Date: 2005-05-29
From: Boiling Springs Backpacker's Campsite

To: 3.5 mi South of Cove Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Miles hiked today : 19.618.5 AT miles + 0.3 miles of side trail + 0.8 roadwalk milesThe trains last night were phenomenally great. Hopefully my sarcasm doesn't go undetected. Besides the 2 trains that I heard while journaling last night, I heard trains around 3:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m., and 5:00 a.m. I don't know the exact times they rolled by, as I was too busy plugging my ears to check my watch. One thing is for sure, a train makes an enormous racket when it is less than 100 feet from your campsite.I "slept in" until 6:50 a.m. and was packed and hiking at 7:35 a.m. Dad's Grin and I were going to have breakfast in town, though the only place open for breakfast didn't open until 1:00 p.m. on Sundays. We went to the gas station and bought breakfast foods and sat in the park watching the ducklings swim in the lake until 8:45 a.m.I hiked until 10:30 a.m. and took a 10 minute rest break. At 11:40 a.m., I reached the $1,000,000 pedestrian footbridge over US11, the Harrisburg Pike. I was there with Dad's Grin and it may be possible that "ham" was pressed against the fence for oncoming traffic to witness. Just a little tradition, with regards to this particular footbridge, that I'd heard about before beginning my hike.We climbed down the hill to US11 and walked 0.4 mile to where there was supposed to be a truck stop. It turns out that the truck stop was demolished last year, though there was a gas station across the street. I ate lunch out of my pack rather than spend money on more food and, after lunch, we walked back to the trail, arriving at 12:40 p.m.After 2.3 miles, at 1:35 p.m., I arrived at Scott Farm Trail Center, which is a training facility for ATC ridge runners. I stopped for a 30 minute rest break before moving on. At 3:05 p.m., I took a 20 minute rest and snack break and 3:50 p.m., I took a 5 minute rest break at an overlook of the Cumberland Valley with the Blue Ridge Mountains in the background. Yep, rest breaks were the order of the day.I arrived at the side trail to the site of the former Darlington Shelter at 4:10 p.m. and after walking the trail, I found the shelter remains in addition to a mailbox that housed the register. As I returned to the AT, it began to rain, although it had been sunny and clear all day long. Although the rain only lasted 20 minutes, it was falling hard enough that I had to stop to put on my rain jacket. I don't particularly like hiking in my rain jacket, though I was too lazy to stop and take it off after the rain stopped. So, I wore it until 5:30 p.m. when I arrived at my intended stopping point, a stream 3.6 miles before Cove Mountain Shelter.Amusingly, somebody had altered the sign that said "ATTENTION: The spring at Darlington Shelter is not dependable. Take water here." The only alteration was that the word "shelter" was covered with a piece of paper that says "mailbox." Based on entries in various registers and the altered sign, there is a bit of animosity from hikers toward the governing county of Cumberland Valley. Primarily because they don't allow hikers to camp anywhere within the 18 miles of trail that passes through the valley. Secondarily, due to the absence of Darington Shelter, there is a 25.5 mile gap between Alec Kennedy Shelter and Cove Mountain Shelter, which is an annoyance to hikers that depend upon shelters.While I treated water, Dad's Grin and I discussed hiking onto Cove Mountain Shelter. I was feeling neutral about the situation and when Dad's Grin suggested that we hike on and try to find a campsite a bit up the trail, I agreed. We set out at 5:55 p.m. and at 6:00 p.m., we found an excellent campsite 0.1 mile past the stream.I pitched my tent and made dinner, then built a campfire to journal by. With only 7.5 miles to Duncannon, I'm looking forward to an easy day of hiking tomorrow and to staying at the "infamous" Doyle Hotel. I finished reading the "Schr¶dinger's Cat Trilogy" last night, so I'm closing my eyes early tonight.Bedtime at 9:20 p.m.