Date: 2011-06-19
From: Darlington Shelter

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: overcast clouds

(woke up this morning at 6:00 am do to Father's Day revelers. Please note, if you go on an overnight hike/camping trip, please be respectful of the long distance hikers and be quiet from 9:00 pm until 7:00 am. We have worked our bodies and minds to exhaustion). Well, how are you? Me, well, I'm in pain. We did 11 miles today. Oh man it felt good on my muscles. The uphills felt awesome on my muscles. They just burned on the way up and it felt good. Even the downhills didn't hurt too badly. Then we hit the rocks, 2 miles worth. OMG! My feet hurt so badly. When we finally made it to Cove Mtn shelter, I had to take 800 mg of ibuprophen. We had originally planned to stop there for the night. However, the shelter was so gross and my feet felt better after an hour of rest that we decided to keep on. We met a hiker named Duckfart (one syllable please, no this is not a joke). He was awesome! I don't know how he got his name, but he is just as great as his name. We kept passing each other onthetrail. He was filling in for a Detoit police officer who was injured at the same spot that I fell twice. See, it's not just me.   Anyway, the officer fell and hurt his shoulder so Duckfart (one syllable) took over for him. I forgot to mention that the police office was hiking for a disabled military veterans chaharity. It raises mioney to help wounded vets retrofit their homes for their lives as diaabled persons.. COMPLETELY NOTEWORTHY AND BEYOND AWESOME! There are 22 hikers that are relaying 2200 miles of the trail! I wish we coukd have them all, the hikers hiking for this much needed organization. Duckfart is one of the best we met on the trail so far. Hats off to you brother. We ended up hiking the next 4 miles into Duncannon. The ibuprophen kicked in so I wasn't feeling much pain. The rest of the hike was rewarding. There were views that took our breath away. Gorgeous! We were at Hawk Rock and the vews were unbelievable. We crossed a portion of the trail that had suffered a rockslide. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago.   It was quitge scarry walking across a rockslide on the side of a mountain.Not totally sure, it was the smart thing to do, but we didn't have a choice. Either go forward or turn back. Honestly, we had gone too far to turn back. Only crossed on rattler on the way down the mountain across the rockslide. Did I forget to mention the snake I passed? I literally walked 6 inches passed a 4 foot snake. It's head was only 6 inches from my foot. Poor Brandon he didn't realize it until he was only 6 inches from it because he was following so closely behind me. He yells "Oh my God, Jen!" I had to stop and turn to see what the fuss was about. He showed it to me and I still wasn't sure what I was looking at. Then I focused right up. Wow! Okay, back to today. The trek downhill was the most steep and narrow trail I have seen. Already told you about the rockslide. At times I even wondered if we were even on the trail because we were literally walking on the side of the mountain just trying to keep our footing. So much fun! I held my breath for so much of it because I was afraid of falling down the mountain. Now, let me tell you about Duncannon. It is such a depressed little town. We took shower at the Doyle hotel. That dump should be condemned. No lie. Parts of floors and ceiling were missing. It was so disgustingly filthy. As I was taking a shower (by the way, only one bathroom per floor), Brandon was taking a shower on the floor above me. His shower plumbing was dripping on me as I was taking my shower. How do I know this? The celing was missing above me and I could see it dripping from the elboe beneath the shower drain. I fully expected his whole shower unit to fall in on my head. GROSS! We made reservations at the Stardust. Just call them and they will shuttle you. Props! The room was clean and comfortable. Let me tell you! Slept great. Well qorth the little bit extra. Trail Angel Mary (AT volunteer of the year) is fabulous. She is more than willing to give you a ride if for some reason they can't get you. She saw us walking up Market street in Duncannon and hollared at us from her car. She saw we were tired and asked us where we were walking to. We had meet her a week ago in Caledonia. She remembered us. Her Nd Duckfart are pretty tight so she knew we were coming. The trail community rocks. We had a great conversation. We ate at Sorentos. So much more food than any person can possibly eat at one time. We took it back to the Stardust. Good times. Lovin life. Okay, I'm tired and going to bed. Good night.