Date: 2009-06-17
From: Darlington Shelter, PA 

To: Duncannon, PA 
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: light rain

Cell goodOG notesWe had a very comfortable night in our tent last night, the ground was level and smooth. It didn't start raining until noon today so we were able to pack up a dry tent and gear.We've arrived in Rocksylvania! We hit a rocky section today that was very tough on the feet and legs. We had to be very careful where we planted our feet as we walked. I've been having trouble with my left foot, three toes have blisters on them and my heel hurts at times. We'll be changing boots again next week as the ones we have are not working out. I usually don't send back things I buy after I've used them. This pair of boots started hurting my feet from the beginning. I thought the foot problems would work themselves out but they seem to have gotten worse instead. I'll be writing a letter and sending mine and C6s back when we get home after the hike.Tonight we're in an Appalachian Trail legendary stop - The Doyle Hotel. This place is supposed to be one of the original Anheiser Busch Hotels, whatever that means. There is a banner on the outside declaring 100 years of being in business. I'll have to do some researching on that to see what the history of this place really is. C6 considers it more like a hostel, I think it's more of a flophouse. The decor is more like the cheap rooms you see the seedy characters in a movie living in. One night won't kill us and besides it's a "must do" when hiking the AT.A funny thing happened here this afternoon. Miss Scarlet, Newt, and two of their friends have a room in the front of the building. Their door was open, as was most of the doors to the rooms. One of them said "We have a view from our window." I then asked "Can you see the Statue of Liberty?" They all looked at me like I was crazy until I explained there is a small statue on an island in the river. Their friends have a car and they took a ride and they did see the statue in the river.We're settled in our room for the night and it's a little after 8pm. I fear there will be some drunks in the hall later on this evening. Some of the hikers were feeling no pain and will probably overdo it. Hopeflly sleeping with the radio on will drown out the noise. Did I mention this place is a trail icon and a must do if you want the whole trail experience?C6 notesWe're in the Doyle Hotel in Duncannon, PA. It's a quaint place that's more like a hostel with private rooms than a hotel. The rooms are on two floors, and each floor has a one toilet and one shower bathroom that everyone on the floor shares. There is a washer and dryer in the fourth floor bathroom that all tennants can use (coin operated, of course). Our room has bare wood floors (unfinished, with paint drops all over) and barely/poorly painted walls. It is fun here, however, because all the tennants seem to be hikers, and so far we know most of the people here. We'll have dinner in the bar downstairs and probably have a good time with our friends. That's a lot of fun. The rate of the room is reflected in the quality...$30 for the two of us. It's nice to have a private room in what feels like a hostel. Hostels have rooms with as many bunk beds in one room as they can squeeze into the room usually. One thing that makes this much like a hostel are the "hiker boxes" in the hallway on each floor. Those are boxes where hikers put stuff they don't need or want so others can take it if they want it. The boxes are very handy. We rarely take stuff because we did quite well with our preparations. We sometimes leave stuff (like extra food we didn't eat and don't want to carry), and it's nice to see other hikers (usually younger hikers) eating something we left somewhere up the trail. We feel good that we helped another hiker, and it's fun to hear how excited some of them are to find a meal in the box so they don't have to buy a meal.Right now is interesting...I'm washing clothes while OG is stuck in the room because all his pants are in the load of clothes being washed. It's very relaxing being in a private room and taking care of the things we need to do. The washer and dryer are next to our room so I can hear the machines without having to go check them every few minutes. They'll be finished in a few minutes, so OG won't be captive much longer.We traded our leather hiking boots for our summer boots when our daughter came down for the family gathering Memorial Day weekend. Since then I've had some new problems with my feet, and OG is having a lot of problems with his. That's to be expected with new boots, but the problems aren't because the boots are new. The problems are because these boots don't breathe...they hold our sweat in so our feet are constantly wet! We've asked our daughter to bring our new leather boots with her when we see her for a family wedding on 6/27. We're giving up on these boots and going back to leather! It's later now (8:00pm) and we enjoyed a delicious dinner with hiking friends (Newt and Miss Scarlett). This place is fun because of all the people we know (hikers). Red Leg is here, also, but he was finishing his dinner when we got to the bar. He left shortly after so we joined Newt and Miss Scarlett. While we were eating other hikers arrived...Zoltan, Mr. Buffalo Man, and Goof. Unfortunately, there are no more rooms available. They were lucky to talk other hikers into letting them sleep on the floor in their rooms (for only $5 more), so they have a warm dry place to sleep tonight. It started raining this afternoon (about 2 hours before we got here) and is supposed to rain all day tomorrow, so we welcome being inside tonight! We've had some good weather days for a few days when we thought we were supposed to have rain, so I guess we're due for more rain. Bummer. I do find the bad weather affects my emotions, so I hope we get nicer weather soon. We'll enjoy breakfast at a restaurant across the street in the morning ("Goodies") and move on....rain or shine. We would never get to Maine if we sat out every rainy day with the weather we've had this season. The weather tally today is now at 48 sunny days and 50 days other than sunny (mostly bad weather). Oh well!Old Goat & Check Six