Date: 2005-05-24
From: duncannon pa

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

hey,Rolled into Duncannon, PA yesterday (mon..23rd) around 6:30pm. I had planned on getting in town and picking up my maildrop then heading out and doing 5 miles to the next shelter. But, since I didn't leave Boiling Springs until around 10am I didn't quite make it here before the PO closed. oh well.. So I walked up main street to the Famous Doyle Hotel. Apparently all of the early thru-hiking pioneers stayed here and spent their time drinking in the downstairs bar. When I walked in the doors I was greeted by "I Can" and "Seneca" who started the same day I did, except they're about 40 years older than I and they don't complain about anything. They're both really great guys and can hike like hell. "I Can" was getting picked up by his two daughters and his wife to spend a couple days off the trail, while his hiking partner "Seneca" is hanging around town with his cousin, from NY. Then I met "Hippie Long Stockings" who I've been behind since the beginning. At every shelter register since Georgia I've looked at who signs in before me, and her entries have always stood out as every letter is written in a different color and her entry usually says something about how much she wants to drink some Yuengling.. So, today her boyfriend came down from New Jersey and is taking her and most all the other hikers that were at the Doyle last night to the Yuengling Brewing factory to take a tour. Apparently he is even picking up some hikers in Port Clinton, one by the name Paladin who I met back in the Shenandoahs with my brother.. I'm thinking since all these hikers ahead of me are going to this little beer tour it will give me a chance to make up one of the two days that they are ahead of me. Sitting next to "Hippie" was "Darcey." I first met Darcey with my brother when we were walking south from Crabtree farm rd. to fish hatchery rd. She's movin' right along, but is also going to the Yuengling factory and spending the night at the Doyle yet again. Taggin' along is "Sweet Cheeks". Apparently she's the only person from Delaware and she's moving right along on this trail with consistent 20 mile days. Great personality.I was also pleased to meet a group of guys who have been in front of me since the beginning. Pinetree, Senor NOBS, and 4-Cheese have all been hiking together for pretty much the entire trail, and it shows. Pinetree is an older fellow with long white hair and a long white beard who stands at about 5'6". He's a great guy who is absolutely hilarious, though I don't think he tries to be. According to 4-Cheese Pinetree is the funniest guy on the planet because he complains about every single thing on the trail. He said one minute Pinetree will be complaining because it's uphill, the next minute he'll complain because it's flat.. or if it's sunny he'll complain that it's hot.. and if raining he'll complain that's it's wet. you get the idea. Speaking of 4-cheese.. this guy is great. He's a 23 year old lobster-man from Maine and has the curliest hair and thickest beard of anyone on the trail. Throw a beard on Will Farrell in the movie "Elf" and you get 4-cheese. He's really friendly and like everyone else said he had heard of me and that I was coming up from behind them. 4-cheese also said he wants to try to catch up to Chino and Diesel and I think he's going to give it a go with me. I didn't get to socialize with Senor NOBS much but he seems like a really smart guy..he just has that look about him. I also managed to gather that "NOBS" stands for.. "No bull shit".The other two hikers that were there were "Pig Pen" and "Gunter". I first met them right before Bland, VA where I got off to go to the cabin and haven't seen them since. They're both in their early 20s and look like brothers.. actually maybe they are.. I've never asked. Anyway, they both love being out on the trail and will often take zeros in shelters or at a cool place they see on the trail. A neat fact about them is that they spent a summer working at Denali National Park in Alaska and thus.. laugh at the thought of black bears.About the hiking in the past few days... When I got back on the trail at Ashby Gap, about 30 miles south of Harper's Ferry I knew I had to go through a 15 mile stretch of trail known as the "roller coaster". I had been hearing about this for some time.. as apparently it was going to be very challenging ups and downs back to back for 15 miles.. So, about 3 miles into getting back on the trail I see a sign that reads "Welcome to the roller coaster..I'll see you on the other side if you survive.." I thought.. well, here it goes. Soon a couple miles pass and I notice nothing.. then 5 miles.. soon 8 miles have gone by and I'm already at Bears Den Rocks ..half way through the "roller coaster"..I stop here to eat some snacks and think to myself.. wow.. when am I going to see these challenging ups and downs.. I passed several section hikers who were huffing and puffing and cursing the mountains and begging for it to be over.. I couldn't help but laugh a little.. Apparently this was the roller coaster.. nothing but a stretch of trail with a name to make it sound hard.. cus it's definitely not..at all. I mean, sure there are a few ups and downs.. but the ups are only one-lookers.. by this I mean you only look up in search of the top one time before you get tired enough to do it again..by that time you're already at the top. I guess when you start in Georgia and deal with the climbs down there and then in N. Carolina and Tenn. these things just seem easier..it's all perspective I suppose. After the roller coaster I hit Harper's Ferry.. what a cool little town. I would definitely like to revisit it someday. While there I went to the ATC where I had my picture taken and signed the register. I also got a ride from the local trail angel to wal-mart and then I went to his house and he cooked me hamburgers and fed me salad and fresh fruit and lots of mtn dews.. Needless to say he was a really nice guy and I hope he's having fun this week as he is in Alaska on vacation. Immediatley after HF I crossed the Potomoc and stepped foot in Maryland.. my 6th state. Maryland was a breeze. Absolutely the easiest section of trail so far. You get up on this ridge called "South Mountain" and you stay there for all 40 something odd miles. What's really cool about it is historic Civil War battles took place along this ridge and the trail passes through several state parks which have monuments and tours describing the battles that took place. Because of the history and ease of walking this section was one of my favorites so far. I soon hit Pen-Mar.. a state park on the maryland-pennsylvania border where I got a Mtn. Dew from the soda machine and hiked a few tenths of a mile to the mason dixon line. I now stood in the "north"..weird. Pennsylvania was really nice right there in the beginning.. you have like three 20 mile stretches between state parks (penmar to greenbriar and greenbriar to caledonia and caledonia to pine grove furance). During these stretches the terrain was great..you just stay up on the ridge around 2000 feet and fly.. and I saw more hikers (mostly weekenders) than i've seen yet on the trail. After making it through all of these state parks I had another 20 to Boiling Springs. About 3 miles before making it into town I reached the end of the Blue Ridge Mountains (at White rocks formation) and headed down into "the gap" as hikers call it.. but it's actually the Cumberland Valley. I had 3 miles through green fields into Boiling Springs and boy was it a nice change. Boiling springs was a neat little tourist town.. the trail circles around this lake that lies in the center of town and as I was coming through on a Sunday everyone in town was at this lake doing some fishing.. I mean everyone. Farmer Joe, the Mechanic, the Pastor, the crazy old lady in the corner apartment and her cats, and even the amish family outside of town.. they were all there.. and they were all fishing. Though, I didn't see one person catch a fish.. so I think it's more of a social thing than a fishing thing.. It was actually pretty comical and I found myself starting to laugh as I walked around this lake meeting all the characters with their mickey mouse fishing poles and 3 sizes too small fishing vests. I thought to myself.. this is what the trail is all about.. it's about seeing these crazy things that you hear about but can't believe actually happen..it's about seeing America. I spent the night in Boiling Springs with "Bob" at the Garmanhaus B&B. Bob is hiking from HF to Katahdin and then from HF to Springer..he's what hikers call a "flip-flopper". He's a Texan and a very intelligent person who does all kinds of neat things.. he rock climbs, rappels, hang-glides and loves to sail. He told me all about hang-gliding and got me really interested in it.. who knows.. maybe I'll go down to Texas and let him teach me how to fly. I only had to pay for Bob's dinner and he paid for me to stay there.. Thanks Bob! This was a nice 3 story 150 year old home that had been turned into a B&B.. oh wait.. isn't that how every B&B is? The owner was a nice older guy who had lived there since 1960.. I know this because he told me 50 times. He also told me about World War 1 and how his father served in it and showed me many many pictures from the war. Very interesting I must say. He talked late into the night about it actually, and then started talking about everything under the sun..well moon by this time.. to Bob and I. We learned that his two sons were both very successful. His older son is a pilot for UPS and makes upward of 150,000 a year and his other son is a doctor who also gets paid very well.. Again, I know this because he told me many many.. many times. Eventually Bob and I wanted to go to sleep so we had to get this guy to stop talking and to stop telling us the same stories over and over and over again so we put some nyquill in his tea and let him pass out in the second floor dining room. Well, actually I'm only kidding.. but the thought definitely crossed my mind.. I headed out of Boiling Springs yesterday morning (mon..23rd) around 10am. I walked through agriculture fields for half of the day.. 12 miles.. I would have loved it.. but like Pinetree, I found a reason to complain. The grass was waste deep in spots and the rain wasn't warm. Also, because it was a vast expanse I could see way in front of me.. so it felt like I was moving really slowly.. whereas in the woods it feels like i'm flying as I hop from rock to rock through the trees.. so.. psychologically I think I actually ended up walking slower through the valley than I did when I finally hit the mountains again on the north side of the Cumberland Valley. Coming into Duncannon was cool.. it reminded me of Hot Springs and Erwin because I got my first glimpse of town from a rock overhang on the ridge about 2 miles before making it into city limits..very cool. Duncannon is actually probably the friendliest town I've been through yet. The people here are absolutley amazing.. they shout encouraging words from their balconies and wave and honk from their cars as I walked in to town and again as I walked from the Doyle to this library resource center that the Presbyterian Church offers for hikers.. they also have free sodas and crackers here for hikers.. unbelievable!.. I think they actually like hikers in the north..unlike the south which.. though most people are friendly toward hikers there are definitely those that are not.. which I haven't run into yet here in Pennsylvania. Well it's now about noon so I'm going to get out of town.. 3 hours later than I wanted to. I plan to be in Port Clinton, PA either Wednesday night or Thursday morning and will be out of PA and into New Jersey by the end of the weekend. Aunt Kathy and crew.. I got the package here. thanks so much.. and good call on the twizzlers again. Also, yes I got the film canister in HF.. Thank you very much! Also, Matt thanks for sending yet another package.. I'm looking forward to that awesome ground hog jerkey.. can't thank you enough.I hope all is well with everyone.. wish me luck.. it's time to make my little icon fly up that little map thingy.Take Care,