START LOCATION: Alex Kennedy Shelter
FINISH LOCATION: Darlington Shelter
TODAY'S MILEAGE: 18.2
TRIP MILEAGE: 1,126.3
MILES TO GO: 1,052.8
You could set your watch to the Smoke-Dog morning departure time...
9:30 everyday. Today was a day of flat hiking. We hiked down from the
A-K and within 2 miles we were in the farm-rich Cumberland Valley.
Then it was 14 miles of flat pasture walking and then 2 miles of
climbing back into the Appalachians. We were excited for the change of
scenery. The farmland was absolutely gorgeous. I haven't taken this
many photos since I don't know when. Our 4th mile took us into quiet
and quaint Boiling Springs, PA by 11:15AM. This came right after some
nice soda, candy and fruit trail magic left by a current AT thru
hiker, Three Bears.
Boiling Springs is the most scenic town on the trail so far. It has a
nice pond with historic houses and a nice little downtown. We were
late for breakfast at Caffe 101 but they made an exception for us and
we enjoyed some delicious sausage, egg and cheese sandwiches. At noon
we walked over to the Boiling Springs tavern and spent about 2 hours
imbibing on various spirits.
By 2:30, we were on the trail again to reel in the last 14 miles. We
flew over terrain that never changed by more than 100' elevation. We
crossed pastures, forest, railroads, highways, corn fields, wheat
fields, interstates, swamps, you name it. I loved every bit of it.
There was a stretch of about 4 miles we pulled off in an hour... A new
record for us... nearly empty food bags help.
We had an 800' climb up to Darlington Shelter that shook us back into
reality, but it wasn't too bad. Our climbing muscles were well-rested
with all the flatness.
Meeting more Harpers Ferry starters and they are all pretty cool...
Most are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. But, even after 80+ days, Smoke
and I are still too.
Very excited to meet up with my friends Steph, Jay, Donna and Dorian
tomorrow. It feels like yesterday when I saw them a week before
hitting the trail. Smoke and I will be up early tomorrow to make the
11 mile push to meet them in Duncannon.
-natedog
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