Date: 2019-07-01
From: Hawk Rock

To: Stealth Site - 1163.7
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: few clouds

There should be rules for mosquitoes. Like:-you can only be active between certain hours.-no biting while someone is trying to do something like set up or take down a tentI could go on¢¦It¢s July 1 and I have not used bug spray yet. I ate normal camp breakfast of two oatmeals and coffee. I am out of Carnation Instant Breakfast. I was not sure if Duncannon was going to have an open breakfast place. Duncannon looked cute from the overlook but not so cute up close. There were many vacant and rundown buildings on the main street.I found an open cafe and there was one other person in there just finishing paying their bill, Mountain Sage. It was good to see him again and he said he saw Gingerbread yesterday. I had a good breakfast and charged my electronics. I even bought some canister fuel and drink mix there. The walk through Duncannon was long and I decided to go to the Pilot .2 off trail as I needed a few resupply items. I had to cross a four lane highway with a center turn lane. Oh my, I felt like frogger. After Pilot I had a long walk along the same highway back to the trail.It was good to be back in the woods. I made it to the turn off for the first shelter and I sat on a log. I was tired. 26 miles yesterday had me worn down. A section hiker came along and she offered me a sandwich as she was getting off trail and had extras. I normally do not decline food but I was tired and still not hungry from breakfast. I continued on and decided I¢d take a nap at the next shelter. On the way I saw an overlook so I went off trail to check it out. There was a hiker there with a dog. We didn¢t say much. I was looking like I was ready to fall asleep and his dog was laying on her side, passed out. I finally said, I feel like your dog looks. He started chatting with me, asked me what was wrong, offered me some pot. I declined the pot, and said I had walked too many miles yesterday and was paying the price today. We walked on to the next shelter and I learned his name was Slim and the dog, Ellen. At the next shelter I tried to nap but the bugs were bad. The sign for the spring said 300 steps. Everyone warned of the awful trip to get water at this shelter. It was 300 stair-steps down. Stone stairs of varying heights, widths, and distances apart. I broke a sweat walking down. It¢s one of those where you start and you say, I really don¢t need water that bad but you are too invested to turn around and it just keeps going further and further down. You know you have to walk back up and carry the water. At least the spring was flowing and was ice cold. When I returned there was another hiker there named Buster. I continued on as I still had 5 miles to do. I was walking along and decided if I could find a good stealth spot before the spot I wanted to get to, I¢d stop. I found one 1.3 miles shy of my intended destination. I was done because I was tired and it was hot. There had also been a horse fly or flies buzzing my head for 20 minutes and I was getting frustrated. So June 30/July 1 ends the non aggressiveness of the bugs. As I was setting up I sprayed my head with bug spray and put it on. I then sprayed my camp shirt and put it on. I cooked my dinner without being bothered too much. I hung my food bag, and retreated to my tent where I ate my dinner and plan on staying the rest of the night. I have a partially obstructed view of the sunset, and it looks beautiful and orange again. Wildlife update: Big birds-probably turkey vultures, rabbits.