Date: 2003-07-17
From: Boiling Springs, Pa

To: Darlington shelter
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: clear sky

Parts of last night were sleepless. With each passing train, and it was a busy line, the rumbling and whistle blasts became more bearable, certainly compared with that first earthshattering noise. Somehow, I got a reasonable amount of sleep, and headed back to the ATC office in town to join up with the others, think about breakfast, and plan our day. On the way, I walked along a quarter mile of farm road that was packed with tall, strange-looking milkwood plants on one side and the abundant, blue, propeller-like blooms of chicory on the other. It was sunny, the dew was heavy. It was a beautiful day. It was soon apparent that "Two Speeds" wasn't well. We decided that "Chafe Master" and I would press on, and that "Two Speeds" and "Thistle" would take a zero day and meet up with us in Duncannon in two days time.I walked the short way up to the town's only crossroads at the north-west end of the lake, and picked up some coffee and pastries for everyone at the little cafe opposite the pub. I took a closer look at the town than I had the previous night. The lake is over 100 acres in size, and around 30 different springs pour some 22 million gallons of the purest water into it every day. A full third of that comes from one spring at the north end. We had sat at the edge last night dangling our hot feet in the cold, clear water as it rushed down. On my way back from the cafe I stopped at the clock tower, about 15 feet high, between the crossroads and the lake. It's a war memorial erected in 1957 to commemorate WW2. Beside it is a circular area of marble and granite to mark the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The final addition is a stone listing the more recent wars or actions in Grenada, Panama, etc. A star is etched against each one, and an inscription above reads, "Each star symbolises a mother's tears and a nation's desire for freedom...". Some space has been left for future conflicts. Of course the presidency of George W Bush hadn't been foreseen. They haven't left enough space. I left this beautiful little town mid-morning, and have had the unusual but very pleasant experience of walking through cornfields, along hedgerows and through small woods all day. This is the Cumberland Valley and not a mountain have I climbed, until the very end of the day to reach Darlington Shelter. There isn't much water access in the valley, and I had anticipated a very hot day. It hit the mid-80s but it wasn't humid, I carried plenty of water (my platypus is now in full use) and helped myself to occasional clusters of ripe berries along the way. Apparently, much of the AT ran along public roads here at one time but the ATC spent over $6 million to acquire 90 properties to change that. Well done, ATC. Tonight, I am back in the woods and the hills. "Chafe" is here, along with "Aunt Mabel" from New Hampshire, "Littlest Hobo", a pleasant young man from Maine, and two of the Girl Gang, " "Flatlander" and "Pushing-up-Daisies". Also a fellow called Martin from Preston, England. He is a software programmer who did some contract work at Standard Life in Edinburgh a few years ago ( the Pension Review in Tanfield). A small world.