Date: 2018-07-01
From: Boiling springs

To: Duncannon pa
Miles today: 25.3
Weather: clear sky

Train went by the boiling springs camp just after 5 and woke me, so I packed up and hit the trail by 530. I had been warned by tons of people that it was gonna be even hotter than yesterday. Going through the swanky town of boiling springs as the sun was rising was real nice. I actually started hiking in my sandals because of all the wet grass to walk through, great decision.  Switched to shoes when I filled up my water at the ATC building.  The trail was super flat and super interesting today. Went by a bunch of cornfields, and wheat? There were lots of blackberries around as well of which I ate quite a few ripe ones. There also was a TON of trail runners, probably saw as many today as I have in all the other days on the trail so far. Hummingbird went by me at around 8, and I met two other hikers a Poppins (with a big red umbrella) and a guy who used to work for Tesla prior to the trail and I can't remember his name. Three other hikers were at the at trail center but they left right as I arrived so I didn't get their names. There was a river by the at trail center so I went for a swim before getting back on trail. It was still super hot, at one point I was just sitting in the shade but could still feel kuaelf just cooking. I ran into hummingbird right as I decided to skip a shelter for the next water source 2 miles north which was supposed to be a bridge+stream. My plan was to go into whatever amount of water there was. Unfortunately that dream was dashed when I arrived to find a bridge over a red mud puddle. I instead had lunch on the bridge in the shade and was very warm and sad. After that there was a bit of a hill to climb so luckily there was other water sources. Passed the 3 hikers from before while climbing the hill and didn't get names again because everyone was very unhappy and sweaty. Got to hawk rock (doesn't look like a hawk, just like all the Raven rocks) and headed down into town. I arrived in town at the same time as hummingbird ~4pm so we walked in together. It was crazy hot. The heat of the day was magnified by the asphalt so it was awful walking on the road in. We stopped at the first possible respite (a Sunoco) and crawled in for cold drinks and AC. The clerk told us to sit in the back in the ac for as long as we wanted. I resupplied some of my snacks here as the prices were actually pretty good, and looked through my guide book on what to do next. I hadn't eaten any meals (dinners) from bag since Harper's ferry thanks to all the stores and icecream, and Az had given me his last meal too so I still had 2 dinners. I decided that I had enough while HB had to resupply. I also detthat I was going to try and go 56 miles to a hostel that would pick me up from the trail and possibly take me to yuengling brewery on 7-3 I think that's my only shot at the brewery because it's probably closed on the 4th which is when I could have gotten into Port Clinton. I actually called them and left a reservation saying I'd arrive Tuesday at around 5. At the time I was planning to eat some dinner and have a beer at the doyle then hike out probably 5or so miles leaving 49 for the next 2 days.  The doyle was kinda ok I guess? The food was good and my beer was cold, the bartender was actually really fun to talk with as well. But staying the night was a no go as they didn't have AC, I would be just as comfortable being hot in the woods. As I was walking out of town I ran into pastor Dennis who invited me into the church basement where they had showers and AC. Right after I took a shower I ran into Odie the hiker yearbook guy. He was on his way to see trail angel Mary and invited me along. Having no idea and not really wanting to road walk in the heat I went along. Trail angel Mary is someone that used to live in the campground at the end of town and met hikers for the first time there. She started feeding them, and as she got jobs and an apartment kept sharing with them. Pretty cool. She had 5 backpacks, some that looked familiar, but no hikers. They were at someone's house in a pool, and luckily that guy just happened to call. Before I knew it Odie and I were there too and the pool was awesome. This guy Steve had invited the hikers from the church basement and they had invited their friends that were staying at Mary's. The only one I knew beforehand was scooter, but pika, jukebox, Houdini, newt,and safety Steve all seemed pretty cool. Had some beers, venison steak and played in the pool for a bit. Eventually we all piled into the hiker yearbook bus to go get ice cream, then drove to the river to stand in it and eat the ice cream. It was quite wonderful. Being in the hiker yearbook bus is hilarious, Odie yells at every hiker we pass to get in the bus to join us and most of them do. After all that fun, didn't bother to try to hike out and just slept at the basement in the glorious ac. Hummingbird had resupplied and was there too, slug was also around and peach showed up late. Plan was to get up early to do the road walk pre heat and try to get in at least 29 to the shelter so that the 56 to the hostel stays doable.