Date: 2006-06-11
From: PA 850 (1124.2 miles)

To: Clarks Ferry Shelter
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: 0

Cell good.Today started off well with Sue and I together. The last three days were excellent, Sue and I spent a lot of time just attending to each others needs. We worked on doing things we usually do at home and feeling as normal as possible.My being away here on the trail and out of contact most of the time puts a lot of strain on both of us. Now that I've been gone for 2 1/2 months and there are 2 1/2 months to go, we are feeling the impact. This weekend hopefully was a midterm tune up and adjustment. We spent a lot of quality time together.Once we were up and moving, the reality of the day fell on us like a ton of bricks. We had to get moving, and that meant in different directions - Sue was going home and I was resuming my hike. It was difficult for both of us to say goodbye and get going. Well we did what was needed, and Sue is now safely home, and I'm down the trail. We don't know how long it will be until we will be together again, but I look forward to that day. Once this hike is done I will owe Sue so much and will immediately start to repay her from everything.Once I started hiking I found the trail pretty smooth as it headed into the woods. That soon changed as the trail started to head uphill onto the ridge I would spend the next 5 miles walking along. I started to get a taste of the Pennsylvania rocks. This ridge was similar than others I've hiked on in Virginia. I know I will soon be hiking on rocks all day long in just a few days. I'll try to report them as they come along.The first change I found after the ridge was that I entered and hiked through the town of Duncannon. Normally hikers stop in town for at least one night, but because I had just restarted this morning, I hiked right through and out the other side. I found the trail blazes and markings entering and leaving Duncannon to be pretty poor. Someone needs to put a few additional markings and signs to make this condition better.After leaving Duncannon I crossed the river, only to have to climb another mountain and up to another ridge. On the way up I ran into Sputnik who was hiking Southbound with two friends. He was heading into town to watch a World Cup soccer game.Once I reached the ridge, I was walking along a rock ridge. Again this was similar to some of the ridges in Virginia. I kept thinking the Appalachian mountains were formed at the same time by the same forces of nature, so why wouldn't they be similar.One thing I keep saying to myself is that it doesn't matter what the trail will be like today because I'm going to hike it anyway. I don't look at the terrain features any more - I just move north toward Katahdin, it is what it is, and my goal is to hike it.I found other hikers at the shelter and started to look for level ground to set up my tent on. I eventually found a spot and made myself a home for the night. The temperature is starting to drop, and I'll need to cover up soon.Oh one neat thing is that I'm listening to the TV show "Dateline Sunday" on the radio. It feels so normal to have this as a background as I type.Well that is about all for tonight, goodnight. Old GoatGetting Ready - Click picture to see full sizeOld Goat Ready to go - Click picture to see full sizeDeleware River Valley- Click picture to see full sizeDeleware River- Click picture to see full size Sue's Note: It was very hard to leave Old Goat this morning, but we both know we have to part for him to finish this journey. I'll be glad when it's over, but I still support what he's doing. Over the past couple days we were in Duncannon often. When we talked this evening, it was interesting to hear Old Goat talk about how long it took him to hike through it. Perspectives change depending on the circumstances. If he had hiked through it first, our driving through Duncannon would have felt so short. Because we drove through it first, walking took so much longer.Flashback in time - I lived in a very small town from birth to 13 years old, then we moved to Staten Island (part of NYC). (How's that for culture shock!) When I went back, as an adult, to visit the small town, it was so much smaller than I remembered it! Many factors were involved in the difference in my perspective - as an adult, I was in a car riding around, not walking or riding my bike, and my body is so much bigger than when I was younger than 13! I take Old Goat's perspective on Duncannon as being similar to my hometown recollection - his first time in Duncannon was by car...it takes a lot longer to traverse Duncannon when one is walking and carrying a full backpack!When I picked up Old Goat on Thursday, I had left a cooler with some sodas in it on the AT. Today, dropping off Old Goat, I planned to take the empty cooler and whatever trash may have been left - it wasn't empty. I was thrilled to see someone had put more soda in the cooler and put a rock on the lid so the lid would stay on. Sputnik had written a thank you note - since I met Sputnik, I was thrilled to see a thank you note from him! That was so nice - thank you for being so thoughtful, Sputnik! Before I left the area, I went to a nearby grocery store and filled the cooler with more sodas and ice. I felt a little guilty leaving the cooler there because once I head home I won't be close enough to remove it when it's empty. I can only hope some trail angel will pick it up (I would, if I lived nearby)...or it will continue to be filled.