Date: 2017-04-01
From: Sherman Creek Rd., Duncannon (southbound)

To: Lisburn Rd.
Miles today: 21.9
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke to my alarm at 5, then realized that our start time was 7, not 6. Paul and I decided that since we were already up we might as well go back to the gas station and have breakfast there.   We dressed and broke camp, all except taking down our tents. I left my mittens on my tent floor to give them a few more minutes to dry out. I put my toothbrush and toothpaste in my pocket, and we headed out. At the gas station I bought a large coffee (heavenly after days of cold coffee or none at all) and a 2-pack of Pop Tarts. After we ate and brushed our teeth we headed back to the campground. We took our tents down, stowed them in the van, and were on the trail hiking before 7 o¢clock.  The forecast was for an overcast and cold day, and the day turned out as promised. The climb out of Duncannon was steep. The hillside was littered with rocks, and the stone steps that were the trail were barely distinguishable from the surrounding hillside. By the time we got to the top of the ridge we were warm. The trail followed the ridge for about 5 miles, then undulated in small waves for the next 5 miles. We reached Darlington Shelter, about half way, around 1:30. Not long after, Bill, Arlene, and Lizzie arrived. As soon as we stopped moving I became cold. I needed my mittens and remembered that I¢d left them inside my tent when I took it down. We ate lunch and tried to warm up. Lizzie had some hand warmers and gave me one.  The five of us left around 2:00, headed downhill. I clutched the hand warmer in my left hand, and my hand gradually warmed up. As soon as my left hand got warm, the right one did, too. I¢m not sure how this works, but it¢s good! The sun peeked out from behind the clouds for about 15 minutes.  Momentarily I felt lighthearted, but then it disappeared again.  Paul and I decided to pick up the pace to take advantage of the downhill and flat sections. We wanted to reach US 11 at Carlisle in time to eat at a diner that was .3 mile off the trail. This part of the trail was not pretty. In places we crossed lots of rocks. Other sections were in narrow, scruffy corridors of woods through residential neighborhoods. Several sections were road walks near busy and noisy highways. There was an elegant underpass for one of these, a pedestrian bridge over another. But on another we had to cross a bridge in the breakdown lane of a busy road. Scary! We also passed through lots of farm fields - very pleasant. And we saw several types of wildflowers in bloom or nearly ready to bloom ¢ cut leaf toothwort, Virginia bluebells, buttercups, and round loped hepatica (white, rather than the blue I see in West Virginia).  We reached US 11 around 4:45. We sat on the edge of the pedestrian bridge to calculate whether we had time to go to the diner. Reluctantly, we decided we didn¢t. We still had 4 miles to our planned stopping point. While we were stopped, the faster hikers ¢ Rennie, Patti, Terri, and Scott ¢ arrived from the diner. They reported that the food was good. Paul and I finished our snacks and continued at a good pace through farm fields. In the corner of one field, at the edge of the woods, was a very old cemetery. The death dates on the grave markers predated 1810! We didn¢t stop long but continued at a good pace.  Emerging from a section of woods we saw the white van pull away at the other end of the cornfield. Scott was waiting for us at the AT parking lot and kiosk at Trimble Road, our planned stopping place. Considering the previous night¢s difficulties, Warren had decided that it would be more discreet to continue to Lisburn Road to camp, a location where we¢d be shielded from view of the road by woods. This was another mile further. By the time we got our tents pitched at Lisburn Road it was 8 o¢clock and totally dark and cold. I took some food from my bin and ate inside my tent in my sleeping bag. I got out my spork but immediately lost it. So I ate my tuna and lemon pudding out of the containers by squeezing them into my mouth. I was way too tired to write a journal entry.