Date: 2010-06-18
From: Darlington Shelter

To: PA225
Miles today: 19.8

Woke up to the sound of someone hiking out at day break. Talked to Cheese about Fig. He¢s having a rough time with headaches and stiffness. It¢s his birthday and they¢re planning a party for him at the Doyle. His girlfriend sent his favorite cake by mail. He¢s feeling better, or so he said. Found out the Lakers won from Brooklyn. Wanted to hike at an even slow pace so I hiked out alone, again. I visited the ¢Taj Mahal¢ of privys before leaving though. It¢s a genuine two seater, side by-side. Not sure what that¢s all about.Hiking alone feels like being lost. All by yourself in your own train of thought. I mostly think of the past. Things I said, things I did, things I wished I¢d done differently. I feel like it did when I was on the ocean. Far from help and left to fend for myself with nothing but my own wits and guts. It¢s like looking down into the deep blue chasm of my mind and not seeing any definite bottom or any specific topic or thought. Just searching the ocean waves for something. A purpose or reason for the way things are. Asking the questions that don¢t have any answer.Passed the Cove Mtn. Shelter because I have everything I need to get to town. Hawk Rock vista was nice looking at the town of Duncannon. Graffiti there also. Accidentally missed the AT and took a blue blazed trail down to the street prematurely. Had to hike uphill and south to find where I went wrong. Met two section hikers on the way back. They didn¢t seem to care that they were off the AT. I left an arrow in the dirt to help Brooklyn and Landfill.They¢re stingy with their white paint here. Hard to know where the AT is running. Had to get out my map to find out how to navigate the Sherman creek bridge crossing into town. Still hard to find white blazes leading down 274. Stopped for Vanilla Lance cookies and Pepsi at the gas station. I could tell from the general expressions on all the patrons/employees/civilians/townies faces that I was smelled ferocious! Ha, hiker trash unite! Duncannon was great! Tiny little town with a thriving main drag.The Doyle was a wonderful spectacle. Reminded me of an old New York street corner hotel in the bad part of town. The Doyle must have been a swanky hotel in its day. Now, there¢s a sign on the door that says, ¢Smelly Hiker Alert¢. It must have been frequented by high class individuals 100 years ago, but now it¢s just filled with old hippies and sweaty hikers. Vicky, the bartender, greeted me! Had my first Yengiling in PA with SuperMax, Rest Stop and Orbit. I think they could smell me also! Checked my mail to find out that Fun Dip is in Daleville. About 26 days behind. Hung out for a long time with Brooklyn, Landfill, Cheese, Fig, SuperMax and listened to classic rock and Johnny Cash. Took the shuttle to Riteaid and made a copy of my pictures on a CD to send home. When I got back to the Doyle, J.B. (former thru-hiker and triple crowner) offered to rush me to the P.O. to send the CD home. The P.O. was closed. The closed 5 minutes early. I begged at their window but they weren¢t having it. I called them heartless in front of J.B. in the car, then I took back what I said. I said, ¢I¢m sure they have good qualities.¢ J.B. laughed and said, ¢Well, they didn¢t give you a very good first impression!¢ J.B. offered to mail it home for me tomorrow. What a nice guy! Sure hope he remembers.Funk and Spiritwalker came into the Doyle with cheers and hoops-a-hollers from the thru-hikers! They¢re celebrities. Walking trail-magic. Spiritwalker has a third degree burn on his foot from the hot water that he spilled while cooking dinner. He took HGH (human growth hormones) and it¢s incredible how rapidly it¢s healing. He had a series of three day progressive pictures of the healing of his sores. Incredible! It¢s almost scabbed over after the 4th day! Funk joked with him and said, ¢The ATC is going to have him testifying before congress like the baseball players.¢ Must be nice being a doctor on the trail and having friends in academic research back at home.Hard to leave the Doyle. Really heartbroken over it actually. Brooklyn and Landfill were playing ¢Dead Flowers¢ and ¢Against the Wind¢ on the jukebox. Said, ¢Adios¢ anyways and walked out of the Doyle feeling ten feet tall. So happy today! Feeling wonderful to the point that I have the urge to huge strangers as they pass by. Grinning in the sunlight and skipping down the sidewalk to the songs playing in my mind.Ran into Dewayne. Lint named him, ¢Insane DeWayne!¢ Fitting. He¢s in rare form. Talkative man. He¢s having knee problems, but can¢t understand why¢¦he¢s only walking 25 miles per day.Vicky caught me as I was leaving. She was in a van and blowing the horn for me to come to her. She told me that a hiker had left his guidebook at the Doyle and was hiking to the first shelter out of town. She wanted me to take it to him. Likely is his name. ¢You can¢t miss him. He weighs 400lbs¢, says Vicky. She gave me a big hug and smiled at me from over the top of her reading glasses. She must have seen a lot of characters passing through the Doyle after all these years.I must have had the cheesiest grin on my face. The wind was at my back and I was rolling out of Duncannon. Ran into DeWayne again. He¢s not leaving town, but going to the stripclub. I wave goodbye to him as I cross the busy bridge of US22/322. It¢s so loud and they¢re moving so fast! Not sure if I¢ll ever be able to go that fast again. I brush my hands on the concrete walkway and think about all the wheat fields from yesterday.The trail is steep leaving town as usual. Vicky showed me the 3D image of the AT map leaving town. I made a huge U-turn and wasted a long distance because of how it¢s laid out. It¢s hot and rocky and getting dark. I passed Funk and Spiritwalker hiking back to the Doyle. The sunset was amazing from the powerline cut through. Amber then red bursting through the pines behind me. Couldn¢t find a campsite before dark and had to break out the headlamp. PA is NOT for night hiking. My feet were stumbling and getting annihilated by the ankle high rocks. Tripping and falling all over the place. Long night! Made it to the parking lot and couldn¢t go anymore. Funk¢s car is here and I kept praying all night that he¢d come get me to go back to the Doyle. Slept without putting my tent up (Cowboy Camping) because the ground was to hard for stakes. Watched the stars and moon while on my back. I called Lish because I needed to talk to someone. Didn¢t get much sleep for fear of someone messing with me out in the open. Lots of visitors at all ours of the night. Not much sleep.