Date: 2006-08-17
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Miles today: 229.3

PENNSYLYVANIAYou never know when you're going to meet yet another nice person on the trail. As we were leaving MD, we met a man going south with his two children on a day hike. We chatted for a little while and found out he had spent some time near our home town. Vince Davis is a commercial airline pilot who will soon be moving to Micronesia with his family to do missionary work. He offered for us to stay at his house and explained to us how to get there from Penn-Mar State Park. We thanked him very much, but we really needed to go all the way to Hwy 16 that day in order to resupply in Waynesboro, PA. We couldn't believe it when at 7 pm we reached the road and there was Vince waiting to give us a ride. It was 5 miles into town so he really saved us a lot of trouble getting there. The kindness of strangers always amazes me out here.We took a zero day in Waynesboro. It is a small town 20 miles from Gettysburg. Its main street is lined with grand, well preserved, Victorian era buildings. I spent part of the afternoon slowly walking up the street, studying the beauty of these structures.   The beginning of PA was serene and park-like. The trees were spaced far apart as if the whole forest had been groomed. After a satisfying lunch of cheeseburgers, french fries and ice cream at Caledonia State Park, we continued up the trail until we came to Quarry Gap Shelter. I must say this is the most civilized, well maintained shelter we've seen. It is landscaped with gravel mulched flower beds. There are baskets of impatiens hanging from the eaves. There is a breezeway between twin shelters that can be closed off in bad weather and there are board games on hand for entertainment. We were disappointed that our day was not over yet. We moved on to the next shelter for a 13 mile day. Since we knew it was going to rain, we would have stayed in the shelter but it was full with two different families with lots of children.Continuing on to Pine Grove Furnace, home of the "half-gallon challenge", the trail was lined with just ripening blueberries. I delighted in eating as many as I could find that were ready for picking. We stayed overnight at the hostel at Pine Grove Furnace. This old mansion was a stop on the Underground Railroad. We got to go explore the secret room where runaways hid. The biggest event here was the "half-gallon" challenge of course. The new record, set by Mystic this year was 2 mins. 37 secs.. The only problem is, he melted his first, then drank it. That hardly seems fair. The old record, with frozen ice cream, was set in 2004, at 4 mins. 16 secs.. Mudflap and Sizzle took the challenge, which is to finish the half-gallon in less than an hour. Sizzle managed to down his in 40 minutes, but Mudflap wowed everyone with a respectable 4 mins and 39 secs.! He wrote in the register afterward "I ate mine like a man-Frozen!" Then he finished Holly and Lebowski's half-gallon that they couldn't finish between the two of them.   From there on, it rained day in and day out. The rain kept increasing as the days wore on, sometimes producing thunder and lightening. We just hiked on no matter what. Our clothes and everything took on a dank odor that didn't come out in the wash. We stopped 4 miles short of Duncannon, PA at Cove Mtn. Shelter. Sleepwalker also stayed there that night. As we four sat there, feet dangling over the edge of the shelter that evening, we watched the water rise, forming new rivers around us as the mountain seemed to be washing away.   The next morning in Duncannon, we checked into the Doyle Hotel. Down in the tavern, they had the news on. There were flash flood warnings for all the towns along the Susquehana River including Duncannon. In fact, hikers who had left town earlier were reporting back that the road that the A.T. follows out of town was under 4 to 5 feet of water. Now we had a decision to make: stay at the Doyle and wait for the water to recede or wade through shoulder high dirty water. Then we heard that Clarks Creek, 17 miles up the trail was impassable. hikers with cell phones were calling back to the Doyle to warn others behind them. Swatara Creek further north was also over the banks. The news said the water was supposed to crest in Duncannon the next day. It looked like we were stuck.   Then we met trail angel Mary. She is a local hero as far as I'm concerned. She feeds hikers a good breakfast everyday at her apartment, she leaves cold drinks at the trail head and she shuttles hikers to just about anywhere they want to go. We were in luck. Several other hikers were planning to get a ride 70 miles north to Port Clinton, then hike south back to Duncannon while the water receded. Sounded like a good plan to us so that's just what we did thanks to Mary's willingness to make multiple trips to Port Clinton.   The five days of hiking south were probably some of the best and worst days yet on the trail. The rocks were a real pain to deal with. For miles on end there is nowhere to place a flat foot step. Pointy, jagged rocks are either embedded in the trail or just sitting there loosely, waiting to trip you up or twist your ankles. I fell four times during these five days south bound. One fall was particularly bad. I fell face first going downhill. My knees hit the rocks first, which hurt, then my head landed on a rather pointy rock near my temple. My pack was on top of my head, so I had a hard time pushing myself uphill against the weight of my pack. Mudflap rushed downhill as best he could to help me and Sizzle also rushed back uphill since he was ahead. It all turned out alright; just a couple of scrapes and bruises and swelling. It could have been worse and I was afraid the rocks in PA could end my hike. The good part about going south for a few days was seeing so many hikers we hadn't seen in a long time. Ork and Bean came by sporting Mohawks, The Wanderers were behind them, Able Jack was there, Old School and his son Young Blood (B-Rad went home). There were many more old acquaintances and new faces we hadn't yet met. I said to Mudflap it was so much fun we should do another sobo sometime.   The blueberries continued to ripen as I ate my way through PA. The big rock scramble at Lehigh Gap was a blast. They say it's the toughest scramble before the Whites. If that's true then I'm not going to worry much about the Whites or even Mahoosuc Notch. The rock climbing lets me feel like a kid again.   Reaching Delaware Water Gap was such a relief. Actually, the last six miles of PA were beautiful and the trail was back to "normal". But like most hikers my sentiments were "thank God we're finished with PA."