Date: 2005-07-13
From: Pine Grove State Park

To: Duncannon
Miles today: 43.0
Weather: overcast clouds

10 JulyI¢d like to extend a special ¢Thank you¢ to Bubbski and Serenity for being especially supportive and entertaining one evening in Duncannon. Thank you, guys! I hope our paths cross again, sometime!The Hiker Feed Fest held a morning church service, giving a brief moment of silence and prayer to Justin (aka Mr. Gimp, aka Packstock). How is it that the white man considers himself so advanced, yet is the only one that can ¢sing a Halleluiah without feeling like it¢s a Halleluiah¢!? The service, however, was followed by an amazing breakfast, with seconds, and arrangement for getting the hikers back to their respective points on the trail. I was assisted by two awesome trail angels, who not only waited patiently while Kickoff and Bubbski and I placed flowers at the railroad tracks, but also took me to an outfitter to get new shoes, returned me to Pine Grove Furnace State Park, and enjoyed some ice cream with me! Thank you, Nancy and Jim!! Thank you, immeasurably!It was great to run into other hikers that I knew at the ice cream place (GQ, Blaze, Aslan, etc). Met some new folks too ¢ Bomber & Pib, Bubble Boy ¢ all very nice people. Actually, I hadn¢t met any non-interesting, non-kind people on the trail at all, which is quite amazing, if we consider the state of the world (or just of this country) today! We walked together to the nearby lake, but I needed to be alone, I wanted to be alone for now. I trekked solo, past the ¢half way point¢ on the AT and on to the first shelter. Easy afternoon walk, lots of blueberries, and a bit of relief in being alone in these woods. Alone at the shelter, with a familiar tent nearby, but no one out and about. I¢m no longer scared to stay by myself, like I was at Sarver Hollow, back in SWVA; I feel like a strong and benevolent spirit is protecting me¢¦ 11 July The familiar tent ended up belonging to Hopeful Hiker, who was quite concerned over the occurrences of the past weekend, and offered to counsel me, if such was necessary. We hiked on thru blueberry covered hills, crawling between huge boulders, stocking up on MRE leftovers from a trail magic box, and curving around the fields before walking into Boiling Springs, PA. The trail enters the town at the site of a swimming pool, which we duly attended in the merciless mid-afternoon heat. Tented in the back of a man¢s yard, with the entire crew I saw at Pine Grove the day before. I¢m glad to have a short day ¢ feel like taking it easy, on all levels, for now.12 JulyHad a dream last night and laughed myself awake: I don¢t have too much respect for small ¢decorative¢ dogs, and in my dream was a man with lots of dogs on lots of leashes ¢ dogs of different sizes and colors. We talked of the grace and power of the bigger ones, the friendliness of the middle ones, and then he defended his littlest ones by saying, ¢And these two - I know they¢re idiots, but they¢re just so cute!¢ Thankfully, Blaze, who was also awakened by my laughter, wasn¢t too bothered.Hopeful Hiker made me breakfast ¢ sausage and hash browns! We hiked out of town through more field-neighboring corridors filled with black raspberries and multi-colored mulberries. It is difficult to walk, because the eyes and the mouth are so greedy! We still made it over 10 miles in the beating sun to the wooded section of the trail, and even though that means we were doing the PUDs (pointless ups and downs) and MUDs (mindless ups and downs) again, the shade was well worth it. I took a break with Blaze and Hopeful at the Darlington shelter, where Blaze demonstrated to us the treatments he was applying to his chaffed buttocks (notably, a chunk of lip gloss), and Hopeful made sure we knew what it¢s like being tested for syphilis. You know, sometimes I probably shouldn¢t give out so many details of what we talk on the trail, because sometimes it is the randomest stuff, but it seems so important at the time. We all sped on separately for the next 7 mi to the Cove Mtn shelter, where in payback for the syphilis lesson, Blaze produced a ziplock bag from in-between his buttocks just for Hopeful¢s pre-dinner viewing pleasure. Read the first girl-feels-weak entry in a shelter register, courtesy of Lady Scarecrow (I miss you, girl!), which was such a treasure. Us girls are out here, doing the same tough things the guys are, walking the same mileage for the most part, and it really can be difficult for us, I dare say MORE difficult for us, at times, but we don¢t let on. Well, Lady Scarecrow ¢let on¢, and it was such a relief to be reminded that, yes, we are girls, and yes, we are doing some hard core stuff, thru-hiking and all, and yes, we do feel weak and teary-eyed at times, and THAT¢S OK!13 JulyHopeful Hiker is still trying to feed me his breakfast menu (why?), but I really need to eat some of my own food, too, so I don¢t have to carry it. His dehydrated cantaloupe is one of a kind, however. Who would have thought?Blaze woke up sometime while I was eating my breakfast, and said [lazy, barely awake, slow voice] ¢ah, big black snake¢ while on his way to the bushes. The 4+ft long wonder kept the shelter mouse-free all night. Four morning miles into Duncannon today were a breeze, with a beautiful view of the valley, the town, and the river from Hawk Rock. With some help and trail magic from Trail Angel Mary, i put together a memorial for Justin at the railroad tracks ¢ he sure picked a beautiful spot to rest, looking over the Susquehanna River! Three care packages (Thank you Magali, Tres & Sunny!!!), laundry, home made ice cream from the creator himself, and a quick hitch out of town to the trailhead (I am not walking on shoulderless roadsides anymore!). Short, but serious, climb out of Duncannon to the next shelter for another solo evening ¢ I¢m really enjoying these!