Date: 2006-07-04
From: PA325

To: Doyle Inn, Duncannon
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: overcast clouds

How, you might ask, can he walk 17 miles and wind up in the same place? Slackpacking is the answer. Slackpacking is carrying a very light pack and returning to the location where you've left your heavy gear and food bags. Hitherto, I've avoided slackpacking, but today's offer was too good to pass up. I got to do the 17 miles, avoided carrying my heavy, re-supplied pack up out of town, and returned to a hiker feed and a comfortable bed at the Doyle.The slackpacking opportunity arose at the breakfast hiker feed by trail angel Mary Parry, just a few blocks down the street. Great breakfast. Then I hustled to strip my pack of nearly everything except water, food, my first aid kit, and rain jacket: total weight about 10 lbs., mostly water. The hike started out with quite a climb during which I fell behind. The heat and humidity made me glad my load was light. After the climb, I passed a number of the other slackpackers and stayed ahead, arriving back in town in the middle of the pack of 12. I covered the 17 miles in a little over 6 hours, including breaks, so my hiking speed was about 3.5 mph. Not bad for an old guy.The hike climbed to the ridgetop of Peters Mtn, and followed it all the way until just before the end, when we descended steeply to the bridge over the Susquehanna. From one of just a few overlooks, one could see a few flooded fields. From the bridge the river, usually clear and relatively placid, was muddy and roiling.I stopped at the very nice Peters Mtn Shelter for lunch. It can accommodate 16 on two floors, and has a picnic table under cover on the porch. The one drawback is the spring is straight down the mountainside on about 300 stone steps. I was glad I didn't need to go, having carried plenty of water out of Duncannon. Stopped in at Clark's Ferry Shelter about 4:00pm, and refueled with gorp before the last 4.5 miles back down into town.Guzzled a pepsi and showered at the Doyle before joining about 18 other hikers at Mary's feed. Very good food and drink followed by great watermelon. I elected to chill in my room rather than go to see the fireworks, and will try to catch the first shuttle tomorrow.Mary gave us a disturbing piece of news: the ATC Ridgerunner is trying to shut down trail magic, considering it a form of littering. What a bummer! Ever since they changed their name from Conference to Conservancy, the ATC seems to have lost touch with the thruhiker community. Wouldn't it be better to have an educational campaign on how to properly do trail magic, including an emphasis on frequently checking and removing magic containers that are emptied? After dinner, on the way to convenience store, I ran into JohnnyK who was headed to the pizza place to join Weatherman. Weatherman looked beat and is planning a zero tomorrow. Had a coke and a fruit-flavored drink there, then stopped off at the convenience store for an ice cream sandwich and another pepsi as a nightcap.Have you noticed an obsession with food in recent journals? All the hikers are constantly craving town food, and I'm no exception. I've converted all my body fat into forward motion --- at 160, I've lost about 15 lbs --- and now need to replace as much of the calories I burn as possible. I'm using more olive oil with my dinner meals and am carrying additional high calorie/carb food items for lunch and snacking.Well, it's well beyond hiker midnight and the speed and heat have me pretty much tapped out. On! On!