Date: 2017-03-31
From: PA 325, Clarks Creek (southbound)

To: Sherman Creek Rd., Duncannon
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: light rain

The group was set to meet with Warren at 6 AM and start hiking by 7, so I got up at 5 to eat and take my tent down. It rained most of the night, and it was hard packing the wet tent in the dark. I decided to give my modified new hiking boots a try. Warren wanted the group to detour to a Pilot truck stop once we reached Duncannon so as to hike together to our camping spot. Warren refers to this area as a "safety zone," but what he really means is that it's a danger zone. Paul and I started hiking at 6:50. The hike started with an uphill, so we quickly warmed up. For the first three hours there was just a light mist, and we started thinking this wouldn't be bad at all.  But then it started to rain and got quite cold. The trail was rocky ups and downs along a ridge, requiring us to proceed very carefully. When we reached Peters Mountain Shelter Paul and I stopped for lunch. Scott and Terri were there finishing their lunch; Bill, Arlene, and Lizzie arrived shortly after we did. We checked the temperature on the thermometer I have hanging off my pack. It was 35 degrees. No wonder we were so cold! My mittens were completely saturated and very heavy, although they still kept my hands moderately warm. I used the privy, which was very nice -- one of those composting privies that don't smell. Bill, Lizzie, Arlene, Paul, and I decided to stop for our next snack at the next shelter, Clarks Ferry Shelter.  The five of us leapfrogged back and forth. Once while I was carefully picking my way across some wet rocks I saw Lizzie ahead. She had her hiking stick in her right hand not using it, and with her left hand she was cracking pistachio nuts. Generally I don't feel old, but this was a stark reminder that the 30 years age difference between us makes quite a difference in our hiking prowess.  The five of us stopped when we reached the side trail to the next shelter. We were all so cold and anxious to reach our destination that we didn't go to the shelter. Instead, we stood at the trail junction and ate our snacks. Lizzie was fantasizing about drying some of her clothes using the hand dryers in the bathroom at the truck stop; I was hoping there'd be a laundromat where we could dry all our clothes. We hurried along. The trail turned steeply downhill into Duncannon. Much of the trail was just puddles, but occasionally there were places where a stream ran down the trail. The entrance to Duncannon was unpleasant. At the bottom of the hill we had to cross three railroad tracks, a highway with fast-moving traffic, and then cross a bridge that was about a mile long. The traffic noise from all this was very loud, and we could hear it long before we were anywhere close to Duncannon.  The road we crossed to reach the truck stop was a five-lane highway with no median strip, just a turning lane. We waited quite a while to get halfway across. Then a really kind woman took pity on us and turned on her flashers so we could cross. Paul and I got to the truck stop at 4:15. The faster hikers had been waiting there since 1:15. Bill, Arlene, and Lizzie arrived about half an hour after us. The truck stop was a washout in terms of drying our clothes, but it had a Subway so we were able to eat real food for supper before continuing on our way. After we ate we got back on the trail, which runs right through Duncannon, and continued another two miles to our camping spot.  The camping spot was a nice open field not far off the trail and relatively quiet. I pitched my tent, then realized that I'd forgotten my ground cloth. I took the tent down, and pitched it a second time with the groundcloth underneath. Once we got set up Warren took the folks who'd left their cars left at PA 325 back there to shuttle their cars to Pine Grove Furnace State Park, our end point.   While he was gone Scott, Paul, Lizzie, and I walked back to a laundromat we'd seen in Duncannon to dry our clothes. I took off all my outer layers and threw them in a dryer. This left me barefoot but with my wool long underwear top and bottom on. Once the outer layers were dry, I crouched down behind some washing machines and took off everything else. I threw the rest of my clothes in the dryer and put on my now-dry outer layers. I put on my warm long underwear once it came out of the dryer. (Later I learned that I'd undressed in front of a security camera. But getting into the dry, warm long underwear was definitely worth it.) There was a convenience store on the way back to our tents, so we stopped in there to brush our teeth and get ready for bed. I was settled into my sleeping bag starting to write a journal entry at 8:30 when we were interrupted by an unpleasant incident that I won't discuss here. I eventually got back to bed at 10:30. By then I was far too tired to write.  Being cold is one of my top two fears for the hike. I feel like I passed quite a big test making it through the day in reasonably good spirits despite being very wet and cold. Doing this hike alone would have been utterly miserable, but doing it with a group made it bearable.