Start: Darlington Shelter
The Pennsylvania rocks have begun!! We woke up at 6:20 am and were out of camp by 7:20. Our fastest time yet!! I guess sleeping in the shelter and not having a tent to take down helps. The hike began with a small descent and then went into some open fields. The trail goes through a lot of cornfields and farms in this area. After the fields, we climbed about 1000 feet over a mile and then ROCKS! We hiked 6 miles over all types of rocks. Small ones, big ones, sharp ones, smooth ones... It was very slow going for those miles! Just before the final descent into Duncannon, PA, we had a beautiful view of farmlands that seemed to go on forever, backed by a wall of green mountains. It is views like that that make the climbs so worth it. After the view, we walked a VERY rocky descent into Duncannon, which was tough on the knee. Once we hit flat ground, we had about a half mile walk on the road into town.
A good friend of mine emailed me and asked, "How does it feel to be so free, Ms. Flicka?" I thought about this a lot while walking today. It's pretty amazing that my only worries are how far to walk and what I want to eat. Although I love my job, it is amazing to not have "work" and deadlines. It feels incredible to only be pulled in one direction (north!). Sure, I miss my family and friends and I am missing out on some fun things this summer by being out here, but I've seen how simple life can be and that is incredibly freeing! Simplify... AT lesson #2.
Once we got into town I saw a doctors office, so I decided to get my knee checked out just to be sure. My knee has some fluid on it and the patellar tendon is strained. The doctor said to rest it for a day and take vitamin I (Motrin), so that is the plan. I was relieved to hear it isn't too serious!
Originally, we were going to stay at a hotel 3 miles out of town even though the Doyle Hotel is literally on the AT. I had seen pictures of the Doyle and was afraid to stay. Haha. We stopped in for lunch and the owners were so awesome, we decided to stay anyway. One of the owners even offered to drive us to the pharmacy to pick up more motrin. The food is delicious and all of the guests are AT hikers. The room is, well, interesting. It is small and old, there are two windows without screens, a fan, and a shared bathroom for the floor. The place definitely has character! Staying there when hiking the AT is an item on the "must do" list.
Today, we hiked 11.3 miles, which puts us at 125 miles total. It seems so unreal that we've walked that far to be where we are... I can't even imagine what it will feel like to get to Maine!
End: Duncannon, PA
Peace Be The Journey
~Flicka
I was talking to Glen Cochrane a week ago about your hike. He said you wanted to do twenty miles a day. I told him that in the beginning of the hike that would be nearly impossible. I guess you're finding that out. When Duffner and I hiked Connecticut and Massachusetts during a very hot dry spell, we started asking the south bounders about the water situation. I don't know how dry it is this year, but pay attention to water and fill up when you can.
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