Date: 2017-07-07
From:  Duncannon Assembly of God Church Hiker Hostel

To: Stealth Campsite at Mile 1153.3
Miles today: 6.1
Weather: overcast clouds

7/7Duncannon Assembly of God Church Hiker Hostel to Stealth Campsite at Mile 1153.3Miles: 6.1Total Miles:  1153.3Today marks my three month anniversary of starting the trail. It's quite a thought to realize I have now been doing this for a quarter of a year.  Everyone slept in at the hostel, and most of us started moving around 7:30.  We all pitched in preparing and eating a huge breakfast of bacon, cheesy scrambled eggs, and toast.  After helping clean up (people who know me will not be surprised to learn that I helped wash the dishes), Gravity and I called for the free shuttle to the local grocery store.  Located about a mile from the trail up a very dangerous to walk along highway, Mutzabaugh's Market sends an employee to pick up hikers anywhere in Duncannon.  Within minutes of calling, Kevin arrived in a minivan and took us to the store.  After we resupplied, he returned us to the hostel.  It was 11:30 before we started the almost two mile walk through Duncannon to the Susquehanna River.  Most of the walk was along High Street, a residential area of older but well-maintained homes.  As we passed a home with a huge bear statue in the yard, Gravity quipped that I finally got to see my bear.  The owner of the home was outside, and she graciously took my photograph proudly posing by her bear.  We soon reached the Susquehanna River,  which we crossed via a long highway bridge.  It is always exhilarating to me to cross major rivers on these huge bridges with traffic zooming close by.  I took a photo of the river knowing I would soon be seeing it from another vantage point from high on the ridge above.  The hike to the ridge was, as you would expect, steep and rocky. I did discover a disadvantage to eating a large amount of bacon before hiking.  I discovered to my chagrin that I smelled strongly of stale sweat, dirty socks, and bacon. I'm used to the stale sweat and old sock bit, but throw in bacon and I found myself hiking faster to try to get away from myself.  Hopefully it will fade, since my clothes won't be washed again until Port Clinton.  I was excited to get to the ridgetop for the views of the valley below.  There were a few areas in the boulder fields where I opted to toss my trekking poles ahead of me so I could use both hands to help me scramble over the rocks. I also sometimes unceremoniously scoot on my butt.  Whatever it takes, and I am seldomly refered to as graceful.  Once, I got a tad carried away and tossed my poles to an area below where the trail was located.  This required some extra rock negotiations, but I retrieved them with no harm done.  There were many views as the Susquehanna Valley slowly receeded below me, and several trains passed which I could sometimes see through the trees.  These views did not photograph well due to the tree cover, but I was able to take a pretty good photo from a rock outcropping at the top of the ridge.  I paused there awhile enjoying the view with Simple, a fellow thru hiker.  I then hiked on to the Clarks Ferry Shelter to get water and to eat lunch.  As I've mentioned, water availability is an issue in central PA, but the spring at Clarks Ferry boasts not one, but two pipes for filling containers.  Sort of cold and cold running water.  I knew I was a bit tired when I reached out to turn the water from the pipe off when my container was full.  I ate lunch with Simple, Gravity, and a really nice thru hiker from Austin, Texas whose name presently escapes me.  Hopefully I will meet up with him again.  The weather was quite warm and very humid, so I took a brief nap on the shelter floor before continuing on my way. I soon met a southbound hiker, who was somehow familiar.  I recognized him from somewhere but did not immediately recall from where. I knew it was from somewhere related to the AT but not from the trail itself. It was Lucky, who completed his thru hike in 2014 and hiked part of the way with the Hiking Vikings. I recognized him from their you-tube videos.  We had a good talk and joked about a very funny story he related on one of the videos. He told me that the Hiking Viking himself was close behind him.  I ran into Hiking Viking a bit later, as a steady rain began to fall. We first met during Trail Days, when he was there with Sharon and their adorable son, Asher. I reminded him that the first AT video I watched was his "Tips From the Trail" on hiking in the rain, so it seemed fitting that we met again during a summer shower. The Hiking Viking videos are on their you-tube channel, Between the Blazes, and are well done, fun to watch, as well as informative.  Viking asked me if I had an interesting trail story to relate, and I told him about being a possible Bear Summoner.  He asked if he could video my story.  I readily agreed, and the interview will play on his video channel beginning on June 25th.  We talked a bit longer before he wished me luck on the rest of my hike and cautioned me about the upcoming rock fields.  It was great to see him again and to meet Lucky.  Gravity came up while I was talking with Hiking Viking. It was getting late and the rain picked up in intensity, and we decided to hike together for awhile.  The rain turned cold and hard, and we both soon realized we were both pretty much done for the day.  We found a flat little area a bit off trail, waited for the rain to slacken a bit, and then set up camp.  One of the best things about a long distance hike is that you do not usually have to follow an exact schedule. The plan is to arrive in Port Clinton in five days, but both of us have enough food to carry us over extra time if needed.  The rain stopped soon after camp was set up. We ate our dinners, talked a bit, and then headed for bed.  I am continuing to make steady progress northward, and, like I've said before, Katahdin isn't going anywhere.  Like so many days on the trail, today was full of both expected events and unexpected surprises.  We'll have to wait to see what tomorrow brings, and this tired hiker is now going back to sleep.