Date: 2008-06-28
From: Juniata River, Duncannon, PA

To: Pa 325, Clarks Valley, PA
Miles today: 16.8

Mrs Gorp drove me to Juniata River at Duncannon, PA and booted me out of the car. :-) Not for good yet though...she slacked me today. That worked out great after not walking for about 4 or 5 days. I got to walk with my backpack, but it didn't have much in it, so it was very light. I started walking north on the Appalachian Trail at 7:15am. I crossed the Susquehanna River over a busy bridge. I could just barely see the river when I looked. It was all fogged in. I did see one fish in the river swimming against the flow of water. He was over a foot long. I got to the woods and started my climb out of the valley. It was a 1,000 foot climb. I was soaking wet from the humidity today by the time I got to the top. It had rained in the area last night and everything in the woods was wet and never did dry out today. I was also walking through some big spider webs. I don't remember ever walking through so many webs that seemed like full webs. That lasted until I got to the side trail to Clarks Ferry Shelter. There were some hikers that stayed there last night and they had the honors of clearing the webs the rest of the day. :-) I walked along and made good time. I was enjoying being back in the woods again. I saw 3 people in the Trail talking about half a mile before I got to Rt 225. It was Cool Breeze and his dog, Miss Jenny, Bilko and the cleanest hiker I've ever seen....Mrs Gorp. ;-) She had brought a soda and sandwich to Rt 225 for me and decided to walk in a bit. She ran into Cool Breeze and Bilko and was sitting there talking to them when I walked up. We all talked for a few minutes, but I wanted to keep moving, so we walked back to the car and I had a soda and sandwich while Cool Breeze and Bilko got bananas and some soda. Thanks Mrs Gorp!! :-) I still had almost 10 miles to walk to the next road crossing to where I would end this slack pack, so I said goodbye to everyone and walked on. I had only walked about 5 minutes when it started raining hard. It rained like that for about 20 minutes, then quit. It was just long enough to get me really soaked, but it felt so good that I didn't bother putting a rain jacket on. I just walked and let Mother Nature cool me down. :-) The rain had stopped by the time I got to Table Rock, so I took a few pictures there before walking on. I got to Peters Mtn Shelter and stopped to sign the register and see where some of the friends were that I had been walking around before I got off Trail for the last 4 or 5 days. They were 4 or 5 days ahead now! :-) I used a smiley face sticker and then walked on. I was only walking for a minute when 2 guys walking south came by. The first guy seemed serious about getting to the shelter. He asked how far it was and I told him it was 1 minute ahead. I thought about it later and wished I had said; It's 1 minute ahead if you are a fast walker, but if you're a slow walker, it's 1 minute and 10 seconds ahead. Ha!! Next time. :-) I walked over the Shikellimy Rocks. I kept looking for rattle snakes, but only saw 2 black snakes. One was about 4 feet long and the other was a big bugger...about 6 1/2 feet long. The big guy had been in a battle of some kind because he had teeth marks and punctures all over his body. He was okay though and crawled off into a hollow tree that had fallen. I also saw the first orange newt I've seen this year. I kept moving and started the descent off Peters Mountain. I walked past a spring that I usually stop at, but didn't stop because I knew Mrs Gorp would be waiting for me with a Coke! :-) I got to the road crossing and Mrs Gorp was there with a Coke! :-) We headed to town and I FINALLY got some broasted chicken for dinner. It's been a long dry spell without any fried chicken for me....no body knows just how tough it's been! :-) Thanks for slacking me Mrs Gorp!! That really made it an easy way to get back on Trail after all those zeros. Another great day on the Appalachian Trail. :-)