Date: 2018-07-11
From: Boiling Springs, PA

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 25.6

I woke up to ducks quacking in the lake.  No one bothered us during the night in the gazebo. They should make it a shelter for hikers to use rather than a mile outside of town. Humming Bird, Fire Breather, Bubbles and I got up around 5:45 am to beat the midday heat in the valley. We will have 13 miles of corn fields today. I ate some poptarts and a Snickers for breakfast. It seems that I'm eating more and more sugar.  Aladdin who I met months ago said by the end all I'll be eating is candy. Humming Bird dumped out her food bag at she had at least 10 days of food. She shared some candy with us. Fire Breather got most of the food, but that's what partners are for. We hit the trail at 7:15 am.It was going to be a pretty flat day of hiking. The elevation profile didn't show much change but that doesn't mean there's no rocks. We blazed the first 5 miles of the trail except when we stopped to eat wild berries along the trail. They were like raspberries but a little more sweet. It seemed every 200 yards we were stopping to eat berries. You don't get many chances for free food on the trail.  We stopped at a water source to refill. Fire Breather had a whole in the bottom of his new pack that he got at the outfitter in Harper's Ferry. He called the outfitter to see if he could return it but the person in charge of returns was at a trade show. Bubbles needed to go to REI to swap out his pack. They were deciding on renting a car to do all these errands. I told them I was going to keep pushing on to Duncannon, PA. I rolled out and kept pushing on through the flatlands. After about 10 miles I came to a sign saying there was trail magic in the parking lot. A man in a pick up truck was giving out drinks and candy. I hung out for a little bit. He mentioned that there was a hiker feast in Duncannon at the Lutheran Church from 5 to 7. It was 3:30 then and I still needed to go another 9 miles. I didn't think I could make it but it was still a push to get me there. I headed out. It was still pretty flat but then I hit rocks. There were rocks for miles and they didn't seem to end. They slowed me down but I still thought about the hiker feast. I passed another hiker going south and she asked me if I was going to the hiker feast. She said that Duncannon was only an hour hike away and it was 5:30. I had a fighting chance but I know that you can't always trust someone's interpretation of distance and time. I came to a steep decline that was covered in rocks. Jumping down from rock to rock really hurt my feet. It was 6 pm now and the town still looked like it was 2 miles away. I eventually descended the rock mess and came to a road leading into town. I was on the edge of town at 6:50 and the church was a 10 minute walk away. I hoofed it over there. When I arrived they were still serving spaghetti, salad, bread, and dessert. I was so excited to have made it in time. I loaded up on pasta and greens then got to work making it disappear. Volunteers kept bringing me more and more food. I had to start declining some because I didn't want to eat too much. They even had some resupply things like bandages, batteries, toothbrushes, etc. I loaded up on the resupply stuff as well. I had to rush because I had to check in to The Doyle Hotel at 8 pm.  The Doyle was known for being the dirtiest hotel on the trail. It was legendary and I was surprised it hadn't been closed down. The woman who ran the place told me everything in the reviews was true except for the bed bugs and flying locusts. I knew what I was getting myself into. The building itself was a relic and it looked like it was in disrepair. I got my room key then ascended 3 flights of stairs. The ceiling had water marks from years of leaking water. It was also pretty dark inside and it didn't seem that the lights worked. I got to my room on the fourth floor and peered in. It was a simple room with a table, chair, dresser, and bed. The floor looked like it hadn't been cleaned in awhile. The window had to be propped up with a wooden dowel rod. The ceiling looked as if it could fall at anytime. It was home for the night. I made sure to check the bed for bed bugs and layed down to rest. I gave Theresa a call to catch up on the week. I then took a shower. The bathroom was equally as bad. It seemed that the floor was going to fall through. There was a little note that said the importance of closing the shower curtain all the way or it destroys the ceiling of the other bathroom below. It looked like the toilet hadn't been cleaned in a week. It was all well worth the $25 for my own room.  Tonight I'm sleeping in squeaky bed. I hope the cockroaches don't run over me tonight.