Date: 2010-10-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 262.0

I'm in Duncannon PA watching the rain fall on a cold dreary day. This is the kind of day you stay in a comfy bed under a comfy comforter and contemplate whether it would be worth getting up to brush your teeth and start the day. Unfortunately, I haven't a comforter or a comfy bed. They are in a storage facility in New Jersey, and I am in Duncannon PA. Poop.We spent the monsoon last week at the 501 shelter which is on a road and actually has 4 walls and bunks. By the time we were ready to order pizza for dinner the pizza place in town had closed, as well as all the other buisnesses. We were heart broken. First of all, we were fantasizing about that pizza all day. What we should get on it, whether to get fries or jalepeno poppers, and what kind of soda to drink. Secondly, we had no food having planned on resupply in the town that was closed. We started calling the other places, thinking about hitching or walking the 4 miles into town and back. We got a hold of one place that was closing because of the rain. It was a family style place that has a smorgasbord. The owner caught on right away that he was talking to hikers. Hungry hikers stranded without food. "How many are there he asked", "eight" we answered. Alright, I'll be there in 20 minutes. Dont you know this guy showed up with a box of fried chicken, a tub of peas, a tub of potatoe filling, a tub of coleslaw, rolls and cherry pie. There was enough for everyone to have 5 or 6 pieces of chicken, and after we all took huge 1st and 2nd portions of everything, we still had left overs that we could not eat. Trail magic at its finest.My brother came out to Duncannon on Saturday. It was sweet to have him along for the weekend since this was supposed to be his trip too. He was treated to a spider crawling across his bed as we got into our room at the Doyle. Welcome to hiker accomodations bro. We all went to a pub down the road and started sipping some beer and watching the Phillies game. My brother picked up the tab for EVERYONE all night. There were like 7 of us, and he just kept the pitchers flowing all night. We got to watch the Eagles game yesterday which always proves to be good guy time, despite the fact that the game sucked, and the Eagles lost to their old quaterback Donovan McNAbb. Oh well, such is life. It was fun to catch up, and have him experience all my buddies that he reads about. They were all talking about how cool he is this morning, and asking me to thank him again for coming out. Mad props to you Mark.So anyway, the rain is still coming down. There were a few options for miles today. The first idea was to do 26 to boiling springs. That is out of the question.....too rainy. Than we had talked about doing 11 miles to a shelter. Problem with that is that it is only a 5 person shelter and there will be 10 or more people there. There was a group of section hikers here yesterday that were planning on going there. What we will probably do is 4 miles to an 8 person shelter, and do 22 to boiling springs tomorrow. Still getting to the ssame place on the same day as planned, but doing big miles tomorrow in exchange for comfort tonight. These are about the worse dilemas we have to face as hikers. Its not a bad life.If you havent noticed the miles, look up at the top right. We recently broke a thousand! Tater Chip called me yesterday. He finished his flip flop thru hike in Harpers ferry where that little white haired lady he always talks about was waiting for him. I wish I could have been there with him the way we planned, and I could have wrapped him up in a big Hug when he hit that road. Hopefully he will be coming out to see us in Georgia where the trail is 45 minutes from him. Im very happy for him, and very proud to call such a great man my friend. His southern charm and his optimistic outlook on life are missed, as are all the "Taterims" Tater Chip.....your the man!!