Date: 2016-06-18
From: Boiling Springs Campsite / Boiling Springs, PA

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 25.6
Weather: clear sky

Jun 18, 2016 - Our original plan was to hike 25.6 miles from Boiling Springs to Duncannon today because Peach had a friend meeting him. His plans ended up falling through, but Duncannon was still the goal for the day. Peach and I were up early as usual and continued traversing the Cumberland Valley, a stretch of 17 of probably the flattest miles on the trail. We picked up large coffees in town and strolled through the woods with them on this warm, beautiful morning. We had no idea how long or crazy our day would be. It's funny watching Scoober in the morning because he has the same hiker hobble we all have - he'll basically limp for about 100 yards before his muscles start to operate as they're supposed to. A few miles into our hike, we noticed a cooler and two chairs set out at the end of someone's driveway. Intrigued, we opened the cooler to find cold beers so we knew the seats were for us. Trail Magic! We sat there for a while, drank, signed the homeowner's logbook and even chatted with her for a while when she pulled into the driveway right next to us. We continued hiking with our roadies until we came to the crossing for route 11. Our continued efforts to Brew Blaze whenever possible demanded that we hitch to the Appalachian Brewing Co. for a few beers. An older gentleman by the name of Don obliged us with a ride. The beers were pretty good, but the brewery reminded me of the Smoky Mountain Brewery in Gatlinburg - everything just felt too touristy. We expected hitching back to the trail would prove to be much more difficult, but Corey and John quickly pulled over in their large, red pickup truck. When we climbed into the backseat, we had already started moving when we noticed they were both drinking beer since they had just left the Harley Davidson factory where they worked. These guys were crazy. They thought we stunk and they let us hear it. On the bright side, they did get us some more beer for the trail, but they stopped at their house first. At the time, we were convinced they went inside to do some drugs so Peach texted his friend the address of the house in case we were never heard from again. While we waited, John's kid came out of the front door with an aerosol pistol aimed at the car and approached. It turns out he was just fetching something from the bed, but this was starting to get surreal. Corey and John finally brought us back to trail, forced some pretzels on us and peeled away with fresh beers in the center console. As soon as I hit the trail head, I realized I forgot my phone in their car. Shit. I'll have to deal with that later. Also at the trail head were Steel and Survivor who had finally caught up. We hiked a short way and ran into Splinter, Boyardee and Great P next to the Juniata River. Since it was so hot, we all stripped down and sat in the shallow river while we watched Scoober chase rocks through the water. The water was clean and refreshing. When we had cooled down sufficiently, Peach, Scoober and I hiked the remaining 12 miles or so into the center of Duncannon. The Doyle hotel in the center of town is famous as far as the trail is concerned. Known for their excellent food and drinks, the hotel itself was known in a much more negative manner. The place was run down with broken windows, no AC, exposed electric wiring, and sagging and leaking ceilings. Seeing as it looked like some of the abandoned buildings near where I used to live in the ghetto of Jersey City, I had no desire to stay there. For the same price, we grabbed two adjoining rooms at the Red Carpet Inn up the road. It was the first time I paid for lodging in almost 500 miles, but it was necessary. Peach, Scoober and I rolled into the Doyle around 8:30, which was, unfortunately, after they stopped serving food. We did get a Yeungling to soothe our parched throats and restore some life into our tired limbs. A few other hikers were there also: Jelly, Croc, Olive Oil, Treebeard, Slam, and Tink Tank. When Steel and Survivor arrived, we crossed the road to the only open eating place left in town: Sorrento's pizzeria. As usual, I ordered a pie and crushed it. The pizza up here is finally similar to New York style so I can't get enough. Tim, I'm up to 107 slices.Finally, we caught a ride to the hotel and after a glorious shower, I passed out on the floor. Scoober took up too much of the bed for me to be comfortable. Looking back, today was incredibly long and we did so much. Sometimes, it feels like we're living lifetimes inside moments out here.