Date: 2016-05-19
From: Darlington Shelter

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: overcast clouds

We rose early, hit up a quick breakfast, and hustled to pack up. We were going into TOWN today! As we headed out, we had to walk right past the shelter and briefly stopped to chat with a few hikers. We haven't really connected with anyone yet on the trail but the last 3 days were hiked in a NoBo contiguous sequence so it was likely to happen soon. OG Bob as we came to know him later and a young solo woman hiker asked us about our plans when we got into town. We noted that The Doyle was a little to rugged for us and we planned to stay at the Red Carpet Inn. OG Bob's ears perked at the sound of something more accommodating. We were the first ones out of camp this morning! Pretty good for us!Second breakfast was at the top of our first climb, a pipeline with a nice view. It was sunny and pleasant and we lingered on the rocks sunning ourselves and taking pictures. We made our way to Hawk Rock and stopped for a long time in the shade enjoying the beautiful view and once again taking photos.The trail down into Duncannon was very rocky and comprised of rock steps. I got pretty far out in front of Debbie as rocks are not her forte. Jackson and I dropped down onto Inn Road and walked up to the Sherman Creek bridge. The AT had been re-routed in the recent past and if Debbie happened on the old route, I didn't want to miss her reaching Inn Road. Once reunited we went under US 11/15 and made our way to The Doyle Hotel. Duncannon is a very old Appalachian community with narrow streets, quaint houses, and lots of little shops. Once at The Doyle we were greeted by OG Bob looking at his guide and anxious to join us on our ride to the motel. After calling for our ride and discovering it would be a bit before they arrived, we all went inside and had something to drink at this very historic hotel. The Inn keepers have an interesting reputation and it was exciting to finally meet them. Once again, dogs are not allowed inside due to it being a restaurant, but Jackson was aloud to stay in the hallway tied to our packs where he could see us.The Red Carpet driver arrived and whisked us to our hotel. We secured our room, loaded up the washing machine, emptied out gear from my mini-van, took showers and began a routine of packing for the next stretch of the trail. Jackson's backpack was muddy so I washed it out and laid it outside in the sun to dry. Jackson has been extremely hungry this year so I've decided to increase his food and feed him his normal ration 3 x's per day instead of 2 x's. Even found a store with his brand of food today while in town to make this addition possible.Once repacked, we jumped in my mini-van and drove up to Hamburg, PA to leave it at the Microtel. We planned to arrive here 4 days from now. We hit up Walmart for resupply and then caught a ride with Pastor Jason Stump. He took us through a fast food drive through so we could catch dinner as it was now after 7 p.m. He drove us the hour back to Duncannon and the Red Carpet Inn. Once back at the Inn, I discovered in our final repack that Jackson's backpack had been left in my mini-van which was now 4 days away. (Deep sigh). I now had 10 lbs of his gear/food and no way to carry it. It wasn't even going to fit in my backpack if I carried it. This was not good. With no time to retrieve it, it was lights out and there were plenty of dreams about how to possibly manage this one!