Date: 2004-07-09
From: Darlington Shelter area

To: Duncannon, PA
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: overcast clouds

My name is Beatbox and I'm a hiker. I've worn the same outfit for four months in a row. I don't wear pajamas, but I do sleep in silk. My position on the food chain is located directly below mosquitoes and I have launched a verbal tirade at a gnat. I believe Golden Coral to be a "5 Star" establishment; still I unabashedly ask if refills are free? I have used Vaseline in three ways in the past month¢¦none of them ¢dirty.¢ I hike Big Butt and I cannot lie; I can count my available money faster than my bug bites. The competition isn¢t even close! I see No-See-Ums; I feel them, too. I walk a well-marked path in order to lose myself. Truckers honk at me; mothers hide their children from me. I never tire of discussing food, though it only makes me hungrier.I love raspberries and blackberries and I get ¢hankerins¢ for pizza, burgers and pie¢¦yum! I¢ve downed more ice cream soda in one sitting than any person in history; still I crave more. I run out of alcohol without drinking a drop. I use wet-wipes. I believe Gold Bond to be the ultimate panacea. I push through sickness and all forms of weather, but I¢m not a Postman. I ignore the odds. I defy them, too. I lift up the lid to rummage through others' waste. This is not only acceptable, but encouraged...my friends do it, too.Bill Bryson no longer impresses me. I¢m no author, but I¢m halfway finished writing a 500-page book. I¢m no Muddy Waters, but I know the Virginia Blues. I pray in the woods. My clothing has a personality all its own, though I¢m not sure it¢s a good one. I have nightmares of huge biting black flies¢¦perhaps the nightmares are actually premonitions?I still haven¢t seen a bear; this makes me sad. I still haven¢t seen a Copperhead; this makes me happy. I laugh at randomness. I also laugh at the rain; sometimes I cry, too. I know the answers. They're: "Yes,¢ ¢No,¢ ¢Georgia,¢ ¢Maine,¢ ¢March 15th,¢ ¢TarpTent,¢ and ¢Whenever I¢m done.¢Random people ask to shake my hand and buy me things; I oblige their request. I know what Indian Pipe is, and Chicory makes me smile. I can¢t get the song, ¢I Saw the Sign,¢ out of my ¢frickin¢ head. I¢ve written odes to chaffing, rope swings and my socks. Deet poses a deep moral dilemma for me; often the evil choice prevails. Losing my closest friends seems normal to me, though I move on quickly. I¢m comfortable sleeping with men I barely know¢¦women, too. I know what it is to be living a dream. Daily I grow in my resemblance to the dwarf from Lord of the Rings. I personally know four hobbits. It makes me smile when women say they like men with beards, but I usually assume they¢re lying. I want my mother to be proud. I write countless songs about a woman named, Janet ~ I miss her.I contemplate the mating habits of moths and find cornfields to be a refreshing break from the norm. I know the Ridgerunner is not an SUV model¢¦at least I don¢t think it is. I rode the roller coaster with no safety bar and it was great! I¢ve stared death in the face; it¢s ugly. I¢ve learned that doing ¢nothing¢ is the most essential piece to doing something big. I listen. I know that shaving my beard would make sense but I can¢t let go. I think too much.I am a book-burner, but it was cold. I¢ve walked through remnants of the bloodiest war in American History. I¢ve eaten a 3,000-calorie meal¢¦it was good. I write in logs and burn paper...Isn't that backwards? I hold a deep distrust for a small green book. I will eat anything¢¦ANYTHING¢¦except another Power Bar. I live in a place where college degrees are not important and money only gets you so far.Heart will take you anywhere though. Every day my heart beats louder. Quitting is not an option. Every day my aches grow stronger. Every day my perspective changes. I know I can make it, but I know it won¢t be easy. I know the difference between a race and a journey. A race is measured by time to a goal, while a journey is measured by what you do in the time you have before you reach that goal. I¢m on a journey, and months from now I¢ll measure this journey, staring off a mountain with a glass of champagne in my left hand ~ staring off Katahdin.Morning, July 9th:This morning I woke early to finish the above exposition. I hiked out after Rally and ¢T,¢ with A-dog, a hiker I¢d met yesterday. A-dog and I walked and joked about Political Correctness. We crossed a field dotted with bales of hay as the wind blew lightly. The clouds were not only billowy, but particularly close at hand. It was sweet. A-dog commented that it was like poetry and I agreed. Halfway across the field we found Trail Magic; squeeze pudding! WOOHOO!I was pumped as we walked toward our first climb of significance in a week. The climb was rocky and steep, but the sweat was almost enjoyable. I took it slow, as did A-dog. A-dog wears Teva flip-flops so he has little choice. In no time at all, we were skipping rock-to-rock on a ridge.Shortly thereafter, at a view overlooking the valley and the Susquehanna River, we were reunited with ¢T¢ and Rally. We all hiked together over the rocks. This section is one of the first I¢ve seen that lives up to Pennsylvania¢s reputation for rocks. By the time we hit the shelter at 7.1 miles, it felt as though we had done more. We didn¢t actually stop at the shelter, as it was located at the bottom of a very steep descent, but instead took our break on some large rocks. On the rocks, I took off my shirt and enjoyed a snack. I could feel my energy dropping like a brick!The last 4.1 miles were rough! We were all out of water and the rocks would not quit. We went down one of the steepest rocky sections I have seen; then at the bottom, the trail led us right back up for no reason. I was a walking zombie. I might as well have been asleep, although my mood would suddenly change when we hit the road. So far, for the fifth time on our journey, we find that the trail is routed right through the center of town. When we hit the outskirts of Duncannon, I saw my favorite snack ~ raspberries! After gorging ourselves on berries, Rally and I caught back up with ¢T¢ at the gas station. I got a cake and found out I had less than $50.00 left in my ATM account. Bummer! Still, I was happy to be in town.Duncannon is a cute town with character. It looks like it may only be a remnant of what it once was, but they have "we love hiker" style signs signs everywhere. As you enter the main street area, you pass cute little houses on both sides of the street. At one house, an older woman who was mildly huge, stood on the porch with her Boxer. The dog was a sweetie and leaned over the rail to be petted. The mildly huge woman said this: "Don't worry, she's very friendly. Her name is Jasmine, but I usually call her 'Dummy' or 'A**hole.'" "T" and I nearly died laughing!Further into town we saw our destination: The Doyle. Five decades ago, The Doyle was once a swank, ¢Anheuser-Busch Hotel.¢ It¢s now an extremely hiker-friendly hotel and bar. For the three of us together, the room was $29.00 plus tax. Hikers were raving about the bar: happy hour 10-ounce beers for 75cents. Although dilapidated, The Doyle rocks. They have a new pool table and nice beds. Who cares if the window screen is shot and the showers are unpredictable?I actually just finished a dinner of Pork BarBQ with a massive amount of fries, and a 10-ounce beer for less than five bucks. It was awesome! In Duncannon, all hikers should stop by The Doyle. It¢s only 7:00 pm now and I¢m going to play some pool. I love pool! Tomorrow I may zero, or I may not. Who am I kidding? I¢m definitely going to check Internet and pay bills, though.Thank you for reading my journal.God Bless, Beatbox ttt