Date: 2015-06-07
From: Backpackers Campsite outside Boiling Springs, PA

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 26.2
Weather: few clouds

Didn't get much sleep last night. Trains rolled by constantly. There was so much screeching metal. The worst. I packed up and hit the trail. Then next 14 miles were basically flat. Moving through town and across fields. A lot of road crossings. I carried extra water due to the fact that there wasn't water for over 10 miles and walking through fields in the sun gets pretty hot. The extra water was very unnecessary and I ended up dumping it after a few miles. I know it will sound strange but those 14 miles through those fields. Really sucked. It was just flat. It was boring. It felt like a job instead of a hike. And it was impossible to get a good pace going. I felt like I was just trudging along. At the last road crossing before i got back into the woods I met a couple and they gave me trail magic. Thier names were Bumpa (grumpa? Not sure which inheard) and Pony Stride. They were driving home from a family party and they gave me BBQ chicken and peanut butter cups. It was so awesome. They wanted to hike a but of the trail in PA before they went home. We chatted a bit. They did a big hiker feed a week or 2 ago at Tye River and Will and Way were there!! So excited to hear about them!I stopped for a break before my climb back up into the mountians. It looked like a pretty steep climb. I ate lunch and relaxed for a bit. It was getting to be a pretty hot day. And up I went. Suprisingly the climb wasn't to bad. I made decent time up and just cruised a long. I had a pretty good pace going now And just walked along the ridge. A bit later I had a other climb. Much longer than the first but it was just at the right angle to just cruise right up. So easy. It's much better hiking this than that crap along the road. I was thinking hard about where to stop tonight. Based on the hike in the morning I wasn't really feeling like going tonfar. But once in started skipping along the ridgeline I was feeling pretty good. I decided to go all the way into Duncannon today. I made it to the shelter I was planning to stop at about 4. It was another 4 miles to town and it was just too early to stop. Mind as well get into town a bit early. Duncannon was not what I was expecting. It's very run down and tired. Nothing like the beautiful and very rich neighborhoods of Boiling Springs. I met up with Sweet Eyes and a few other hikers grabbing BBQ take out. We all headed over to the Doyle.The Doyle I'd something else. Over 100 years old and used to be an Anheuser-Busch hotel. In theory this place could be super awesome. I was hoping it would be super awesome. Not so much. It's a dump. I checked in at the barn and got a room. 25 dollars. Pretty good deal. I'm pretty sure the place hadn't been cleaned since 1965, lol. But my room had freshly painted walls and the sheets were clean. I think the sheets were the only clean things in the place. The shower was great though, awesome water pressure. Regardless of all that I really did enjoy my stay! Lol. It was an experience. It would be great if it could be properly renovated. Anyways. I caught back up with Salmon, Smokescreen, Smoke Break and Ninja Geisha. They were staying at the Doyle as well. We all went down the block to Zierdellis for pizza. The large pizza was massive! Salmon couldn't even finish the whole thing. I got a meatball sub. The food was great! After dinner we hung out in our rooms for a while. Turns out my room was right across from thiers. Stayed up way past my bedtime!