Date: 2005-07-08
From: Darlington Shelter

To: The Infamous Doyle Hotel
Miles today: 11.3

The tent survived a major storm. It dumped buckets from the second we got in it at about 8pm until 9am the next morning. Mileage and I stayed dry in the middle, but the big storm kicked up mud all over the majority of the tent. It took us extra long to get onto the ttrail at about 11am, and then we realized that the picknick was over. It looked like they couldn't fit any more rocks on the trail if they tried, it was pretty brutal actually. We did about 4 miles when we came upon a prehistoric sized rattler and its companion, a more normal sized snake. We took all the pictures and videos and waited up so Warlock and Squid could check them out too. We were all on a mission, to get to Duncannon for the hiker feed, which is a free cookout for thru hikers. We did the next 7 miles slow and carefull thru huge boulder fields, and eventually reached town. Kind of a scummy town, but by the looks of it probably a fun one. We walked to the legendary hotel Doyle, threw our packs down, and went into the old 5 story hotel. The lower level is a bar and there were already about 15 hikers sitting, drinking, and eating. We took a table and had a group meeting, the conclusion was that we were going to stay. The next days hiker feed was supposed to feature a whole roasted pig, and we weren't about to miss that! We had a few drinks and a bite, then headed up to our room. Mileage and I were not very surprised when we walked into a really old beat up room. The first thing I noticed ws a giant stain on the cealing, ripped and hanging wallpaper, a burned out light fixture, and an age yellowed smoke detector that looked like it hadn't worked since the late 60s. We had heard the hiker feed would be hot dogs tonight so we decided to skip it and take naps. A few hours later we woke up and went back downstairs. The bar was empty except for a few locals, the bartender asked us if we were going to the feed and told us thats were everyone is. We said no, we will have a little dinner and some drinks here. We were having a good time and people started showing up by the dozens. To name a few we saw Cuppa Joe, Stiltz, Domino, Crazy horse, Gypsy, Touk, Ms. Janet, Baltimore Jack, TDS, Crazy Legs, Fireball, and a bunch of belligerent drunks that we didn't know. One of them was getting pretty rowdy and I thought to myself, this guy is gunna get into a bar fight or arrested. It went from just Mileage and I and a few locals to beyond capastity, a tight smokey box that was hard to move around in. People were running around the upstairs of the hotel with drinks and doing whatever they wanted. It seemed like mayhem, but everyone was having a good time. I will admit at some point I became fairly drunk, looked over my shoulder, and saw mileage doing shots with Ms. Janet. It was becoming a little to crowded for us in the bar, and some people were becoming pretty rowdy. I heard Crazy Horse say he was going to play guitar on the balcony, so we went up there. He is an amazing musician. A big group formed around him and I think everyone was in awe. He is just that good, a great singer. Squid also went off and did the Bruce Spruce song entitled postcards from Maryland. Great song, really funny! Anyway, we are listening to him while the bar downstairs reached its boiling point. The cops showed up at about 1am and dragged out that guy I mentioned earlier and maybe 1 or 2 others. We watched from the balcony as Crazy Horse continued. A few minutes later the bartender came up and yelled, "The porch party is over, and the bar is shut down early." I guess things got out of controll. Overall a really fun night but maybe just a touch to crazy. Mileage and I plan on spending tommorrow at the hiker feed eating whole roasted pig, and then heading back out to the woods. I am definitally ready for that.                           PIKERNames I forgot from last night....Fester, the Honeymooners Muskrat and Birdie, Swamp Donkey and Mustard Seed