Date: 2016-06-19
From: Scott Farm ATC HQ

To: Clark's Ferry Tentsite
Miles today: 19.5
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up in a bad mood. I think I'd had dreams that put me in a funk.What to do? We wanted to surprise Bombadil for Father's Day by shuttling (or something) up to him, but it seemed we didn't have very good options (timing and money didn't quite match up). So when that didn't seem like it was going to work out that also bummed me out. I also felt like we weren't making much progress hiking lately, but it's totally understandable with Verge's Lyme disease and my birthday shenanigans...all of it just put me in such a bad mood.We thankfully were able to get back to where we left off, and we decided we'd try to hike to Duncannon (15ish miles). It was a 90 degree day again. You know, when I worked on mentally preparing myself for the worst conditions, I was imagining horrible cold snow and rain and freezing temperatures and bears and snakes and everything I could think of! Guess what I didn't think of? The heat. This fair skinned, New England girl does NOT do well in the heat. Today was awful. I completely lost my appetite (not that the melted trail mix that tasted like soap was that appealing anyway--baby wipes had been in the same drop box affecting the flavor...) and I almost puked three times for whatever reason. I kept drinking water, but it didn't seem like my body was absorbing it; it'd go right through me or I'd sweat it out in buckets. Gross. Also, moisture seeking bugs? Awesome. Anyway, Verge and I got so tired we were in delirious mode; everything was funny and we were tripping over our own feet. We got to town, and I was starving (my appetite came back with a vengeance). We walked right up to the Doyle (legendary Duncannon AT hotel and restaurant that we were excited for) and found out it had closed the restaurant at 6pm because it's Sunday...it was 6:15. So close. So we went further down the trail, stopped at a quick mart, and headed to the campground (our plan for where we were staying that night--only $5!) Sadly, it was another mile through town, so we're on our last legs of energy, I'm SO hungry and my back is starting to hurt, but we made a game of counting how many churches we passed on this one street in town (8 churches, a Mary st., Rebecca st., Rachel st., 2 funeral homes, and a Cemetary st.) all on the same ONE tiny street in town! We finally got to the campground and approached a sign that told us that the campground closes at 4pm on Sundays and that NO late entries would be tolerated. Closed. Closed...I wanted to cry. I almost did. What would we do? We didn't want to backtrack to the Doyle? We didn't really want to stay at the Doyle anyway. Have a hotel pick us up and stay there? We weren't planning on spending $55; we were planning on spending $5-$10!! Verge was holding up very well, but I just...I'd had such a bad day! I wanted to bail! $55 was worth it to me at that moment. Verge tried to make me see reason and tell me it probably wasn't what I wanted because the next camping area with water is only three miles away (up a two mile hill after not having filled up water for over 7 miles...) and asked me are you "physically capable" of going further? That really got to me. Yes, I'm "physically capable" but I was mentally drained and so hangry. I felt like I was being weak-willed or something because here's my sister with Lyme disease wondering why I'm not up for going further. Physically capable? Bah. That made me mad. However, it also made me realize that the trail experience is largely about growing stronger in more ways than one, including a stronger will. She was right. I felt physically capable, so why don't I just grit my teeth and get up that damn hill and get some water when I get there? Alright. I marched up that hill and along the way even was enjoying the climb. The breeze picked up, the sun was setting over the Susquehanna River, the air smelled beautiful, and my dad called me. We got to camp, got water, set up the tent, ate dinner, bearbagged, and met a couple guys out for the weekend from the air national guard. They shared chocolate pudding with us, and all was right in the world. I'm so thankful for my incredibly strong sister who is helping me build a stronger will. Just keep smiling.