Date: 2009-06-20
From: Cove Mountain Shelter

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 4.1
Weather: light rain

(writing at 6:30am) Wake up to rain falling on the rooftop. I'm glad there were no tent sites. I would have never thought it would rain overnight. Went to bed with clear skies...not a cloud in sight!So the old adage that "I'd rather be lucky than good" applies today. My Angel in my pocket came through today. I had only planned on making it to the last shelter yesterday and hiking 12 miles into Duncannon today. Leaving at my normal time would have put me in town at 2-3 pm. Woops!!! Today is Saturday and the Post Office closes at noon. Wow..lucky. I only have 4 miles to hike from here and will make it around 10 am. I would have been stuck in Duncannon until Monday morning waiting for the Post Office to open.. Lucky dude! Didn't realize it was Saturday until I looked at my watch this morning. The day of the week is not always displayed on my watch....only when looking at the date function.By the way, hats off to whoever designed and built this shelter, Cove Mountain Shelter. Huge place that could hold over a dozen comfortably in bad weather. It was contructed using dowel pins, and they are everywhere. They didn't cut them flush with the joints, but let them hang out a couple of inches. So there are places to hang things and packs everywhere. I counted at least 40 of them and had to have missed a couple. There are even 3 pins in the rafters at roof's peak (hiker humor)......no way to get to them. There are open beams everywhere creating shelf space at ground floor and second level. There is a picnic table and an additional cooking table. And even steps leading up to the sleeping platform. Don't laugh...some do not have them and the platform can be a ways off the ground. There is a plexiglass panel letting natural light into the place. It even has a permanant "mouse hanger" to protect items from mice (about a dozen hooks under a steel roof). Well done folks! Well designed and built!So it was a wet, sloppy, but thankfully quick hike into Duncannon. I arrive a little after 9am and the hostel doesn't accept guests until 11am. So I walk up to the Post Office and get my stuff and then go the diner across the street from the hotel for breakfast. Holy cow! Biggest pancakes I have ever seen, and thickest. Two eggs, sausage, toast and 2 pancakes.....usually an easy killing for a hiker. I couldn't finish the pancakes. Wow, very good too!The Doyle Hotel, where I'm staying, is closer to a hostel than a hotel. Let's just say it is an interesting place. I'm clean, laundry is done, I'm resupplied, on the Internet, drinking a beer....all is well!!!"The Group" is a day or two ahead of me so I don't know if I'll catch them before my July break or not. It's been very relaxing hiking alone basically...there are always other hikers around. But when you're not hiking with anyone else, you can hike whatever pace you feel like, break whenever you want, stay wherever you want.....and just execute the plan...no questions about the plan, where are we, etc. In short, I'll most likely catch them at some point, but it's been a nice break.....except for that whole being ill thing!!