Before posting a day by day trip report of this section, I thought I'd put down some thoughts about the section as a whole to give a general flavor of the section and of my experience hiking through it.

My pictures from this section (all a bit dark due to the weather) are on-line at
http://gallery.backcountry.net/papabear_2003

My day by day account will follow as I get it written down.

Regards
Pb

Harpers Ferry to Duncannon Trip Report - Overview

Terrain

Most appraisals rate the trail in Maryland and Southern Pennsylvania as the easiest of the entire AT. I can't speak of the entire AT, but I've hiked most of the trail from New Jersey north, and for me this was certainly the easiest. I would say 80% to 90% of the route was over old woods roads and very easy, well graded terrain. There were a few rock fields and climbs in the last 10 miles of Maryland and a few more in Pennsylvania.

There was a gradual, but noticeable increase in the rockiness as you moved north. Contrast the first ascent of Weverton Cliffs in Southern Maryland, which consisted of well graded switchbacks with no rocks to speak of, to the final descent of Cove Mountain into Duncannon which had several rocks slides and some stiff descents over rocks. This was but a shadow of the true Pennsylvania rocks to be expected further north, but it was nonetheless a real trend.

The most interesting section by far was the set of rocky pinnacles along the ridge line that the trail wandered through on the section between Route 34 and the Cumberland Valley. I thought, "At last, a real trail. For once they didn't opt for the wimpy route!". It reminded me of places in New York and further north where the trail designers would intentionally take the route over rocks and pinnacles rather than the easier route around. No, this was no Mahoosuc Notch, but after 100 miles of walking on old woods roads, it was a welcome contrast.

Without exception, the woods were relatively open second growth forest. In only one or two places was there an echo of what the original forest must have been like - some large Hemlocks along the creek in Caledonia State Park, some dense Laurel in the area around Quarry Gap Shelters.

There were numerous road crossings. Someone counted 16 road crossings on the day we crossed the Cumberland Valley. That valley is almost all farm lands so that the reach of civilization was very close along practically the whole route.

Weather

I was out on the trail for 10 days. Of these 10 days only one had blue sky and sun all day (my last day) and one other day was mostly sunny. On a couple of days the sky cleared in the late afternoon and there was an inkling of sun before it set for the day. We had rain and fog during some or all of 8 days. Several nights it rained all night. The treadway was often filled with mud and deep puddles. In spite of the easy terrain, trying to avoid the puddles and mud, oftentimes deeper than my boots, was very tiring. Crossing the Cumberland Valley in a light rain was an exercise in mud avoidance. There was mud on my rain pants practically all the way up to my middle. I didn't get my boots and pants really cleaned until I got home.

Nevertheless, there was never a downpour, and I was always able to change into dry things at night, and start each day relatively dry. The weather gave the woods a gray, misty feeling, which sometimes added to my sense of isolation. It was not bad - it set a mood of "otherness' and moved my mind further from civilization than a bunch of sunny days would have done.

Culture / History

Every where I went there were signs and markers commemorating Civil War battles and happenings. There were old trenches still visible, stone walls that were used in battles and lots of monuments and roadside signs. This area was right where the North and South fought many of the skirmishes and battles of the "Northern front" during that war. I skipped the big attractions such as Gettysburg and Antietam where truly major battles took place, but these were quite close to the trail for those interested in visiting them.

The history and culture of this area goes back to the very beginnings of the European settlement of the mid Atlantic region and there was little or no sign left of the pre-European wilderness in even the remotest spots along the trail. There were lots of old farmsteads, old stone foundations, iron mills, quarries, old roads through the mountain gaps and the ubiquitous stone walls everywhere.

People

I met lots of hikers and a few town's people. I made a stop at South Mountain, Pennsylvania to pick up a mail drop and have lunch and do a little shopping. This was a very "back woods" small town. There was the usual group of old codgers at the bar at mid day and hanging out at the gas station. The folks were uniformly nice and to a man (and woman), were interested in my hiking. Any number of them asked where I was coming from, where I was headed, what was in my pack. Some took great pleasure in telling how they met another hiker that morning or the day before. They had no concept of the trail as a whole, or what a thru-hiker was, and in fact one old guy I talked to didn't know where Duncannon was. I told him "Up near Harrisburg" and he was impressed by that. The last person I talked to at the gas station seemed enthusiastic to meet me and introduced himself and shook my hand. He asked me my name twice to be sure he got it right.

Vicky, the woman at the bar at the Doyle Hotel in Duncannon, was much more trail savvy, since that was a good part of her clientele. She couldn't have been nicer to me or the other hikers who were stopping off there. I would highly recommend this place as a stopping point to anyone passing through Duncannon.

I never tried to hitch, since I never strayed far from the trail. I've been told it's hard to get rides but I didn't find that out for myself.

I thought the people were great and I'm glad I had a chance to meet a few of them.

Trail and shelter conditions

The section up to Pine Grove State Park is maintained by the Potomac ATC and the section north of there is maintained by the Keystone Trail Association. The trail and the shelters were very well maintained throughout this section. I counted but one blowdown in the whole PATC area and perhaps a few more in the KTA area. The shelters were in good shape in spite of the fact that some of them date to the 1940s. One or two could use a broom but there was very little to find fault with.

A number of shelters were in pairs. This was unusual and I'm told you will only find these double shelters in this part of the AT.

A couple showed signs of extraordinary care. Rocky Run Shelter in Maryland, itself dating from the 1940s, had several platforms and even a wooden swing built more recently, and it even had a couple of flower boxes built in front of the shelter. Even if you don't intend to spend the night here it's worth a visit - a very lovely site.

Quarry Gap Shelters in Pennsylvania also showed signs of great care. Above the roof at the front was a sign saying "So and so, Innkeeper" (sorry I didn't get the name). This personal care and commitment on the part of volunteers showed much love of the trail and it's amenities. Thank you volunteers, thank you very much. Your work did not go unnoticed!

Thru-Hikers

I did not expect to see many NOBOs in May this far north. I was wrong, I met over 20 of them and for the most part they were all moving very fast. Seldom would I meet them more than once, either on the trail or overnight at a shelter. With a few exceptions they were male, young (20 - 30) and competitive. These were the front of the pack (although the actual absolute front of the pack was probably close to New Jersey by this point). They liked to say which number there were in passing through Harpers Ferry. "I was number 26", "I was number 42". Several of them had hiked Maryland (41 miles) in one day, which is a thing (I guess like the half gallon challenge) that thru-hikers do. Or a few of them at least. There were also a few who did not fit this demographic. A few older and wiser sorts who I stayed with for several days.

Mileage

The actual end points of my section were the ATC building in Harpers Ferry to The Doyle Hotel in Duncannon. This comes to almost exactly 125 miles or an average of 12.5 trail miles a day. I figured I also hiked about 13 non trail miles for a total of 138 miles.

My shortest day (the first) was 7.8 miles, and the longest (crossing the Cumberland Valley) was almost 20 miles (including a road walk to a diner for lunch). The easy terrain in the Valley made this long day not too onerous (although the constant mud didn't help).

Summary

I enjoyed this section very much. The easy terrain plus the gray weather gave the hiking an easy but eerie quality. I'm not sure what it would have been like to have done it entirely under clear blue skies, perhaps I would have been more cognizant of the closeness of farms and towns from every outlook along the way.

I would suggest this would be an ideal starter section for doing the AT. Easy going and time to build up your strength and fitness before hitting the tougher sections to the north and to the south.

Harpers Ferry to Ed Garvey Shelter

Weather: high 60°s, light rain.

Day 1 actually started in New York City. I had packed and checked and
double checked my equipment the night before, and except for a few items in
the refrigerator, I was all set to go. My wife took the obligatory
leaving-home photo and I was off to the Port Authority Bus terminal to get
the 8:00 AM bus to Easton Pennsylvania. At about 9:40 I arrived at this
small town on the Delaware River and was met by my shuttle Grey Owl and his
wife, who would be driving me to Harpers Ferry.

Originally I had contemplated taking the train to Harpers Ferry, but that
would have gotten me there late in the afternoon and I would have been
unable to start hiking till the next day. Finding the shuttle was a much
easier way to get started.. It was foggy with occasional rain and progress
on the roads was a little slower than anticipated. I hoped to get hiking by
1:00 PM but we were slightly behind that schedule. Nevertheless I was
dropped off in the parking lot behind the ATC headquarters building about
1:30 PM, and Grey Owl and his wife took off. It was raining lightly.

I walked around to the front of the building and was disappointed to find
that the place was closed on this rainy Saturday. I had hoped to fill my
water here (and use the restroom) but I would have to make other
arrangements. I had one problem that I should have checked at home: when I
extended my Leki poles to the proper length, one of the segments was stuck
in the collapsed position, so I had to extend the other segment as far as it
would go. This pole ended up a few inches too short, but it would be
serviceable. I got going about 1:40 and headed down the blue blazed trail
to the AT. At 1:45 I hit the first white blaze and I was officially on the
AT. After being off the trail since last September 21st, I was once again
hiking the AT!

The rain was increasing, but with temperatures in the upper 60s, I was
heating up. My fleece shirt was too much and I knew when I got to the
tourist section of town in about a half mile, I would have to change into
something lighter. I passed Jefferson Rock where a few small children were
exploring the area in their colorful rain ponchos, and at about 2:00 PM I
arrived at the historic old section of town. This was largely overrun with
tourists and I couldn't find any source of water. I asked a National Park
ranger if there was water in the train station. She said that was closed to
the public but there was a public fountain right where the AT started on to
the bridge over the Potomac - I had just passed that point! Duh.

At 2:15 I started over the walkway which is along side the tracks on the old
RR bridge just as a freight was passing over from the Maryland side. Soon I
was on the north side of the Potomac in Maryland on the old tow path.
That's two states in less than in hour! The tow path is a remnant of the
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal which was built along the river from Washington DC
up to Cumberland, about 185 miles. It was originally proposed as a route
through the mountains to the Ohio Valley to the west, but was never built
that far. The canal was finished in 1850 and operated until 1924 but was
never economically viable since the railroads soon took over the bulk of the
business.

The rain had stopped and hiking was very easy and fast along this well
graded flat segment. My legs, getting used to some unfamiliar stress, had a
few aches and pains. In about an hour I left the tow path and started up
under the highway and up the only climb of the day: Weverton Cliffs - which
is the south end of South Mountain which we would follow through most of
Maryland. The climb was well graded with switch backs and in spite of the
heavy pack on my back, was not too tough. I took a short break at the rocky
overlook. The views of the Potomac were lovely but unfortunately the gray
skies and foggy weather curtailed them somewhat.

The trail from the cliffs to the shelter evened out and was a rather easy,
well graded walk. I arrived at the Ed Garvey Shelter around 4:00 just as a
trail maintainer was arriving from the north. The shelter is a new two
story building which was very well taken care of. An older solo weekender
was sitting at the picnic table with a woman named Eileen who had thru-hiked
a few years ago and was also out for the weekend. A group of 4 who had just
started that day from Crampton Gap (about 4 miles to the north) were
setting up tents in the area. Another solo hiker named Gayland was doing a
shakedown hike for a SOBO thru-hike he planned to undertake starting June 15
from Katahdin. He was very overweight and I speculated to myself that he
wouldn't make it. But you never know, where there's a will there's a way.

The water was .4 miles down a rather steep hill. Gayland said this was the
worst climb he had done in Maryland. "Wait till you get to Maine, buddy" I
thought to myself. My first supper of the section was delicious and I was
getting into the groove. Two college age women (Kerry and Leese) showed up
around 6:00. they were novices and were asking for a little advice for this
'n that but they were good sports. They also pitched a tent. Lastly 2 NOBO
thru-hikers, Cakes and Jackass (aka Donkey) barreled in about 7:00. I don't
know where they started the day but they seemed to move fast even when they
were sitting down! They were the first of a number of front-of-the-pack
NOBOs that I would encounter, mostly moving past quickly and doing 20 or
more miles a day. Cakes said he had to be in Massachusetts for a bachelor
party sometime in June and had to do on average thirty 23 mile days in a row
without any zeros to make it. Good luck!

I was the only one sleeping in the main part of the shelter. Four slept
upstairs, and the rest used their tents. It sprinkled during the night but
I slept quite well for the first night on the trail.

Day 1 Trail Miles: 7.7, Extra Miles: 1.2, Total: 8.9

Ed Garvey Shelter to Rocky Run Shelter

Weather: morning temperature 65°, cloudy with fog.

When I planned my daily hiking for this trip I laid out two alternatives: a
10 day plan and an 11 day plan. The 11 day plan had slightly shorter
distances so that it would stretch out over one more day. Both plans had
the Ed Garvey Shelter as the first day's spot, but the second day would
either be at the Rocky Run Shelter (just over 9 miles) or the Dahlgren
backpacker area (around 11 miles). Since it was likely to be wet, I opted
for the shorter distance, firstly to have a shelter over my head if it
rained, and secondly to keep the daily hiking distances modest for the first
few days. If I really got ambitious, I could always make up the extra day
later in the section.

I woke at 6:00 AM to a cool, foggy and humid day. I was the first up but
the others soon started to rouse. I was not yet too efficient at breaking
camp so I didn't get on the trail till nearly 8:00 AM. I would get better
as the days went by.

The trail for the next 2 or three days follows along the ridge line of South
Mountain and today it was a uniformly easy walk through open second-growth
hardwoods. It was easy to the point of being boring, especially since the
fog shrouded any possible views to the east or west. A deer crossed my path
and then I passed a group of about 10 scouts hiking the other way. These
were the high points of the morning's trek! :)

I still had some soreness in my legs, particularly my right quads and
adductors. This was a memory of the Boston Marathon, but it was not really
a bother, just a twinge.

I arrived at Crampton Gap in light rain and fog. There were some old ruins
of a 19th century building on the trail and a monument to Civil War
newspaper correspondents at the road. I got back into the woods and had a
small but tiring climb out of the gap to the ridge line, then more easy
walking. A few SOBOs passed me and then first Cakes and then Jackass passed
me. They were the thru-hikers who had arrived late last night.

White Rock Cliffs came up on the right, and although a dramatic drop off,
the fog precluded any view.

I arrived at the side trail and then at Rocky Run Shelter and it was only
12:30. I had put in hardly half a day of hiking. At first I reconsidered
my plan and thought about going on, but on reflection I decided that an easy
day with plenty of rest would be a sensible idea at this point in the
section.

Rocky Run Shelter is a beautiful spot! This shelter was built in the 1940s
but it was evident that someone was devoting a lot of care and attention to
it. There were recently built platforms with seats, a wooden swing and even
some flower boxes. The spring was flowing lustily and it fed a stream which
crossed in front of the shelter with the tent sites on the other side. A
more perfect little vale would be hard to imagine. If you are hiking this
section, stop off here even if you don't plan on staying. It's well worth a
visit.

After rinsing a few sweaty things, I was pumping water for dinner when a
guy somewhere in his 60s came in and joined me at the shelter. He called
himself Jake but he said he had done a thru-hike in 1987 with the trail name
"Georgia Ridgerunner". He had just started in Harpers Ferry and planned to
hike north until he felt like stopping. He was fit as a fiddle and had
plenty of stories and experiences.

About 4:30 Kerry and Leese arrived. They were the 2 girls who had arrived
late at Ed Garvey the previous night. Leese had some bad blisters which she
tended to. They said their original plan was to hike to Penn Mar and back,
but they weren't sure they would make it in the time available to them. But
as the previous night, they were good sports and were willing and able to
learn fast.

I got some good rest for my sore muscles and had a chance to do some reading
of the paperback I had brought: John Irving's "The Fourth Hand". You don't
want to know the plot. Let's just say it was a good trail book. Not too
deep.

That evening the weather cleared and we got to see some blue sky, although
it was too late in the day to see the sun. Jake and I saw a couple of
Scarlet Tanagers which are among the most brilliantly beautiful birds you
will see in these parts. As the night came on, it got cooler and rather
windy. We hoped the weather had broken and we had seen the last of the fog
and rain.

Day 2 Trail Miles: 9.1, Extra Miles: .3, Total: 9.4
Aggregate Trail Miles: 16.8,Aggregate Total: 18.3

Rocky Run Shelter to Ensign Cowall Shelter
Weather: morning temperature 60°, Cloudy, some sprinkles.

I awoke around 6:00 AM and noticed that Jake was up and about. He ate a
cold breakfast so he got off quickly. He was gone by 6:45. I was just
crawling out of my bag by then. The 2 girls were still asleep.

There were a few blue patches of sky but the hopes of last night for a break
in the weather were unrealized. It was mostly cloudy and would remain so
for most of the day. I cooked my oatmeal, packed up and was off by 8:20.

As usual it was easy going and the weather started on the hopeful side with
the sun trying to poke through the clouds but by 9:00 AM when I crossed US
Alt-40 it had gotten dark and windy. There was an stately old mansion at
this road crossing (the "Old South Mountain Inn"), a stone chapel (The
"Dahlgren Chapel") and a commerative sign for a Michigan regiment (the
"Stonewall Regiment") that had fought a battle here in the Civil War.
Interestingly, this sign here in the middle of Maryland was erected by the
State of Michigan and was labeled as a "Michigan Historic Site". It
mentioned the number of casualties (114 out of 500) suffered but did not
mention the number of casualties on the other side!

A few miles later, the trail passes through Washington Monument State Park
and checked out the stone tower (built in 1827) at the top of the hill.
There were good views (as usual obscured by the foggy weather) and I was
enlightened to read the history of this place. I noticed at this point
that there was a "hot spot" on the ball of my right foot. This would bear
watching since it may eventually become a blister. The aches and soreness
in my legs were so far not a problem over these easy trails.

It started to rain lightly and I put on my pack cover and Frogg Toggs top.
It didn't last long, less than an hour. I crossed over I-70 and took the
side trail to Pine Knob Shelter for a lunch break. It was warm so I got out
of my rain gear and figured with just a Coolmax shirt and shorts I would be
better off on a warm day such as this.

A short time later I saw a mildly suspicious thing. A person with some kind
of headdress or scarf over his/her head was off to the side of the trail in
a long trench coat (down to the knees) and there were what looked like some
pruning shears laying on the ground in front of him/her. The person seemed
to be hiding something or other. I nodded but didn't say anything and simply
hiked on by.

I took the side trail to Annapolis Rocks and this was well worth the extra
few tenths of a mile. The wind was howling over the cliff edge and the
rocks were spectacular. Even with today's weather the views were
worthwhile. Several maintainers were working on a campground nearby and I
also met two women hiking south from Penn Mar who had also stopped to check
out the rocks.
A short distance later Black Roick Cliffs were on the left. The book said
these had an even better view. I checked these out but the wind had risen
and the fog was rolling in so there were no views whatsoever.

I noticed some low level soreness in my legs at this point but nothing too
alarming. Alas, it takes more than 2 days to get back into fit hiking
shape.

Just as I was approaching the Pogo Memorial campsite I passed two women in
their 50s who were moving slowing NOBO and who had just decided to stop at
the campsite. They introduced themselves as Anklebear and Sleepy Jean.
Anklebear told me the name of the shrub that was in blooming along the
trail: Mountain Azalea. I knew the "domestic" version of this Spring flower
in my home area but there is little or no wild Azaleas north of new Jersey
(at least when I have been out in the woods). This campsite was the
original destination on my "11 day plan" but I kept on moving since it was
still early in the afternoon. I guess I would do the 5 miles more to the
next shelter and thereby move back to the "10 day plan".

Then, whom should I see sitting and resting at the side of the trail, but
the strange person with the headdress I had seen earlier. She was no longer
strange. Just a woman with red hiking poles. I think I had managed to
catch her before just as she was about to take a pee, and all my thoughts of
suspicious behavior dissolved in a (silent) chuckle as I said hello.

I slowed my pace a little so my leg soreness would not become a problem.
There were more sprinkles and the easy walking soon got tough as I crossed a
rocky area. I wasn't watching my step and suddenly took a hard fall onto my
right side. I hurt my right hand and shoulder, but luckily nothing seemed
to be broken or bloody. The weight of my pack had sent me crashing down
where I would probably have been able to catch my balance if I were just
walking with no pack. I figured I would be sore that night. I took two
Advils and got up and moved on.

There was one last steep ascent followed by a steep descent to Wolfsville
Road. This section, with some rock steps over rough terrain reminded me of
a lot of the New Jersey and southern New York trail. It was out of
character for Maryland.

The rain was increasing and so I put my Frogg Toggs top back on and soon
arrived at the Ensign Cowall Shelter. Jake was already here, resting in his
bag. It was 4:00 PM so I got to work and pumped some water and then set up
my stuff in the shelter. I managed to spill some water on my Thermarest but
luckily this was not disastrous. My right hand was sore from my fall but it
didn't feel too bad.

As I was getting settled, a young guy showed up. He introduced himself as
"Witt" and said he was 18 and had just graduated from high school. He and 3
others were doing the "Maryland Challenge" - hiking the whole state of
Maryland in one day. he seemed a bit exhausted and chilly so I hoped he
would be OK. He had another 9 miles to go and it was getting dark out and
it was raining lightly.

A little while later Luck Day passed through. He was not doing the Maryland
Challenge (just going on to the next shelter) but he knew the other guys who
were. A much more sensible person. I finished supper and read a chapter in
my book. It was getting cold so I put on my hat and gloves and continued my
reading. Then Patrick and Patrick (yes) showed up for the night. They were
newbies who were hiking from Penn Mar to Harpers Ferry and this was their
first stop. They had 50 lb packs and were a bit beat. They had far too
much food and too much of most everything else.

Lastly the 3 remaining Maryland Challenge guys came by. It was about 8:00
PM and we told them Witt was about 2 hours ahead. They were a bit older and
seemed in better condition than Witt. With the temperature about 50 and the
wind rising, they hiked into the darkness towards Pennsylvania.

Day 3 Trail Miles: 15.7, Extra miles: 1.2, Total: 16.9
Aggregate Trail Miles: 32.5, Aggregate Total: 35.2

Ensign Cowall Shelter to Deer Lick Shelters
Weather: morning temperature 50°, cloudy and windy, some sprinkles.

It was cloudy, windy and chilly when I awoke. As before, Jake was off
quickly at 6:45 AM. I got up, cooked breakfast and was off by 8:15 wearing
my Frogg Toggs - not for rain but for warmth!

I warmed up and after 20 minutes took off my gloves. The hands and the head
are the first to get warm. The trail followed a power line for a short
distance and then resumed it's easy course. I passed through some hemlocks,
crossed a tributary and then the Little Antietam Creek. Near Raven Rock, an
interesting outcropping, I took a break.

After crossing Route 491, a small brown duck made a lot of noise and
scampered through the brush in front of me. It seemed to be a diversion,
and sure enough she scampered back and started shepherding about 8 to 10
tiny chicks away from me. It was a female wood duck. I tried to get some
pictures but it was difficult. Nature photography is hard because the
subjects insist on running away!

There followed a tough climb with some rock stairs until it leveled off
again. Slowly one could detect a change in the terrain. A few more rocky
areas, a few tough climbs. About a mile past the road I took the side trail
to the Devil's Racecourse Shelter. There was supposed to be a peculiar
field of rocks there, so I went to check it out. Well, if you read my
reports you will know that I like to take all the side trips and enjoy the
views and features that are out there off the trail. But for once, this one
was a loser. It was about .4 mile (down hill, of course) off the trail, and
the shelter was kind of dumpy. probably the least well cared for in my
whole hike. Maybe nobody ever goes there? And the Devil's Racecourse was
no big deal. A field full of boulders. Looked like a rock slide from the
mountain. You can skip this side trip!

Back on the trail, I passed two SOBOs who called themselves the "Tennessee
Two". They were a couple of friendly 60ish guys who seemed to enjoy what
they were doing. I imagine they went back quite a ways.

At this point the ball of my right foot was hurting. I looked for a blister
and couldn't find one. It was probably a little blister under the callous
where I couldn't get at it. I made a positive discovery however: I had put
a lightweight windbreaker on over my Coolmax shirt earlier in the morning.
By now it was sweaty and I was chilly. I found that I was warmer with just
the shirt and no windbreaker. The ability of the shirt material to wick
away moisture was more important than the extra layer. The temperature had
stayed around 50 all morning with one sprinkle.

I took the short trail to High Rock and enjoyed some very nice views. This
was to the East - all the other views were towards the west. There followed
several rocky areas where the trail was difficult to follow. You had to
really look for the blazes. The treadway was no where to be seen. If you
got slightly off the trail and didn't see a blaze, you'd be lost. All
directions looked the same. This must have been "interesting" for those 4
guys who came through here last night in the dark, exhausted!

I passed "Padre Bob", a section hiker moving south. Finally I arrived at
Penn Mar Park - the northern end of the trail in Maryland. I passed into
Pennsylvania and looked for the rocks! No, none yet. Later I guess.

I took another break at Falls Creek I was feeling good, my legs were good
and it was great hiking weather (in spite of the lack of views). I could
avoid the pain in my right foot by stepping a certain way and except for a
few missteps (due to tiredness) I was moving along just nicely. 4 miles
more of easy hiking finally brought me to the Deer Lick Shelters. It was
just 3:30 PM and no one else was there yet. Just before arriving I spotted
a large cat loping down the trail. It was dark gray with a very long tail.
I guess it was just a feral cat since a Bobcat has no tail. But it was big!
like 1 1/2 or 2 times the size of your average house cat.

This was the first of the double shelters that apparently are unique to this
part of Pennsylvania. It seems that building 2 small shelters (4 to 6
persons maximum) was preferable to one larger one. A few of these double
shelters had "snoring room" posted on one of them, but I doubt that was the
compelling reason that they were built in pairs. The book said these
shelters were built in the 1940s but this particular pair looked new. They
didn't have the large uneven logs with white cement between the logs that
some of the older shelters had. One problem here: not enough nails for
hanging things. The drainage in front of the shelters might also be
improved - it was a bit of a mud field.

The book said the spring was a short distance down a blue blaze trail but I
walked a good distance and never found it. Then I found a spring just a few
yards down the trail which was flowing nicely.

Since it was early, I lay down on my pad and did some reading. The
temperature which had risen to about 65 during the day was back down to 60
so I put on some warm things.

It had been a lonely day. I had seen but 3 hikers all day and the trail was
a little boring. But about 4:30 a thru-hiker "Shuk" showed up. He said he
had hiked from Rocky Run Shelter (29 miles). This was what I had done in 2
days, and I said "That's too far". He said "Yes, I know". He was older
than the usual young bucks, probably around 40. He had been off the trail
for a few days and seemed to be catching up, big time. He was from Canada
and his wife had given him his name. It's from an Inuit name "Anuk Shuk"
which he said is the little thing the Inuit's put on top of the cairns they
build across the tundra and it somehow points to the right way to go. Cool
name. And nice guy.

"Firewood" showed up around 7:00 and later "Squeaky" and his dog "Chewy".
he was just out for a few days and was trying to get his dog used to the
trail and to the other hikers (with not great success). They stayed in the
other shelter so there was plenty of room for everyone.

Supper was good, and I called my wife. Everything was A-OK. The night got
cooler, falling below 50. When I got up to make a midnight pit stop, the
moon could be seen through thin clouds. Great to be out here!

Day 4 Trail Miles: 14.1, Extra miles: 1.3, Total: 15.4
Aggregate Trail Miles: 46.6, Aggregate Total: 50.6

Deer Lick Shelters to Rocky Mountain Shelters
Weather: morning temperature high 40°s, thin clouds, occasional sun.

I awoke about 6:00 AM and actually saw the sun rise through the trees from
where I was lying in my bag. Shuk was up early and I managed to crawl out
by 6:30. The temperature was under 50 but at last it looked like it would
be a sunny, or at least partly sunny day. I did my normal morning routine
and got moving by 7:45, just after Firewood took off. My first pre-8:00 AM
start of the trip, hooray!

I passed "Patience" coming the other way and then Squeaky and Chewy. I was
surprised to see them since I thought they were still asleep in the other
shelter, but I guess they had moved on to the next shelter yesterday and
were now hiking back. They were just out for 2 days. The dog barked at me
as usual.

I got to the Antietim Shelter about 8:40 and took a break. This is in a
lovely spot right on Antietim Creek. I always like it when you can hear
water gurgling nearby when you are in a shelter. I had started the day with
my fleece shirt but now I changed to my Coolmax. It looked like a great
day. Firewood was at the shelter taking a break and refilling his water
supply, but he moved on.

Not a mile later I arrived at the Tumbling Run Shelters. One of the
shelters was labeled "Snoring Room" and two people were sleeping in it. The
other was empty. Next followed the only climb of the day: a mile long hike
up to Buzzards Peak. By any normal measure this would be an easy climb, but
by Maryland and southern Pennsylvania standards it was significant. I was
spoiled by all the easy hiking of the last few days so I felt tuckered out.

I took the short side trail to Chimney Rocks and was well rewarded. This
was an outstanding view from a dramatic rock formation. The nice weather
enhanced the experience considerably. This was probably the first viewpoint
of the entire hike where the sun was shining!

Back on the AT, I started off down the hill and enjoyed the easy downslope.
With a pack on your back you notice the difference between up and down
slopes even when it is a very meager sized hill. The forest was the open
second growth woods that has been the norm all along this section. As I
dropped lower there was a good amount of mountain laurel along the trail.

I soon arrived at a pair of shelters, and two guys were rousing from the
second one. It was Witt and Ben, two of those who had passed by us in the
evening of the night before last, doing the Maryland Challenge. So even
those who can do 40 plus miles in a day take time off, and I was actually
moving ahead of them at this point. Talk about the tortoise and the hare!

The shelters were the Tumbling Run Shelters and I checked my page from the
trail guide to see where I was since I didn't think there would be another
set of shelters so soon. I was confused since the mileage for these
shelters was less (8.3) than that at the top of the hill (9.6).

DANG!! I had gone the wrong way! When I got back from the Chimney Rocks
viewpoint I must have taken the AT down the hill to the south, not the
north. I sheepishly explained what I had done to the two guys there (whom
now I realized I had seen sleeping here when I passed this way the first
time over an hour ago) and they said yes, I had come down the trail from the
north.

There was nothing to do but hike up that d*mn hill again. Now it was not
just the only climb of the day, it was a royal pain in the *ss.
But I had no one but myself to blame. I just wish I could somehow rewind
about an hour or so of hiking time and magically arrive back at the top of
the hill - facing the right direction.

SHAZAM!
!MAZAHS

.noitcerid thgir eht gnicaf - llih eht fo pot eht ta kcab evirra yllacigam
dna emit gnikih fo os ro ruoh na tuoba dniwer wohemos dluoc I hsiw tsuj I
.emalb ot flesym tub eno on dah I tuB .ss* eht ni niap layor a saw ti ,yad
eht fo bmilc ylno eht tsuj ton saw ti woN .niaga llih nm*d taht
pu ekih tub od ot gnihton saw erehT

.htron eht morf liart eht nwod emoc dah I ,sey dias yeht dna )oga ruoh na
revo emit tsrif eht yaw siht dessap I nehw ereh gnipeels nees dah I dezilaer
I won mohw( ereht syug owt eht ot enod dah I tahw denialpxe ylhsipeehs I
.htron eht ton ,htuos eht ot llih eht nwod TA eht nekat evah tsum I
tniopweiv ckcoR yenmihC eht morf kcab tog I nehW !yaw gnorw eht enog dah I
!GNAD

.)6.9( llih eht fo pot eht ta taht naht )3.8( ssel saw sretlehs eseht rof
egaelim eht ecnis desufnoc saw I .noos os sretlehs fo tes rehtona eb lduow
ereht kniht t'ndid I ecnis saw I erehw ees ot ediug liart eht morf egap ym
dekcehc I dna sretlehS nuR gnilbmuT eht erew sretlehs ehT

!erah eht dna esiotrot eht tuoba klaT .tniop siht ta meht fo daeha gnivom
yllautca saw I dna ,ffo emit ekat yad a ni selim sulp 40 od nac ohw esoht
neve oS .egnellshC dnalyraM eht gniod ,tsal erofob thgin eht fo gnineve eht
ni su yb dessap dah ohw esoht fo owt ,neB dns ttiW saw tI .eno dnoces eht
morf gnisuor erew syug owt dna ,sretlehs fo riap a ta devirra noos I

.liart eht gnola lerual niatnuom fo tnuoma doog a saw ereht rewol deppord I
sA .noitces siht gnola lla mron eht neeb sah taht sdoow htworg dnoces nepo
eht saw tserof ehT .llih dezis regaem yrev a si ti nehw neve selols nwod
dna pu neewteb ecnereffid eht eciton uoy kcab ruoy no kcap a htiW
.epolsnwod ysae eht deyojne dna llih eht nwod ffo detrats I ,TA eht no kcaB

It was about 11:15 AM and I was back at the AT on the top of Buzzard Peak.
I checked the sign and made sure to head north down the hill. Boy, where
does the time go - it seems like I should have been here over an hour ago!

The going was rather easy as I crossed some power lines. For the first time
this week I almost felt hot. It was up to about 70 and the gnats were
getting pesky. I soon crossed Snowy Mountain Road and there was a sign to
South Mountain - where I needed to pick up a mail drop. I had assumed I
would connect with this town by walking out on Route 233 (still about a mile
ahead) but I hadn't though of taking a "short cut" using this dirt road. I
checked the map carefully and determined an even better short cut would be
to go out on Swamp Road, about another half mile ahead. This would get me
to the town in an almost perpendicular direction from the trail. No
backtracking involved. So I hiked on a bit and got to that road about
12:40.

I knew the post office would close for an hour at 1:00 PM, so I hustled
along the dirt road, and then the paved Route 233 about .8 of a mile and got
to the post office exactly at 12:58. Curiously, lots of cars were pulling
up at that exact moment. Seems like I was not the only one who wanted to do
some last minute post office business before the post lady took her lunch
break.

I got my package and discarded the box and some trash and packed all the
stuff into my pack. Sigh ... my pack suddenly seemed like it was 10 lb
heavier! Well, you gotta eat, and 5 days of food is 5 days of food, so
there was nothing to do but trek on. There were exactly three public
buildings in this town and I would patronize all three. I was done with the
post office - next was the hotel and restaurant.

The book said the "Sou Mon Hotel" served lunch and dinner. With a name like
that I thought this might be Korean or Japanese or something, but duh, it's
just shorthand for South Mountain! They just ran out of room on the sign.
It was a big, run down old building with a few old codgers smoking at the
bar and a big woman who took care of everything. I sat in the "dining room"
which was kept at about 100 degrees, and ordered my cheeseburger with fries
and a coke (the menu said "fries" not "French Fries" - don't know if they
were being "patriotic", or more likely just saving space on the menu which
looked about 25 years old!) This was a very back-woods kind of place. But
there was genuine curiosity and perhaps admiration with the idea that I was
hiking. A few folks asked me how far I was going, but they didn't recognize
Duncannon as a nearby town.

That done, I went to the gas station / food market. I was pleased to see
they had a deli section with real Swiss Cheese! I ordered a chunk of that
and some Gatorade - which I drank on the spot - and was ready to go.
Outside there was a man pumping gas who was really friendly and interested
in the idea of me being a hiker. He asked what was in my pack, how much it
weighed and how far I was going. I said "Duncannon." "Where is that?" "Up
near Harrisburg." "Oh, great." He then introduced himself and shook my
hand. He asked my name twice to be sure he got it right and seemed
delighted to meet me.

Having "done" the town, I made my way back to the trail. The biggest
employer in town seemed to be a large complex of old brick buildings labeled
"South Mountain Restoration". There were dozens of cars parked around it.
There seemed more people there than in the three "establishments" combined.
I have no idea what it was - some conservation organization? land
development? historical restoration? Anyone out there know?

I was back on the trail a little after 2:00. Not a bad town stop. As I got
onto the trail from Swamp Road, I was passed by two thru-hikers: "Southern
Yankee" and "Lieutenant". My pack was now heavy but my spirit was light.
The trail was easy and I got to the shelter side trail about 3:00. I sorted
my new food out, pumped water, rinsed some of my sweaty stuff and took a
rest. The bugs were around and a few of the gnats seemed to be biting.
Were these black flies? I didn't think so, but gnats don't usually bite. I
hoped the weather would cool off.

I figured somehow I would be alone here tonight, but a thru-hiker named
"Sub-man" showed up around 4:30. he seemed to be in his late 40s. Then
about 6:15 "Moose Killer" showed up. Hew was doing south bound sections and
seemed to be at least 70 years old. He was slow but he had been doing this
for years. he had an ADK 46er patch on his pack (meaning he had hiked all
the high peaks in the Adirondacks) so he had certainly been around. He
talked my ear off. I was in one shelter and Sub-man was in the other.
Moose Killer was staying with me but when I stopped talking as I went to
bed, he just went over to talk to Sub-man.

It had been a very good day - the first fair weather day of my trip in spite
of my lost time on Buzzard Peak. Very good hiking weather. I checked my
blisters (not bad) did some reading and got off to sleep. Once again the
moon shone through thin clouds late that night.

Day 5 Trail Miles: 10.2, Extra miles: 5.1, Total: 15.3


Aggregate Trail Miles: 56.8, Aggregate Total: 65.8

Rocky Mountain Shelters to Birch Run Shelters
Weather: morning temperature 55°, thin clouds, occasional sun, rain in the
afternoon.

The sun was visible for sunrise through the trees and I tried to get a
picture of it from where I was lying in my bag. It was not a god shot but I
tried. That was perhaps the best view of the sun all day. By the time I
was up and about around 7:30 AM, the sky was covered by thin clouds with a
bright spot in the direction of the sun.

I chatted with Moose Killer as I made breakfast and then broke camp, and I
got moving around 8:30. Sub-man had already left.

The going was easy with the exception of a few rocky spots. At one point
the trail went over some rocky pinnacles and I momentarily lost it. I
thought it continued along the rocky ridge line, and there were some white
paint marks on the rocks and trees that I tried to follow, but I then
realized that these were not AT blazes, but more likely marked the State
Forest boundary. Sheesh - this was confusing - they should use another
color to mark the boundary! I back tracked a bit and found the real trail
which turned down to the west off of the rocky area. At this point a little
break was in order and I changed into my Coolmax shirt from my fleece.

The descent to Route 30 was easy and upon crossing that road I entered
Caledonia State Park. This started as a river walk along the Conococheague
Creek. This was a lovely area and I think it gave an idea of what the
original forestation of the land was like before it was all cut over in the
last 150 years. Massive Hemlocks and laurel bushes lined the creek on both
sides. Thank goodness a few of these places are preserved in park land and
other reserves.

"Demean", a north bound thru-hiker passed me moving rather fast. In fact I
hardly caught his name before he was long gone. There followed a couple of
climbs - "heavy breathers" as you might call them - as we ascended through
thick laurel groves. I'm not sure what the is the distinction between
Mountain Laurel and Rhododendron, but these were rather imposing shrubs -
well over head height.

I then came upon one of the prettiest shelter areas of my whole trek: Quarry
Gap Shelters. Surrounded by laurel groves and with a little brook running
along the front were two shelters joined by a common roof, with a picnic
table between them. Although the buildings were of 1940s vintage, the whole
area was in great shape and exhibited a great deal of care. Hanging from the
roof in the front, was a sign "Quarry Gap Shelters - Jim Stauch, Inn
Keeper". I have learned that this was placed here by hikers who appreciated
Jim's dedication to this site as maintainer. I too would like to add
"Thanks Jim, great job here!"

The weather had become cool and cloudy, actually fairly good for hiking.
Occasionally the sun would try to burn through. At the warmest, the day's
temperature reached around 70.

There were a couple of climbs after Quarry Gap which tired my legs a bit,
but the terrain was moistly rather gentle. In some sections it was a bit
lonely and perhaps boring. But for the fleeting encounter with demean, I
had not seen a soul on the trail all day (aside for some folks in Caledonia
State Park - who don't really count) since leaving Rocky Mountain Shelter.
It was quiet hiking - no birds, just a few bugs buzzing by.

I crossed a woods road and then passed near the PATC cabin. This is
situated just above a stream crossing and would make an ideal camping spot
if only it weren't already taken. These cabins are available to PATC
members and supporters, I believe on a rental basis.

The last section of the trail Passed through Rocky Knob State Forest and
here I encountered the one and only blow-down in the entire PATC area I had
traversed. It was a recent fall (still had green leaves on the branches)
right where the trail intersects the Rocky Knob Hiking Trail. A sign
identified this trail which interestingly, was a CCC project from the 1930s
finished by the YCC in the 1970s. Just before this, the trail was
particularly beautiful, basically a grass covered old woods road through a
grove of tall White Pines.

A short time later I arrived at the day's destination - the Birch Run
Shelters. This was a pair of old shelters but there was a construction
project going on between them. A number of concrete foundation pillars had
been put into the ground in a rectangular pattern. I would assume by next
year the shelters would be replaced by a new structure. A thru-hiker
"Whisper" was there when I arrived. He was replenishing his water supply
and was soon off. He was a young man from Hanover NH. We had a short
conversation but he knew neither Bill Bryson nor Baltimore Jack. :)

I did the usual chores: pumped some water, rinsed my shirt, and then took a
rest. A few thru-hikers came through on the way to the next shelter:
"A-Train" (from Brooklyn), "Squirts", and "Grub". A-Train knew Sub-man and
had been hiking with him off an on for the last several weeks. I mentioned
Sub-man camped with me last night. As they moved on it started to get
chillier and the rain started, lightly at first. I was glad I was done
hiking for the day and was in a dry place.

There were no further "visitors" that day. For the first time on this
section I would have a shelter to myself for the night. I contemplated
being alone out here in the rain after a lonely day of hiking. But I
realized that I was hardly isolated from the world. The AT connected me
with hundreds of other hikers out there tonight up and down the East Coast,
as well as connecting my to the myriad towns and cities along the way.

After supper it started to rain in earnest. The tin roof off the shelter
magnified the sound of the rain. But I wasn't particularly worried about
getting soaked. Firstly, all my stuff was dry and I was safe in the
shelter, and secondly, tomorrow I would be going to the AYH Hostel in Pine
Grove Furnace State Park, where I could dry out anything that happened to
get wet along the way.

The rain did however add to the sense of isolation and aloneness (not
loneliness, but aloneness). There was no cell phone signal so I just
relaxed and enjoyed being totally by myself - a state we seldom attain to in
this day and age. It rained and it poured all night. A couple of times I
need to get up to pee. With these interruptions, together with the loud
noise of the rain on the roof, I slept fitfully.

Day 6 Trail Miles: 13.0, Extra miles: 0.3, Total: 13.3
Aggregate Trail Miles: 69.8, Aggregate Total: 79.1

Friends

At this point, in case anyone out there is actually reading this stuff, I
have now put all of the trip report (which is about 75% written) onto my web site. Some of you will prefer to read
it from the web with the imbedded links, lots of photos, etc. then to read
these long accounts piecemeal.

The link is:
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze2h6gy/papabear/AT2003_HF_Duncannon.html

As I write the last few days of the report, they will go up on my web site
as they are written.

For those happy to read it this way, read on ...
Pb

Birch Run Shelters to The Ironmasters Mansion (AYH Hostel)
Weather: morning temperature 55°, rain all day.

I awoke for the final (but not for the first) time around 6:30 AM. It had
rained all night and the ground outside the shelter was a combination of mud
and puddles. I had an unusual problem today: the hiking distance was too
short! Let me explain: tonight I would be staying at the AYH Hostel at
Pine Grove Furnace State Park, aka the "Ironmasters Mansion". It was only
10 miles distance over a very easy trail. However, the hostel is not open
to accept incoming guests till 5:00 PM. If I left around 8:00 AM as I
usually do, and hiked at my normal pace, I would arrive before 1:00 PM and I
would have 4 hours of waiting (in the rain, as it appeared) until I could
get into the hostel.

Solution: stay here and read a book all morning. Well, something like that.
I was through breakfast and cleaned up by 8:00 AM and I went back into my
bag and read. This eventually got rather boooooooring and by 10:00 I had
had it. So I packed up and started hiking into the chill rain just before
11:00 AM. By 1:05 I had reached Tom's Run Shelters and took a lunch break.
The trail was very easy but because of the almost continuous string of
puddles, some over the top of my boots, I was very tired trying to walk on
the side of the puddles without slipping in. It was a losing battle. But
the Gortex in my boots for once seemed to be doing it's job and my feet
stayed warm and toasty.

Before long I was starting to get a chill so I set off again. I took but
one picture (which didn't come out) the whole way. In the last couple of
miles I fell twice on slippery rocks and mud. This was not a lot of fun! I
finally got to Pine Grove about 2:25, just under 3 1/2 hours, record time
for 10 miles! Nothing in the Park was open, not the general store (it was a
Friday and they are only open weekends) and no one was around. I couldn't
find the hostel although I knew it was close by somewhere. Luckily I found
a ranger getting into his car after checking something and asked where the
AYH Hostel was. He said "It's that big brick building right up there". I
had just walked by this place and assumed it was an abandoned old factory or
something from an earlier era. He suggested I hang out on the porch till it
opened so I turned around, walked up the stairs and across the wet lawn and
settled onto the porch.

I took off most of my wet things so I wouldn't get a chill, and put on my
hat and gloves. Still in this atmosphere I was chilly. But I was feeling
good - it was a fast easy hike (in spite of the puddles) mostly down hill,
and I was through with my work for the day. So there I sat and read, a
little chilly and a little bored but hey, I had made it!

Around 3:30 PM, a woman thru-hiker named "Loki" (probably in her late 40s)
climbed the steps and greeted me: "You must be Papa Bear". "Yes, that's me".
I then think I surprised her when I said: "Loki, isn't he the gremlin from
the Germanic gods?" She said: "yes, Norwegian." I forget how I knew that.
She had seen my register entries for the last couple of days and knew I was
headed here today. She had been one shelter behind me for the last few
days. Besides the ranger, she was the first person I had seen all day. She
dropped her pack on the porch and said she had to pick up a mail drop at the
park headquarters and so I was alone again on the porch.

Around 4:00 PM someone came out from inside to dump some water over the
porch railing. He said his name was Shawn and they would open at 5:00 PM
for business. Well, I had another hour to wait but at least I knew this
place wasn't totally deserted! Somehow the hour passed and at 5:00 I went
inside. Several others had entered from the front door including Loki, her
husband Pokey (No Germanic god, he!), A hiker named Eric and someone here
for an AMC sponsored hike that was happening tomorrow. We all checked in.
When I asked was there anyone else expected tonight, Shawn said yes, he
expected 27 Boy Scouts and a few leaders to show up. Yikes! 27 Boy Scouts!

Before things got too crowded, I showered, used the kitchen to cook my
supper and hung up the several items I had that had gotten wet today. I
called my wife on the pay phone and settled down for the night. I finished
the John Irving book (They all lived happily ever after. :)) and left it on
the hostel's reading shelf, and then watched as the Boy Scouts with their
attendant chaos arrived en masse. They were actually fairly well
regimented, in a top-down sort of way. The only problem, aside from the
inevitable noise of the first hour as they got organized, was a continuous
crashing in the area just above my room. It sounded like they were
practicing the Olympic long jump up there! I don't know what it was, but
the noise eventually stopped and I got a reasonable night's sleep.

Day 7 Trail Miles: 10.0
Aggregate Trail Miles: 79.8, Aggregate Total: 89.1

Friends

At this point, in case anyone out there is actually reading this stuff, I
have now put all of the trip reports (which is now about 80% complete) onto
my web site. Some of you will prefer to read it from the web with the
imbedded links, lots of photos, etc. then to read these long accounts
piecemeal.

The link is:
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze2h6gy/papabear/AT2003_HF_Duncannon.html

As I write the last few days of the report, they will go up on my web site
as they are written.

For those happy to read it this way, read on ...
Pb

================================================== =====
AYH Hostel to Campsite on the Little Dogwood Run
Weather: morning temperature 50°, cloudy with fog, occasional sprinkles,
rain in the evening.

I was up at 6:00 AM and my goal was to be out of the Hostel by 7:00 AM, so
as to avoid the chaos of the Boy Scouts making breakfast. I cooked my
breakfast, packed up and was out the door by 7:05. Almost made it. A few
of the Scout leaders were up and in the kitchen looking to start work on a
huge meal of French toast, but most of the boys were still asleep. I had
escaped just in time.

Outside, the weather seemed much as it had been the evening before. Chilly,
fog with occasional sprinkles. But it wasn't really raining in earnest and
for that I was grateful.

In about an hour, I reached the Pole Steeple trail. I had been told to
check that out so I started down the trail. But after about 1 quarter mile
I lost interest. It seemed too far for a morning when the view would be
next to nil. Back on the trail, I reached Lime Kiln Road (6.0 miles - I
love names like that) around 9:30 AM, so I was making good time. The trail
was easy, as was the norm. Gentle terrain, a few streams, a few rocks,
same, same! I was not too sweaty today. The humidity had dropped and the
temperature was cool - I was feeling good.

The mystery of the two dogs

Just then, as I walked down the trail, two dogs - one a black Labrador, the
other a Golden Retriever - came loping up the trail from the other
direction. Suddenly they saw me and came to a screeching halt. I said "Hi
doggies, where's your human?" They started barking at me, not viciously but
with concern that was entering their territory. First the Golden and then
the Lab turned tail and ran since I didn't stop and kept coming. They would
stop every 10 or 20 yards, turn towards me and bark some more, but after two
or three attempts to halt my progress, they seemed to give it up and high
tailed it down the trail the way they had come. They were well groomed,
clean and each had a collar, so I knew they were not strays and I assumed
they would soon be back with their human in tow to give them a little more
courage. But the dogs never reappeared and no one whatsoever approached
from that direction for at least a couple of miles. There were a few old
woods roads the trail crossed but no obvious place that the dogs had come
from. Where did they come from? Where did they go? Well, I'll never know
but at least the boredom was temporarily lifted.

The temperature was still around 50 when I stopped for a break. There were a
few sprinkles or perhaps just dripping from the trees. I went down the side
trail to Tagg Run Shelter - it seemed longer than the .2 miles the book
indicated. This was a new two story shelter. Similar to, but a little
smaller then Ed Garvey. The sign on the structure said : "James M Fry
Memorial Shelter" but I guess everyone calls it Tagg Run. Each time I
stopped I felt chilly so I didn't stay long. I had a few hills and more
than 8 miles between here and the Alek Kennedy Shelter, my destination for
the night, so I was off again.

I was passed by two NOBO hikers whom I had seen that morning breaking camp
just past Pine Grove. I would see them again later in the day and they were
my only company on the trail (besides the two mystery dogs) the whole day.

I crossed Hunters Run Road and said hello two a couple of bikers out for a
ride and then got onto an old RR bed. Although not identified as such, it
was straight, level and had a bed of cinders to walk on. I could be nothing
else. I'm glad it was there since I was going through a very wet boggy area
which would have been hell to pass through if not for the rail bed.
Eventually we joined a real (but rather disused) rail road and then crossed
PA Route 34. Just as I entered the woods on the other side, I was amused at
the road sign: "Appalachian Trail Road". "Trail Road" - how's that for a
name?

In a very short time I lost the trail. Seeing white blazes on a few trees,
I went left instead of straight across a woods road and went down the road
for a few tenths of a mile. But the blazes didn't look right - they were
more blotches than rectangles - and I soon realized I was following the
boundary of something, perhaps a State Forest area, rather than the trail.
I back-tracked to the turn I had taken and discovered real (albeit very
feint) blazes on the correct route.

I went through a rather pleasant area of open forests with Blueberries and
Sassafras underneath and climbed a modest slope. Eventually I descended to
Route 94 and took a break. It was about noon and the temperature had risen
to about 55. There was less than 5 miles to the shelter and although still
feeling good, my legs were starting to get tired. There was some more easy
going and finally a real climb. Rocks, rock steps, switch backs and then
finally the ridge top. Wow! The trail actually went right along the ridge
line over around and through a series of huge rocky pinnacles. This was the
first challenging bit of trail I had seen all week. It was similar to what
you find in New York or New England - the trail would go over the rockiest
route even when it would be easier (and sometimes more direct) to go around.
There was some scrambling and it was by far the most interesting section of
the day if not the week. I had thought they were too wimpy to pick a route
like this.

Then it was down to Whiskey Spring Road where the same two hikers I had seen
twice that day were taking a break. They were finishing up cooking some sort
of lunch. Stewart and Kif were there names, and I though they might be
brothers. They said they were finishing a section today at Boiling Springs.
They had 4 miles farther to go than I did today, but it was there last day
out.

The rest was an easy, mostly down hill walk to the shelter. I crossed a
stream with a nice camping area and soon reached the side trail to Alek
Kennedy Shelter just after 3:00 PM. Oops! When I got there, what did I
find, but about 20 Boy Scouts! Oh no, Boy Scouts at both ends of the day.
I looked around at the small shelter and the plethora of boys, and turned
right around and headed back to that nice area by the stream.

I found a spot and set up my tent and got going with my chores. It looked
like it might rain tonight so I wanted to be set up with all must stuff safe
before it started. Soon after setting up, Southern Yankee arrived - from
the south. He was the northbounder I had met a couple of days before (and
he had actually been at the AYH shelter last night as well) so I asked him
how come he was coming from that direction. He said he had passed by a
little while before when I was busy setting up and I didn't eve notice him.
He then had gone up to the shelter, quickly saw the situation and turned
around to join me at this area. He set up a hammock which I was interested
in, since I had never seen one in actual use.

A while after that first Loki and Pokey and finally Flick - a thru hiker
from Tennessee - arrived and, being apprised of what was ahead at the
shelter, opted to join us and set up here. Everyone got busy doing their
own thing. It's always more work to set up a tent, but you certainly have
more flexibility. I convinced everyone that we should get off early the next
morning, and go down to Boiling Springs (about 4 miles) for breakfast, and
all readily agreed. There's nothing like real food to a hiker, especially
when someone else does the cooking.

Loki related what had happened at the Hostel in Pine Grove after I left that
morning. The Boy Scouts got up and soon overran the place. The cooking
crew made French toast and bacon but managed to burn the bacon filling the
place with bacon smells and smoke. It drove everyone out of the place while
at the same time made everyone very hungry. It sounded just like the
delightful chaos I hoped - and succeeded - to avoid.

The parable of the aqua-blazers

She then related another story equally amusing but potentially scary. It
seems a couple of thru-hikers - "Latch" and "Demean" (who I had met on the
trail a few days before) - together with a section hiker, decided to
"Aqua-blaze" the section between Waynesboro, Va and Harpers Ferry. Now
you've heard of blue-blazing and yellow-blazing and maybe a few others, but
what in blazes , you may ask, is aqua-blazing?

Simple: aqua-blazing is covering the distance via canoe or other manually
powered craft along a suitable river or creek paralleling the trail. Makes
sense to me. So they somehow got a canoe in Waynesboro and put in on the
Shenandoah River and headed downstream, about 70 miles to Harpers Ferry. At
this point they were promptly pulled over. The river police, aka a park
ranger, busted them for overloading the canoe. He gave them a ticket and
made the section hiker get out, since the craft would safely carry only two.
He actually gave the section hiker a lift to Harpers Ferry - he turned out
to be the lucky one. He also made the to others tie their stuff securely to
the canoe.

So off went a chastened Last and Demean down the Shenandoah. At a point
about 10 miles short of Harpers Ferry they hit some rapids and managed to
capsize twice, almost drowning in the process. Completely soaked and having
lost various odds and ends which were not tied down, they pulled over. I
guess it was time for a break. They pulled their craft onto the bank of the
river and stowed their packs underneath, and then wsalked into town for some
lunch and recuperation. An hour or two later they returned to the river, on
ly to discover their packs had been stolen! The word was that Last had just
bought all new stuff in Damascus for something on the order of $1400!. So
ends the story of the two aqua-blazers. After a few days and calls home to
get their "old stuff" back, they both returned to the trail.

Well, the stories over, it started to rain at 6:15 PM So there was nothing
to do but crawl into the tent for a long night. Too bad I had finished my
book the previous evening. I had an old magazine in my pack, so I read
that. A story about Carl Rove - give me John Irving anytime!

Day 8 Trail Miles: 15.4, Extra miles: 1.8, Total: 17.2
Aggregate Trail Miles: 95.2, Aggregate Total: 106.3

Friends

Just one more day to write up after this, hooray! I have now put all of the
trip report (which is now about 90% complete) onto my web site. Some of you
will prefer to read it from the web with the imbedded links, lots of photos,
etc. then to read these long accounts piecemeal.

The link is:
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze2h6gy/papabear/AT2003_HF_Duncannon.html

I you wait a little longer (hopefully by tomorrow), I will have the last day
up there as well and then the account will be complete.

For those happy to read it this way, read on ...
Pb

=============================================

Campsite on the Little Dogwood Run to Darlington Shelter
Weather: morning temperature low 50°s, rain, clearing in the afternoon.

Today was the longest hiking day planned - over 18 miles. There is no
camping allowed in the Cumberland Valley - except for a spot outside of
Boiling Springs which did not appear particularly inviting. It had rained
all night and it continued raining lightly as we got up and packed up our
stuff. One of the pains of tenting in the rain is packing up a wet tent
which tends to get everything in your pack wet if you're not careful. But
there was no putting it off, and we were all looking forward to breakfast in
Boiling Springs. I was up and about at 6:15 and was on the trail just after
7:00 AM. There was but one hill followed by some flat walking through farm
fields along the 4 miles to Boiling Springs.

Flick was the first off, about 10 minutes before me, and the others would
follow shortly. Southern Yankee passed me just before we hit the farm
lands. Hiking through the fields was fairly weird. The AT had an access
route through the fields that would go first straight across and field and
then straight along the next. Thus it would zig-zag across the fields in a
rectangular pattern on a grassy strip about 8 feet wide. The fields
themselves were not yet planted. (A friend told me when he did this section
it was late in the season and the fields were full of corn higher than his
head. He could see nothing more than a few feet to the side and got lost a
couple of times.) In this situation I could see the trail both in front of
me and behind for at least a half mile. A zig-zagging grassy strip crossing
the brown fields. The rain and mist made it more eerie. I saw way up in
front, Southern Yankee making his way along, and way behind, another hiker
following, most likely Loki.

I got to the ATC office at 8:30 and found Flick and Southern Yankee on the
porch talking to "Dallas", an ATC volunteer. The ATC had just started
opening the place up on weekends and it was a welcome spot to find open on
this wet Sunday morning. Within 15 minutes Loki and Pokey showed up. We
all stowed our packs on the porch and went to find the Lake View Cafe, which
the Companion indicated was open for breakfast and lunch. Visions of
pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and home fries - with ketchup - danced in my
head. We walked several blocks around the end of the lake and found the
restaurant.

DRAT! The sign said "Open Sundays 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM". There was vast
collective disappointment from five hungry hikers. We walked across the
street to a gas station where a few locals were hanging out in the drizzle,
and asked them if they knew any place that might be open for breakfast.
They were fairly useless and soon got into a discussion with each other
along the lines of: "Gee, someone should open a restaurant." "Yeah, let's
open a restaurant, that would be an easy way to make money." "Blah, blah,
blah."

We went inside the food mart that was part of the gas station and scurried
around looking for things to eat. Oreos, Candy bars, potato chips, soda,
whatever. I discovered that they had hot dogs grilling in a little electric
grill that kept about 6 rows of dogs grilling on rollers that were slowly
turning. I figured well, at least that would be something hot, so I got two
dogs and some Gatorade. The hot dogs were AWEFUL! Luke-warm (or more like
luke-cold) and no taste whatsoever. I gobbled them down nevertheless, drank
the Gatorade and headed back to the ATC. So much for my long anticipated
breakfast - I was outta here!

At the ATC I made a few calls - one to my hiking partner whom I would be
meeting on the trail tomorrow. I had to leave a message, which I hate - you
never know if they'll get the message or if they left town for the next
month or what. So off again I was by 9:15 AM. There were 8 very wet miles
ahead of me to get to Route 11. There I would have another chance for a
meal. This section was not so much through fields as through marginal land
between roads and fields - mostly low lands crossing many creeks and boggy
areas. The worst wasn't the rain, which was fairly light, but the constant
mud. The entire trail was through grass where a treadway had been worn by
many hiker feet into soft dirt. After a few days of rain this was a mud
path, sometimes 6 inches deep. My boots, my gaiters, and my Frogg Togg
pants were covered with mud. The pants had mud splashed up on the inside of
both legs all the way up to the crotch!

I reached US Route 11 just after 12:00 noon. Dallas had assured me that the
Middlesex Diner was just .4 miles down the road, not the 1 mile it said in
the Companion. From the place where the AT crossed the highway on a
pedestrian bridge I could see a myriad of trucking facilities, and maybe
that was a diner way down the road a piece. There were truck depots, truck
repair facilities, truck diesel stations and even companies that specialize
in truck wrecks! I figured well, this diner will be a truck stop, no doubt
about it. I walked the 10 minutes it took along the edge of the highway,
crossed over to the diner and what to my surprise do I see but well dressed
people everywhere. Grandmothers in Sunday clothes, well scrubbed children,
fathers with ties on. mothers carrying babies - this did not look like a
trucker crowd. In my scruffy beard, wet pack, mud covered boots and clothes
I definitely DID NOT flit in! But the young lady at the desk was nice
enough to pretend not to notice. I said "One". She said "Oh,would you like
to sit at the counter?" "Sure" I said. And I lucked out. The only two
disreputable guys in the place were seated there. Guys with long hair and
dirty shirts and rough language. I had found my element! I ordered a huge
lunch with home fries, sweet potatoes, (hey, I get two vegetables!), and
home made meat loaf with gravy. Tons of good greasy food. I relished it.
And only $6.95 plus tax and tip (You know the tax in Pennsylvania on
restaurant meals is over 10% - isn't that a bit much?) I tried again and
this time managed to hook up with Fresh Air, my hiking partner, and we
arranged a rendezvous tomorrow on the trail on Cove Mountain.

I walked back along the highway to the trail and as I got up onto the
pedestrian bridge what was that in front of me? - a shadow! Not exactly a
shadow - more like a shadow of a shadow - but it was there. The rain was
abating and the sun was struggling to burn through the clouds. I had seen a
hiker cross the bridge as I approached so I knew one of my compatriots was
just a little ways ahead of me.

I managed to catch up to Loki and Pokey as they took a break just before
the overpass over I-81. It was Pokey I had seen crossing the pedestrian
bridge over Route 11. I said the diner was great, they should have tried
it. But Loki said the bad hot dogs she had for breakfast were solidly
sitting in her stomach and she had lost her appetite for the day. Well I
certainly didn't lose mine! I moved on through more fields and some rather
nice wooded lowland areas. I crossed over Conodoguinet Creek on a walkway
on the side of a bridge and then turned left down to the creek. Then in a
rather unintuitive move, the trail turned left again under the bridge we had
just gone over. Why didn't we just turn down from the right hand side of
the road after crossing the bridge? Must be a legal issue. The path under
the bridge was on a mud covered concrete abutment right next to the rather
full and very brown waters of the creek. I was extra careful here. This
would not be a good place to slip in the mud.

The valley walk was coming to an end and after crossing Route 944 around
3:00 PM, the trail entered real woods and started to climb. Thank goodness,
I would at last be leaveing the mud behind. The climb was at first easy,
then a little stiffer,and finally it was a full fledged climb with rock
steps and switchbacks. Near the top there was a beautiful viewpoint looking
back over the Cumberland Valley. A seat had been fashioned out of rocks
right at the side of the trail. The rocks said "Sit here and tarry a
while." The sun had by now made a reappearance in the sky and the valley
below was green and verdant in the afternoon sun.

But unfortunately I was not done for the day, so I moved on over the top of
the ridge and arrived at the Darlington Shelter a little after 4:00 PM. I
was done but not entirely done. I went down a rather long trail to a
spring, pumped water, rinsed some things in the run off and got back to the
shelter. I spread my wet things out to dry, including my tent. I scraped
off as much mud from my boots as I could and then relaxed. I had hiked
close to 20 miles today and it was good to rest.

Loki and Pokey showed up and did the same chores. Finally Flick showed up
and we were a foursome. Flick might have been expected to be way ahead of
us, but he had stayed in Boiling Springs till around 11:00 AM since he
needed to resupply. He had a bag full of food he had bought - it must have
weight 10 or 12 lbs. We kidded him about his now very heavy pack, but he
was very proud of managing to get all the supplies he needed and make it
here through the mud after such a long day. Southern Yankee, who had been
with us last night, had kept going to the next shelter. By 6:00 PM the sky
was clear, the air was cool and it was a beautiful day - finally.

The Darlington Shelter was a bit unusual. It was made of plywood and what
seems like construction cardboard. The floor boards were all chewed up,
probably by Porcupines, and in one place a piece of plywood was nailed to
the floor over a hole. This made that spot impossible to sleep on due to
the hard bump this "repair" had created. It was painted red with white
trim, and it looked more like an old tool shed you might see behind a farm
house than a shelter.

I got to sleep and slept rather well. I got up a little past 11:00 PM to
take a pee and I noticed 2 very strange things: number one - the stars were
out brightly, and number two - there was an electric head lamp shining from
the picnic table. At first I thought one of us had got up to do something
and I went over and found someone reading under the picnic table. I said
"What are you doing here?", still thinking it was one of us. He said "I
just got here and didn't want to disturb anyone. I hiked 36 miles to get
here today!". Wow! talk about crazy! His name was "After Burner" and he
had to meet a friend in Duncannon the next day so he had to make time. With
that and a shrug, I went back to bed.

Day 9 Trail Miles: 18.3, Extra miles: 2.0, Total: 20.3
Aggregate Trail Miles: 113.5, Aggregate Total: 126.6

This is it people, the end! I have now put all of the trip report (well,
give me an hour or so after posting this) onto my web site. All the daily
logs plus the intro. plus lots of pictures etc., etc. are there in one
coherent (at least I hope it's coherent) report.

The link is:
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze2h6gy/papabear/AT2003_HF_Duncannon.html

For those happy to read it this way, read on ...
Pb

============================================
Darlington Shelter to Duncannon
Weather: morning temperature 50°, clear and sunny all day!

My last day! And finally the weather is great. Aside from a mostly sunny
day last Wednesday, this hike has been a series of rainy and foggy days. Now
at last when I'm about to be done, the weather turns nice! Everyone was in
good moods since the weather had turned and everyone was looking forward to
the town stop in Duncannon. Everyone was planning on stopping at the Doyle
Hotel, and a few would take a day off the trail and stay overnight there.
It turns out that our night time arrival - Afterburner - knew Flick and we
had a nice conversation. He said walking through the mud across the
Cumberland Valley in the dark was daunting, to say the least! As usual,
Flick was off early while I was still working on breakfast.

I finished breakfast, packed up and got off by 8:15 AM and walked a few
yards. Oops, I had forgotten the clothes line I had strung up yesterday to
hang everything out to dry. Back to get it then off again.

The trail was over gentle terrain through lovely woods downhill, then up and
over a small ridge and then down again into a small valley with farms. I
thought we had left the farms behind in the Cumberland Valley but this
narrow valley (not much more than a mile wide) was there to cross. This
time there was no special AT corridor - we just went across grassy fields
following the blazes on wooden posts. Probably the difference was this land
was used for grazing whereas in the Cumberland Valley most of that land
seemed to be for crops. I was a bit worried about ticks since I basically
was tromping through tall grass, but after several tick checks I seemed to
escape unbitten.

There was one small problem in navigation. When the trail crossed Millers
Gap Road, a little before Route 850, the trail seemed to disappear. I
thought it might have turned up or down this road but after exploring a few
hundred yards in either direction I could find no blazes on trees or
telephone poles or anywhere. I was stymied, so I dug out my map and it
showed the trail crossing straight across this road into the fields on the
other side - but where was it? I carefully examined the grass, up and down
the side of the road, and finally found a feint treadway leading off through
the tall grass. I could spot none of the expected blazes on wooden poles
off in the fields but this was the only choice. So off I went through the
grass, and finally there were blazes on poles which, due to the shape of the
terrain or maybe the morning sun, were not visible from the road.

A short time later as I was still trekking through the grass, I was passed
by Afterburner. I asked if he had trouble finding the trail at that road,
and he said he couldn't find the trail either, but he saw me off in the
distance and just followed.

I took a break around 9:40 AM and then entered the woods and started
climbing. This was Cove Mountain, my last climb, and somewhere along it's
ridge line I would meet my partner Fresh Air who was hiking in from
Duncannon this morning to meet me. We would have lunch and then hike out
together. The climb was easy going for a while, and then it got stiffer and
finally evened out again near the top. There was a pipeline right of way
near the top which offered good views in both directions.

I walked along the ridge line for perhaps a mile, then sat down for a break.
I saw some Lady's Slippers there so I got a few pictures. It was nice with
the sun out - you could actually take pictures and expect to get some good
shots for once. While I sat there eating my last power bar, who should show
up, but Fresh Air. It was good to see him - we had hiked over 500 miles
together last year and he was just getting back after sustaining a bad ankle
break last fall. Besides, he was my ride home.

We walked along and then down to the Cove Mountain Shelter and had a nice
lunch break. It seemed a nice shelter with two sets of bunks. As we were
just finishing up, Pokey showed up. He was refilling their water supply as
his wife Loki took a break at the top of the side trail. His turn, I guess.
We got back to the AT and chatted for a moment with Loki, then we were off
again towards Duncannon.

The temperature had risen to the 60s and it was a gorgeous day. There were
a few rock fields that the trail crossed and then a fairly steep descent to
Hawk Rock. This was a great viewpoint with a magnificent view of Duncannon,
the Susquehanna and the surrounding area. Thank goodness for a clear sunny
day. After taking a few pictures, we were off again, now descending down a
very steep slope with numerous rock steps, switchbacks etc. This just might
have been the steepest section of my entire hike, but this close to the end
who cares!

We got to what seemed like the bottom and then the trail suddenly veered to
the right, up the slope again! Hey, what was this all about? But this
unexpected climb was rather brief (undoubtedly the result of some
intervening property that the trail had to skirt) and we soon arrived at the
road. The trail was at an end. There followed a pleasant road walk into
town. There was a really nice view as we crossed the Sherman's Creek
Bridge. From the center of this span you saw first the highway bridge
carrying Rout 11 across, and underneath that, the stone arches of the old
rail road bridge as Sherman Creek emptied into the Susquehanna. Beyond the
Susquehanna in perfect alignment with the bridges was the sharp pyramidal
shape of Peter's Mountain seen end-on to the ridge line. In actuality,
Peter's Mountain is an extension of the Cove Mountain ridge but cut from
that by the Susquehanna.

The blazes were a little hard to follow in town but I didn't get lost and
soon stood at my last blaze (a double blaze signalling a left turn up
Cumberland Street) and saw the real end of the Journey - The Doyle Hotel - a
block ahead.

We settled in at the bar and had a couple of hiker sized beers and a "small"
order of fries which was more than enough for two of us. Flick, A-Train,
Squirts and Grunt were there checking into the Hotel, and Loki and Pokey
soon showed up. It was old home week at the Doyle. It was old home week at
the Doyle. The Hotel was looking good, and we chatted with Vicky, one of
the new owners, who proudly told us of their efforts over the last couple of
years to clean and fix the place up. But all good things must come to an
and, and after finishing our food, Fresh Air and I got into his car and
started on the drive back to New York City. The journey was truly over.

Day 10 Trail Miles: 10.9, Extra miles: 0.5, Total: 11.4
Aggregate Trail Miles: 124.4, Aggregate Total: 138.0