Date: 2008-05-26
From: Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania

To: Doyle Hotel, Duncannon, Pennsylvania
Miles today: 25.6
Weather: clear sky

up at 6 a.m., at Getty's Gas Staion by 6:50 for bottles of iced tea. We ate our cereals at the picnic talble next to the station. Used their restroom, then off in the sunny dawn toward 14.3 mile-away Darlington Shelter. Hiked around rolling crops fields and thru woods that skirted them. Went past Ted and Coffee camping a mile out of town--waved at them as they sat up in their tent. Chatted with a woman walking her 2 dogs in the woods. Sunny field tromping mostly before midday. Saw sign on tree warning of beehive ahead in a tree bordering a cow pasture; managed to hustle by that without angering bees--neat to see so many on and inside of the tree trunk. Hike to Darlington Shelter was pretty good. Weather in mid 70's, so it's hot in the exposed fields, cool in the forest. Hiked along Conodoguinet Creek for several miles; boggy but had many walkway boards to keep us from getting too muddy. Had a steep up to Darlington Shelter; arrived at 12:15 or so. I signed the shelter journal there--my last entry of this yr- lots of hrs left in the day so we're going all the way to Duncannon! Neat privy here; counter-weighed door(coffee can with rocks in it attached to a rope, attached to the door making for a smooth quiet closure), well-lit and roomy and well-ventilated, too! Read shelter journal and saw that War Paint, Kirby and Cookie, and Thud and Max had all been here within the past week. Many complained of the long half-mile walk down to the water here--to find it is a poor trickle. Glad we don't need any--we left Boiling Springs with filled Platypus'. Our new goal: Duncannon, 11.3 miles ahead. Day got warmer. Astounded when within a few miles after leaving Darlington Shelter, coming toward us was Smokehouse and his wife, Mother Nature!! Unbelievable! We hiked for several days with Smokehouse last year! Turns out he'd gotten off the trail shortly after we did last yr--he had a stress fracture. Now he's back with his wife this yr. They're positioning their 2 cars and hiking from car to car, shuttling them around trailheads. Wonderful to see them and catch up. Crossed another hot valley, thru a thick waist-brushing grassy field. Lots of butterflies and nasty flies and gnats tormented us. Big houseflies were numerous and lighted on us whenver we stopped--so we tried to stay moving Final 1.7 miles was down a steep, loose rock "rockslide" of ankle-turning, precarious footing, descending in a seemingly never ending plummet. Hot, muggy and hazardous. At last we reached the road at Duncannon. A man on the sidewalk told us that up ahead we needed to turn right to walk on the underpass; the blaze alerting us to turn wouldn't be visible. He was right! Saw a paper sign taped onto the AT sign at a park on the corner saying there's a reward for a hiker's backpack that'd been stolen. That's rotten for someone to steal a pack! Walked up to the Doyle Hotel/bar. There sat the crime victim who'd just been reunited with his backpack! Someone called the Doyle and told him to come to the park, where the person said he'd found the pack. The only items missing were his pocketknife, camera, and address book. He was fortunate. I gobbled up a bowl of spicy chili, some beer; TIE had a tasty NY strip, cooked perfectly. Met B Rad and his mom, New Day who were the previous occupants of the Boiling Springs playhouse(the night before us)--and they're from Chesapeake, VA! What a small world! Poor Boy(thru-hiker) came in later during dinner. It's raining now and thunderstorming in the mountains he says. We are SO happy we missed the bad weather by hiking to our '08 final destination: Duncannon. PA! Poor Boy showed us his hiking shoes that are in need of replacement. They're the same shoes he started with on the AT--boy are they beat up! This is another town where only a couple of the restaurants are open cause of the holiday. It's good we can eat and sleep at the same stop. Ready to ka-plop We took showers, then hopped into bed. We've arrranged to meet Trail Angel Mary at her place above The Pub a block up the street(The Pub's closed tonight)Trail Angel Mary will shuttle us to the airport in Hrrisburg to the rental car agency tomorrow. Highlight of day: diversity of hiking terrian: hiked town, roads, forests, mountains, creekside, bogs with boardwalks, climbed over stiles to hike thru cow and horse pastures, around crops and farms, thru huge meadows with chest-high grass, pine tag cushioned paths, rocky boulder-filled steep slopes both ups and downs, saw yuppie-looking joggers, dog walkers--1 lady had 4 dogs of different breeds-very well-behaved, past one gent dreesed for the golf course(? he's out on the trail!?). Many of these folks were on the Trail seemingly in the middle of nowhere--maybe they live in farmhouses around here.