Spent a day and a half resting and eating in Carlisle PA. The shuttle picked me up 8 am sharp Saturday (5/9) and dropped me off right where I came off the trail.
My plan was an easy 6.5 mile day to Darlington Shelter. It was raining when I started my hike.
I was eager to go and headed north on the trail, at least that’s what I thought. I walked for about 40 mins and came out of the woods to a spot that look very familiar to me. My app showed I had walked the wrong way for 1.3 miles. I could not believe I did that! I headed back to the days starting point and called myself stupid so many times that I believe I hurt my own feelings.
I wasted an hour and a half on those 2.6 miles, but at least the rest of the day was spent hiking north. Oh, did I happen to mention it rained the whole hike and only quit after I arrived at the shelter.
The hike was easy going until the last climb that led to the shelter. I talked with a young lady heading south with her dog. After chatting, I learned that she was at Harper’s Ferry the weekend of Flip Flop Fest leading a seminar on hiking with a dog. It’s a small world.
While at the shelter a couple, Eek and Timber stopped to take a quick break. They started in Ga in the middle of February, we shared our trail experiences. Two flip flop hikers, Cowboy and Rebound spent the night in the shelter, it was good to have company.
Sunday’s (5/10) hike was 14 miles with the morning mostly downhill coming out of the shelter. Those downhill hikes are rough on the toes. At the bottom the trail came out of the woods into the open farmland, it was a very peaceful morning hiking through the fields.
Once back into the woods there were rocks and more rocks to maneuver, the rocks are rough on the ankles. After completing 10 miles the trail went down to Duncanmon PA, and I mean it went down. This was by far the toughest decent I had experienced so far, but I hear there will be much harder descents further north.
Upon arriving in the small town I decided I was done for the day and took a room at the Doyle Hotel. The hotel is a must stop for AT hikers. Here is some history I found on the internet about the Doyle.
Originally a three-story, wooden hotel built in the 1770s, it was a stopping point along the main route going north along the Susquehanna River and has a rich and storied history. It caught fire and burned to the ground in 1803, replaced by the current brick building. In 1880, it was purchased by Adolphus Busch of Anheuser-Busch fame, and it opened again as the Johnson Hotel in 1905. Busch died in 1913, and the building reverted to the Budweiser Company, but was quickly sold off, with many other places, when Prohibition hit in 1920.
The hotel then went through several private owners, finally becoming The Doyle in 1944 after Jim “Doc” Doyle won $444,444.44 in the Irish lottery. Doyle owned and operated the hotel into the 1990s. It again passed through two different owners until 2001, when current owners Pat and Vickey Kelly bought it.
Through the many years, The Doyle has hosted the famous (including Charles Dickens) and many ordinary folks, but its true calling came with the establishment of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, known more familiarly as the Appalachian Trail.
I checked into my room, got a much needed shower and some dinner. The plan for the next day was to make it to a shelter 11 miles up the trail.
Out of my room by 7am (5/11) and back on the trail, well actually the trail goes along the sidewalks of Duncannon for one mile then for another mile it winds along a busy street and then across a bridge and finally back into the woods. As usual, coming out of a town made for some serious climbing. My hike was 11.6 miles to Peter’s Mountain shelter. There were parts of the hike that took me through some bolder fields which PA is famous for. It’s a little nerve wracking to get through them. There was one spot that I could not get down with my pack on, so I had to lower it down first. There were lots of good views of the river and surrounding area. The rocks made it a rough day and I finally made it to the shelter. This shelter was able to hold twelve people but it ended up that I was the only one there. I had a good night’s rest and no monster got me.
Left the shelter early (5/12) heading 13 miles to a campsite. This is the first time on this trip that I did not stay at a shelter. The spiders spend all night rebuilding the webs that got knocked down by hikers. Since there was no hiker out in front of me I had to knock all the webs down, some you miss. Finally a faster hiker came by and I thanked him for the work he will be doing breaking the webs in front of me. It was a tough 13 miles with rocks everywhere. I have been nursing a very sore toe that seems to find every rock on the trail.
I met Caffeinater in the morning, he started in Ga., he was over from Denmark to hike the AT. I also met Tonto and Bluejay along the way, they were also coming from Ga. There were no views along the trail that day. When I arrived at my destination, Tonto and Bluejay were there and Trip came in a little later. I set up my tent and found a good tree to hang my food bag so bears could not get to it. When at shelters there are bear boxes or bear hangers that you use, less work at the end of the day. I had a good night’s rest. The next day’s plan: heading to a hostel about 12 miles up the trail. Happy Trails.
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