Date: 2007-07-07
From: Alec Kennedy Shelter

To: Cove Mtn. Shelter
Miles today: 25.5
Weather: broken clouds

The last 2 miles of today's hike were a hellish affair. The first 23 miles were a real joy. So let me dispense of the bad news first and get it over with. I was originally shooting for the Darlington Shelter today, which would have been an 18 mile hike. But since I was feeling so good I decided to go another 7 miles to the next shelter and shorten my hike to Duncannon, PA tomorrow. The first 5 miles of this last 7 were on good trail with enough daylight left to see OK. After the fifth mile it was getting dark and I put my headlamp on. Well it was just about at this point that the PA rocks reared their ugly head and the trail became a torturous path that was very hard to negotiate in the dark. I was constantly looking down at the trail to decide where my next step should be placed and then picking my head up to look for a blaze to make sure I was still on the trail and also to look for some sign indicating I was near the shelter. After enduring this for quite a while and thinking I might have passed the shelter, I was ready to call it quits and just find a level spot to lay down my tired and stressed out body. I kept walking, looking for that spot, and eventually came upon the shelter sign nailed to tree. I was happy to have this ordeal finally come to an end. I don't dwell on this stuff too much in my day to day journal entries, but I mention this incident only to highlight the fact that this hike has been one of the most physically and a lot of times, mentally challenging things I've done in my lifetime. It's not always just a walk in the woods out here. OK, aside from the end of the day, this was a great day. It was a short four mile hike from where I stayed last night, to a town called Boiling Springs, PA. This is a small town with a tourist appeal. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) Mid Atlantic regional office is right on the trail, which goes through Boiling Springs. I was only planning to stay here long enough to get some breakfast and purchase some snack food to hold me over until I arrived at Duncannon, PA. The ATC office was situated within walking distance of the Post Office, a small convenience store, a small restaurant, and a pub. What more would a thru hiker need. I only made use of the convenience store though, and after purchasing my resupply items, I sat on the open porch of the ATC office, drinking coffee, eating some breakfast, and catching up on email and journal entries on my Pocketmail device.After relaxing for about 2 hours I hoisted the pack and hiked out. The day was hot but not humid, and the hike today (aside from the abovementioned) was fantastic. The entire route basically followed Pennsylvania farm country. The trail traversed some lowland lightly forested areas, but mostly went through open areas and followed the edge of corn and wheat fields. I found myself walking at a good pace but deliberately stopping many times to pick and eat ripe black raspberries along the trail. Some thru hikers consider this terrain to be boring, but I love it. Being in the woods day after day can be monotonous in my opinion, especially if there are no vistas or sights to see, so hiking the open lowlands can offer some much needed diversity and a break from the forested trail. Of course another advantage, is that the trail will likely cross a road that may have a nearby store or restaruant. This happened to be the case today around 3pm, when the trail crossed Route 11. I hiked down the road about .2 miles to a local diner and had an early dinner. The hour and a half spent there was well worth it and saved me from making dinner later on the way to a very long hike today.On the AT, you take a little bit of the bad with a lot of the good now and then.