INTO DUNCANNON

AT Day 068:  Wednesday June 14,  2023

Mile 1133 + 16 miles/25.7 km

Total Distance Hiked: 1149 miles/1849 km

Camp –  Bernheizel  Bridge Road – Interstate 81- Conodoguinet Creek – Sherwood Drive – Wertzville Road – in Route 944 – Darlington Shelter – Miller’s Gap Road – Route 850 – Cove Mountain – Cove Mountain Shelter – Hawk Rock – Inn Road – US Route 11 & 15 – Market Street – Doyles Hotel 

A:2375 ft /724 m  D:2465 ft /752 m 

We just finished breaking camp when the rain arrived, a bit before 5am. The birds were chirping and it was still dark. 

As undesirable as our camping location was it was a real thrill to see fireflies in the dark dancing over the wheatfields. It  looked magical, absolutely magical. It reminded me of phosphorescence in the ocean when you swim in the dark which made me miss swimming in the ocean in the dark. 

From our campsite we had a bit of a road walk, crossing over Interstate 81 and then a section along Conodoguinet Creek  before we started to leave the Cumberland Valley behind us. I tried not to think about the  drizzly rain and the wet vegetation brushing against me, leaving my clothes wet. It didn’t matter, we would soon be in town.  It was so nice to leave the Cumberland Valley behind and start ascending back through the woods, looking so lush and green.  As we started to ascend out of the valley the landscape looked very similar to the descent off Center Point Knob yesterday. Tall trees with lush ferns understory.

The rain drizzled and the woodpeckers hammered away at the trees. It was a dim grey light once we were in the woods and the interstate traffic hummed along. 

Crossing a stream just before our climb up Cove Mountain, stands of Mountain Laurel started to appear. These were still in bloom although a few stands had already shed all their flowers. The flowers still give me so much joy. And it feels like a bonus each time I see one still in bloom.

But 10am  we reached a 10 mile for the day mark, our first 10×10, although that wasn’t our goal. We just wanted to get to Duncannon and get out of the rain. Hammer was especially excited as he had new shoes and our new Big Agnes Hilton waiting for him at the Post Office.  He has a couple of blisters on his toes. His first blister in over a 1000 miles so he wasn’t complaining.

The rain  was still drizzling although the prediction was for it to ease by 10am and a sunny afternoon to follow.   We were hiking on top of Cove Mountain Ridge which will take us down towards Duncannon.  It was another 5 miles of ridgetop hiking before the mile long descent into Duncannon.   A cold wind was cutting across the ridge and I couldn’t wait to get out of it. It still baffles us how it can be humid and cold at the same time.   Soon the rain stopped and the sun slowly started to break up the clouds. Our progress had slowed as it was very rocky along the ridge. The rocks were sharp like razor blades sticking up out of the ground. We knew that we had to take it slow or risk getting hurt.  the woods were enveloped in a lovely fog as the sun tried to break through.

The last mile was a very steep rock stair descent. The rocks were wet and slippery and unevenly spaced. It felt like it took  forever to reach the road and eventually the town. We made it just after 1pm, half a day ahead of our schedule.  It will give Hammers feet a chance to recover a bit. Plus he’ll have new shoes. Oh….the joy of new shoes.

We booked a room at the Doyle Hotel,  a 1905 establishment in the process of being renovated. The renovation is a work in progress. It is a beautiful building and I’m not sure that the current renovations will restore it to it’s former glory. The Doyle reminded us of lots of country hotels in Australia. Hailing from an era when the towns had greater prosperity.

We left our packs in the room and went downstairs for lunch. A sensational salad followed by a seriously great tasting burger and a beer and we were swooning.  We went to pay for our meal only to find that a local man, Chuck whom we’d spoken to about hiking the trail, had already paid for our meal. He said he had wanted to hike the AT since doing a section with his young son years ago. Incredible generosity and kindness from strangers.

After lunch Hammer got our packages from the post office, we did our laundry, showered and then rested. Resupply will have to wait till tomorrow.