Date: 2018-07-05
From: Cove Mountain Shelter 

To: Clarks Ferry Shelter
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Ugh it was a tough morning. I woke up around 3 or 4 and couldn¢t get back to sleep until 6, and only slept about half an hour more. It was dark and foggy and my rain fly was still soaked. I couldn¢t find the cap to my water bottle or the clip for my spork even I knew they should have been in the shelter. Just that kind of morning. Luckily, I didn¢t have far to go until town. I had just been feeling so great the last few weeks it had been a change. But I knew sometimes you just have those days and have to start walking (or take a zero).I finally got out at 8:30, my latest in a while, and felt better once the endorphins kicked in. There was supposed to be a good view, but it was all fogged in.When I got to the road, the Bermans were waiting. They are friends of my parents that spend part of the year in Pennsylvania and drove an hour and a half to see me. We found a park with a picnic table and they set up pastrami sandwiches, homemade macaroni salad, fruit, sliced veggies, and donuts. I hadn¢t eaten breakfast yet so I ate a bunch!Then they drove me to a grocery store. It was interesting because it was a big box store outside of town, but not a chain. They had some of the bargain brands you see other places, but not consistent. And it had a weird layout, for example peanut butter was in frozen foods. But they basically had everything I needed.We looked for a table so I could lay everything out and go through, and guess where we found one - the ice cream shop! It was nice because the sun came out and I could dry out my tent. And the ice cream was soft serve and creamy.I was looking for a computer to update the blog, but the ¢library¢ was a room in the church that was only open Wednesday¢s. The guide listed a computer repair shop/Internet cafe, but it was closed too even though we were there during business hours. So I figured I would just use my phone and said goodbye to the Bermans. They were very generous (and my fourth awesome visitor for those counting!).I went to the Doyle, a tavern/motel that has been around for over a hundred years. I use the term ¢motel¢ loosely because it sounds more like a crappy hostel - shared bathrooms, no AC, cockroaches... But it is an AT institution so figured I could grab a beer and check it out. The WiFi was supposed to be working, but I was having issues so didn¢t get as much done as I wanted. But good beer and a burger!Even though it¢s been a week since I stayed somewhere and got a real end, shower, and laundry, I didn¢t like the options available so continued back on the AT.The trail goes right through town (which is a little more clustered and has more closed storefronts than somewhere like Boiling Springs), and I stopped by the ice cream shop on the way out for one last scoop. Then it follows a bridge over the Susquehanna River with some good views.Even though it was only a couple of miles, the uphill out of town was rough. Probably because all of the extra food I was carrying. There were a few fun rock scrambles at the top of the ridge, I guess we¢ll see if that continues and ¢Rocksylvania¢ lives up to its nickname.There were decent campsites at the junction with the short trail to the shelter, so I just set up there before going down. I was glad because there weren¢t many sites around there. A few people were getting ready for bed, but we hung out for a bit and I put my smellies in the bear box. When I got back up to the trail, someone else had set up which kind of annoyed me as I was hoping for some space, but since it was right off the trail I should have expected as much.