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Hiking with Baltimore Jack has lots of advantages - he has a tremendous amount of
knowledge of the ATC, he is extremely interesting to talk to, he has hundreds of friend
along the trail, and he puts in a good word for me as he goes along - an example: He
told his friends Mary and Greg in Duncannon, Pa. to watch for me. TrailangelMary
left me some trail magic (Mountain Dew) on the trail outside of Duncannon, and when I got
into town to the Doyle Hotel, there was a message from Greg to meet him at The Pub where
he bought my dinner. Thanks so much Greg and Mary, and thanks to Jack for throwing
in a good word for me.
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Me, in a corn field. |
Jack also is a good storyteller. He told me this story about when he was on the
trail a few years ago and stayed at the Doyle Hotel. There was a horrible smell down
the hall from his room so he got the manager to take a look. Seems it was coming
from Room 33; and when they opened the door, there was a dead man in the bed who obviously
had been there several days.
When I pulled into the Doyle Hotel, it was full except for Room... you guessed it - Room
33. I almost decided to tent but didn't. Much to my relief, the next day when
I talked with the manager, it wasn't Room 33 where they found the dead man. I think
he said it was Room 17, so avoid that room if you ever stay there.
Monday - My adventures in Duncannon (above) and the infamous Doyle Hotel.
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| The infamous Doyle hotel, Duncannon, Pa. |
A view of the Cumberland Valley |
Tuesday
- Everyone here (at the Hotel) decided that we would only hike about 4 miles to the first
shelter and have a big cookout and party. We went to the store and bought food - everyone
had to carry one item. So we hiked to Clark's Ferry Shelter. We spread out a
big piece of foil and put hamburger meat down flat - almost to the edges of the foil like
a pizza - and put squash, bell peppers, onions, A1 sauce, and other delectibles on top,
covered and cooked it and it was the best eating I have had in a long time. Widget
and I were the only ones not indulging in alcoholic beverages so we were the only ones who
could get up early the next morning.
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Friends at Clark's Ferry Shelter |
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Wednesday -
Widget and I hiked 18 miles today to Rausch Gap Shelter. We passed the Peters
Mountain Shelter and the little shelter built by Earl Shaffer years ago. As
you go along the trail to Rausch Gap, you can see the remains of old mining villages
dating to the 1800's. There is a small family cemetery from the 1850's near where
the AT crosses Rausch Creek. I always wonder who the people were, how they lived,
and what their lives were like out here in the Mountains.
I am hiking behind Widget for a reason - rattlesnakes. We saw one today on the side
of the trail. Scary!
Thursday - We stopped today at 501 Shelter. This shelter has a Solar Port-a-Privy
with magazines!!! Also, the shelter is completely enclosed and has two full-time
caretakers who sell snacks and soft drinks during the hiking season. It is extremely
pristine, so you don't want to miss this shelter when you hike. We sent one guy to
hitchhike into town to get pizzas for lunch.
Also discovered that I am missing my waterbag. I am always very careful to make sure
I pack everything and always check around the site so I don't know how this could have
happened. I will leave notes in the shelter journals and maybe someone will find it.
Friday - We hiked 24 miles today to get into Port Clinton. Got into town at 10:30
p.m. I made the effort because I thought we might meet up with my group. Sure enough
Feral and Dirtnap were at hotel. Greenman and Sniper are ahead of everyone by a few
days. When I called home, my Mom told me that Dirty Frank had called her to
see where we were. He had gone on vacation for a week with his family, and they were
going to bring him back to the trail to meet up with us.
The hotel was full so I had to tent at the campground which was all right with me because
the hotel had no a/c and no TV (for $35.00?) So I tented for free under the roof of
the Pavilion and showered and did laundry at the hotel, all for $5.00. It is really
nice of the hotel to make this provision for hikers and they also let you use their
bathrooms.
Saturday - There were lots of trail angels at the campground. Jack's friend, Bag of
Tricks, whom I met at Trail Days in Damascus, and who came down to slackpack me in
Harper's Ferry, lives here, and he came and took Widget and me to lunch at Wendy's.
Lots of older people in town are trail angels. One couple slackpacked me and
Widget. They took us to the trail about 1:30 and we hiked 15.7 miles before they
came to pick us up. We got back to camp about 7:30 p.m., right after we saw a big
copperhead snake on the trail. Ate dinner at the Hotel restaurant - it's kind of
like a honky tonk, has great atmosphere. I had a big tray of french fries that comes
with gravy and ketchup.
Also got my box from Mom at the post office with lots of good desserts - like Snickers and
M & M's. Also, she sent me a new item - plastic sleeves of peanut butter about
the size of a popsickle, plain and some that were peanut butter with chocolate. Very
good, and convenient for eating on the trail for lunch.
Sunday - A trail angel took us to the trail this morning and we hiked 18 miles to Bake
Oven Knob Shelter which is one of the original Pennsylvania shelters. On the way
today we passed Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. You can blue-blaze to the top where there
is a visitor's center with gift shop and book store. They have spotted more than 140
species of hawks, eagles, and falcons over the Mountain. It is also said that the
strong mountain drafts carry over 20,000 raptors south for the winter.
We also passed The Pinnacle which provides a panoramic view of the Pennsylvania farmland
from 1,635 feet. This is the best view of Pennsylvania country on the trail.
We are headed to Delaware Water Gap, hoping to catch Greenman and Sniper. It feels
good to be hiking with my pals Feral and Dirtnap again, and my buddy Widget is here, too.
My sister-in-law has finally fixed the Guestbook so keep those comments coming. I
really appreciate them and look forward to reading them each week when I can find a town
with a computer. Any questions I can answer, I will be glad to. I LOVE THE
A.T.!!!!! Also, I will have pictures up this week so stay tuned. |
