Sunday, May 15, 2016

May 9th and 10th, 2016 - Cumberland Valley to Duncannon PA

May 9th

AT under Rt 944 (the end of the Cumberland Valley)

I hiked 10 miles today.
Marie from the Holly Inn dropped me off today at Rt 944 where I was picked up yesterday.

I began the climb out of the Cumberland valley and in less than a mile I came to a spring and a sign that warned me to get water here because springs further up the mountain may be dry. While resting, a man came from a near by campsite and talked to me for 15 minutes or so. He was a local who just liked camping. His new bride was still asleep in the tent. He said that he usually came out to camp a week or two every year.

Today's track in red (that's Duncannon down by the river at the top)


Cemetery I passed yesterday

Yesterday (mother's day) a mother and a boy were hiking the AT and they hiked along with me for a short while. The boy was about 9 and soon had his foot stuck in the muck of the swampy ground and we had to part company. The boy mentioned wanting to see a grave yard and I passed it just a few hundred yards later.


Nice path




Tractor on the ridge in the distance


Violet

Farm land between two ridges


Me


Field flowers


A view of the ridge to climb


More flowers

Nice bench after climbing 700 ft


View back down to the Cumberland Valley from the bench

Groundhog climbing a tree

A ground hog came running down the trail towards me and I had to yell at it. It scampered up a tree. I didn't even know ground hogs climbed trees. A rabbit ran across the trail only minutes before. These two were the first wildlife I'd seen on the trip so far, besides squirrels and chipmunks.


Finally reaching the top of the ridge leading to Duncannon

view from the ridge leading to Duncannon

 view from The ridge leading to Duncannon

From the viewpoint on the ridge I was two miles and 2 hours from the shelter and sunset. I decided to stay for a while and catch up on my texting. But, a thru hiker  came along  and told me that the trail was very Rocky for the next two miles. The thru-hikers name was palindrome.  I asked him if he was a mathematician he said yes.  He also said he had been tracking my progress by following my boot prints in the mud and that he was still searching for someone with triangles on their boot print. 

Once I reached the shelter I found several thru-hikers there. Among them was a doctor another was a jeweler and another was palindrome.

The doctor told me that he always wears Crocs. He said he had a pair just like mine. And that he likes wearing them to work because if they get blood on them he can put them in his dishwasher. Yuvk

Palindrome was washing his feet he said that he has hiked all the way from Georgia and still hadn't developed that hikers stink. I said that I thought the stimk was just young guys who weren't washing on the trail that established the hikers stink phenomenon. He then set up his tent inside the shelter. Which is a hiker faux pas. He was starting to remind me of Sheldon from Big Bang Theory.

 The Jeweler had just gotten a resupply package from his mother and was flush with supplies. He said he was going to take the next day as a 0 day at the shelter. He joked that his father was about to sending a resupply package in the next town he was going to. They definitely were not coordinating with each other. Apparently his parents are separated.

Cooking dinner from inside my tent


May 10th

I hiked 6.3 miles today to my car!

Today's track in red
(that's Duncannon down by the river at the top)

When I woke up it was late. But the jeweler was still at the shelter and we talked for about a half hour. He told me about how he'd come from four generations of Jewelers and that he had worked for Tiffany's. He gave up the job at Tiffany's to become an apprentice to an experienced Jeweler. However the Jeweler became very busy and didn't have time to teach him. This is when he decided to quit and Hike the Appalachian Trail. He had another job lined up some place in North Carolina and decided to hike from Newark New Jersey to North Carolina on the Appalachian Trail. He had hiked the roads from Newark to Appalachian Trail. Along one of the New Jersey roads he had stopped to take a break under a tree. A policeman approached him and ask him if he had any weapons and what he was doing. He said that he'd had a pocket knife and the policeman said no I meant any real weapons like a hatchet or machete. Then the policeman said your going to Apple what? After not finding anything wrong with the jeweler and growing frustrated the policeman finally left him alone.


Outhouse at the shelter


Inside the outhouse

Overlook above Duncannon, PA

Youtube video of this vista

Just a mile before Duncannon I came to this wonderful Vista. A couple arrived soon after me they were flip-floppers and had started in Harpers Ferry on the same date that I started at Penn Mar. That gives you some idea of how much faster they were hiking than me.

Duncannon, PA below

Other FlipFloppers that started in Harper's Ferry

A long series of steps down to Duncannon
An Austrian hiker just ahead of me with his dog

benches created from the natural rocks

more benches

more steps

more benches


Crossing into Duncannon

Crossing into Duncannon

The couple from the Vista who had been following me the entire way down the mountain finally caught up to me when I reach town. I took a short break at the picnic tables below before continuing my hike to the doyle Hotel. I saw the Austrian guy with his dog at a gas station as I passed.

AT white blaze on telephone pole


Duncannon VFW park

The Doyal Hotel in Duncannon

The doyle Hotel was packed with Backpackers about eight of them were packing their bags with supplies and were about to leave when I arrived. It was an amazing sight all of us Backpackers in one place at one time. I dropped my bag in the pool room and sat at the bar. The couple from the Vista were sitting at the other end of the bar and we talked for a couple of moments. Also at the table behind me was a man who had passed me earlier in the day. We introduced ourselves and I found out that he was from Florida and that his real name was melted soul. I thought he was going to give me a great story about how someone had broken his heart and given him his Trail name. But how he really got it was by trying to dry his boots with a hair dryer in a hotel room and melting its soul.

Owners of the Doyal (Pat and Vickey Kelly)
Pat and Vickey Kelly
Pat and Vickey Kelly

The Proprietors of the Doyal are a married couple named Pat and Vicki . Vicki was pretty funny and she had a whole stick worked out. Jokes designed for thru-hikers. I won't go into them here I guess you have to experience them for yourself.

One thing that I did enjoy about the Doyal was that they had sweetened and unsweetened tea ready to go on ice.
I had a large tea and a bag of chips that revived me for the final two-mile hike to the car. Later I couldn't figure out why I didn't leave my backpack at the Doyal and come back for it once I had the car. I'll have to plan better in the future.

Flowers in the town of Duncannon

Flowers in the town of Duncannon

Lawn ornament in the town of Duncannon

Crossing the Susquehanna River part 1

After the doyle Hotel it was a pretty long walk through town  over a mile. Then another long walk through traffic and over two Bridges to the car. Crossing the traffic was precarious, the cars and semi's moving very fast and there were no crosswalks.

Crossing the Susquehanna River part 1
Crossing the Susquehanna River part 1
Crossing the Susquehanna River part 2
Youtube video of this crossing


My Car!!!!!
84.5 miles

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