Date: 2010-06-30
From: James Fry Shelter at Tugg Run

To: Boiling Springs
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

Delightful walking this morning through areas with many streams and footbridges and various shades of green trees with sunlight glinting through. Early morning really is the best time on the trail. We had a few hills to climb but nothing too severe. Fat Finger finds hills tough. Sydney is very flat so training was hard to do for her. I cringe when I think about the tough climbs I have been through and I hope that there won't be too many from Bear Mountain to her end point. We expect to skip up to Bear Mountain in New York state from Duncannon in Pennsylvania. We are still working out the logistics of this. The temperatures have dropped significantly so walking is much easier. I can't describe how horrible it was walking the last couple of days into Harper's Ferry. It really was tough with sweat running down all day and the air so hot it was hard to breathe. What a refreshing change even if it is still warm!Near the end of our extremely short day, we descended towards the Cumberland Valley. I didn't know much about the area but could see it would be extremely flat. Not a single bump of elevation change in my guide. Suddenly we exited the woods and arrived in the middle of a wheat field. The sun was bright and the farm lands looked amazing. This is the first time that I have walked through farmland like this on the trail. We saw some corn fields with beautiful looking corn stalks (which dismayed me because they will surely be turned straight into corn syrup, a product which is corrupting the world!) and wheat and perhaps barley or some other grain fields. Obviously the walking was as flat as a tack. Soon we could hear some kids yelling and screaming with delight and I realised that we must be approaching Boiling Springs as the town has a swimming pool. Sure enough, we passed through a layer of trees and we were in the middle of town! We headed to a B&B as the place hikers normally stay in was 0.4 miles out of town. Boiling Springs is a historical town and just about all the houses and buidlings date from the 1800s. The B&B was no exception and was built in 1870 in a Victorian style. It was very imposing from the outside. After checking in, we went straight to the local cafe for lunch. I FINALLY had my egg sandwich which you might remember I had been craving in the first 100 miles on the trail. It was hardboiled egg with a little mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato and onion. I chose to have it on wholemeal bread. I also had a cup of home made clam chowder and a strawberry milkshake. The milkshake was more of a big cup of ice cream but that didn't bother me!After lunch we went about our chores and I got to see the famous springs of the town. They lead to very cool water and the limestone on the bottom of the creeks and rivers keep the water at a constant cool temperature. This means that it is ideal for trout and the area is known as one of the premium trout fishing areas. The local outfitter told us all about the trade as he was primarily catering for the fishing crowd. He asked whether I'd be starting college once I finished the trail and AGAIN I said that I already work (and have done for a good few years). When I told him I was a lawyer, he asked whether I had my own practice. Well, I'd not quite that old!!The rest of the afternoon went by quickly, we did a resupply at the gas station which was less than impressive in terms of hiker food, but as we are only headed 1.5 days down the trail to Duncannon, it was not a problem. For dinner we went to the local tavern, also located in a very old looking building. I had a spagetti carbonara which was ok but rather too creamy for me. However the California merlot I had with it went down very well.We went back to the B&B to watch Law and Order, one of my preferred tv shows. I love the legal aspect of it. Fat Finger enjoyed it with me.