that she was in front of me and was quite surprised to not catch up with her.As the woods gave way to the Cumberland Valley so did the trail give way to a nice dirt trail with wide open spaces. After a few 90 degree bends in the path in various fields, the trail wound its way into Boiling Springs. We made our way past Children's Lake where Jackson shed his backpack and took a quick dip much to the dismay of a few ducks and geese. I began to doubt that Debbie was in front of me so we made a stop at the ATC Mid-Atlantic Regional Office to use the restroom and eat 2nd breakfast. We lingered waiting for Debbie while we considered making a brief detour for ice cream. Since it wasn't much fun to without Debbie, we turned East and headed out of town.The trail continued through a narrow band of dense trees with farm fields on either side for a few miles. Occasionally we would walk through one of the fields and then drop back into a new narrow band of trees. Mid-day with still no Debbie I began to search for a spot for lunch. I was both growing worried and sore, it was time to stop and take my boots off for a lunch rest. So I pulled up a seat on a narrow bridge that crossed a small stream and stripped my boots and socks off. Shortly after arriving, Debbie arrived from behind me!!! I heard her saga about having turned SoBo out of camp. Fortunately, she hadn't gone very far SoBo before she stopped and got herself turned back around NoBo. Sadly, at the 90 degree bends in the first set of cornfields, Debbie made Novice Hiker Mistake #3, missed one of the turns and had hiked quite a long distance in the wrong direction before again sorting her location out and getting back on the right track. It was then that I learned that she had literally not stopped walking to this point ALL DAY!!! She had been worried about catching me. Poor thing. As my lunch break was over, I headed out before Debbie. She stayed to rest. Mid-afternoon, I waited for her to catch me at a difficult creek crossing so I could help her cross. She had gotten turned around for a 3rd time that day so I was glad I'd waited. She was really racking up the miles.We crossed over I-76 & I-81 together arriving at the Scott Farm Trail ATC Crew HQ for a late afternoon snack.After crossing under the PA 944 via a tunnel, the trail heads up to Darlington Shelter. As daylight began to fade I found myself out in front of Debbie as she was pretty spent. I located the Shelter and two tent spots for us for the night. I quickly got setup and then when Debbie arrived helped her with her chores. We ate a hasty dinner and Debbie's hard day finally came to a quiet and successful end.