2019 AT Thru Hike: Week 7 - Pine Grove Furnace to Hamburg PA

We're well into Pennsylvania now. Helen and Derek drove up from Atlanta to visit.

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Day 51
Time: Thu, 23 May 2019 19:53:20 -0400

Location: Alec Kennedy Shelter NoBo Mile 1119.5 of Appalachian Trail

Spent last night at the campground in Pine Grove Furnace State Park. It was me, Giggles, Storm Trooper, Pork Chop, and Swiss Opa.

Everyone was hanging their food on the poles next to the picnic tables. The poles were only about 9 feet high and they were worried since the lady at the store mentioned there was bear activity. I kept my food in my tent, but mentioned they could put their food in the bathroom. Everyone but me and Pork Chop did. Pork Chop had gone to bed early and left his food hanging on what we later learned were lantern poles. When we woke up, the remnants of Pork Chops food was strewn about. The bear didn't care for the Mountain House spaghetti.

We all packed up and walked back up to the General Store to use their WiFi and wait for them to open at 9.

The ladies that run the General Store are so nice. They came in and got the coffee going and the grill humming. We all skipped the breakfast menu and went for the hiker burger. Pork Chop got more trail food. The hikers that did the half gallon ice cream challenge were still a little off the next day.

There are a lot of new hikers around. Harper's Ferry is a very popular place to start a flip-flop thru hike. Met a really nice couple from Cumming GA who just started from Harper's Ferry. Their names are Smooth Sailing and Casual.

After eating at the General Store we walked over to visit the AT Museum. It was nice. There was a big box of trail magic a senior citizen group shipped to the museum. They had been reading about Grandma Gatewood and learning about the trail. It was so sweet and we grabbed some snacks from the box.

There were a number of school buses that arrived at the park with kids playing all over. The lakes in the park and swimming pool were set to open over the Memorial Day weekend. You can feel summer break in the air.

Big storms with possible hail was forecasted. We were all trying to plan accordingly. It started to rain and a lot of us stopped at the first shelter. The new hikers stayed, but we pushed on. Thankfully the strong storms dissipated.

Giggles and I stopped at the Green Mountain General Store. It was really cute. I had a meatball sub, salad, black cherry cola, coffee, and peanut butter shake.

We did 15 miles to the Alec Kennedy Shelter. Saw Max setup in his hammock in a nice spot on the ridge. He plays some kind of small wind instrument. It sounds really nice.

I stopped to call home while I had service. Service has been pretty good at the shelters lately, but I'm used to checking for service on the ridge and not counting on them at the shelters.

Helen and Derek are making their way up to visit me in Pennsylvania this weekend. It will be so nice to see them.

There were some fun ridge rock scrambles. Pork Chop and Giggles were at the shelter when I arrived. Giggles had fallen on her tailbone while talking to her mom and trying to navigate the rock scrambles. She's sore but ok.

We had a nice cooling rain overnight.

Love you ❤️ Miss you 😘

Google Maps link to my location: http://maps.google.com/maps?z=14&t=m&q=40.30207%2C-77.08696

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Day 52
Time: Fri, 24 May 2019 21:02:50 -0400

Location: Darlington Shelter NoBo Mile 1137.7 of Appalachian Trail

Pork Chop, Giggles, and I hiked 5 miles in the morning from the Alec Kennedy Shelter to the town of Boiling Springs. It was a nice hike through farmland.

Pork Chop has a fairly popular You Tube Channel (Pork Chop and Raven). Giggles blogs at DAK Tracks on Blogger.

The town of Boiling Springs is really cute. The trail goes around the peaceful Childrens Lake. There were people fishing and out and about. We talked to an older guy walking his dog. He said he hasn't been many places but loves to talk to the hikers who pass by. He told us about the people he had met from all over the world.

We ate at Cafe 101 for breakfast and it was fantastic. The was delicious and they had help yourself coffee bar with some tasty flavors like Apple Pie. I had at least 10 cups. We were very happy.

We stopped by the outfitter on the way out of town. We saw Snowbird from Quebec outside the outfitter. He's a really nice guy. He said he's ending his thru hike in Boiling Springs. Half the trail is enough for him. He told us how a nice lady in town had taken him in the previous night.

We hiked another 8 miles to the town of Carlisle. We did a .4 mile road walk to the Middlesex Diner. It was awesome. Pork Chops started us all off with some chili cheese fries. I had the hot turkey sandwich and Mac and cheese. Pork Chops got a huge warm gooey sweet roll covered in ice cream. I went for the even bigger bowl of strawberry shortcake. Two delicious meals in one day... again.

Helen said I was looking gaunt in my photos. I said I was doing my best to keep my weight up by eating all the town food.

We hiked another 6 miles to the Darlington Shelter. There was a good climb at the end but most of the trail has been pretty flat lately.

It's me, Giggles, Pork Chop, Max, some weekend hikers, and a couple doing a short southbound section hike.

We're headed into the town of Duncannon tomorrow and the infamous Doyle Hotel.

I called home and congratulated Helen and Adam on finishing the school year. Adam is now a senior. I talked to Derek also and told him I was looking forward to seeing him. They were all going out for pizza to celebrate.

Love you ❤️ Miss you 😘

Google Maps link to my location: http://maps.google.com/maps?z=14&t=m&q=40.30201%2C-77.08672

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Day 53
Time: Sat, 25 May 2019 20:56:47 -0400

Location: Clark's Ferry Shelter NoBo Mile 1153.3 of Appalachian Trail

Stayed last night at Darlington Shelter. Giggles, Pork Chop, and I hiked 10 miles into the town of Duncannon.

There were a lot of day hikers out with it being Saturday. A nice lady was so excited that we were thru hikers and gave us fresh cherries and beef jerky.

Somehow we missed a turn and came down the old AT. trail, which is popular with day hikers. The local hiking club had a booth setup at the trailhead and told us how a lot of hikers miss the turn. He said the ATC changed the route because the neighborhood around the trailhead didn't like the riff raff going through. We had some fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and Pork Chop bought a t-shirt.

Pennsylvania has some weird liquor laws and we haven't been able to get beer at any convenience stores. The road into town took us by the "beer distributor" where we were finally able to get some beer.

A guy was working in his yard when he recognized Pork Chop from YouTube. They chatted and took pictures together.

Duncannon is a cute little town and, like a lot of small towns, it's a little run down. We stopped at a small outfitter called Kind of Outdoorsy. They have a hiker lounge and a shower with towels, soap, and loaner clothes.

We all took a shower and did laundry at the laundromat nearby while we drank beer and resupplied.

Max/Wrong Way, who is from Montreal via New Brunswick, also showed up.Ninja, who I haven't seen since Pearisburg, also stopped by to say hi. He had gone to Trail Days with a tramily he has been hanging with. The tramily includes Chaunce, who is a very popular blogger on The Trek.

We went to the infamous hiker hotel, The Doyle, for burgers. It was good, but service was slow. It was later than we would have liked by the time we made our way out of town.

We walked by an ice cream shop and stopped in the way out of town. It was a pleasant evening as we made our way across the bridge over the Susquehanna River and up into the mountains. 

Climbing out of towns with a bunch of new food is always painful. This ridge climb was particularly tough with our full stomachs and heavy packs.

We.hiked 5.5 miles to the Clarks Ferry Shelter. We talked with a couple of section hikers who were there.

Helen texted to say that she and Derek had stopped by the Devil's Backbone Brewery and expected to be in Harrisburg nearby tonight. It will be so nice to see them tomorrow.

Love you ❤️ Miss you 😘

Google Maps link to my location: http://maps.google.com/maps?z=14&t=m&q=40.39215%2C-76.99376

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Day 54
Time: Sun, 26 May 2019 05:26:36 -0400

Location: Clark's Mountain Road Mile 1166,7 of Appalachian Trail

Stayed last night at the Clark's Ferry Shelter just north of Duncannon PA. Me, Giggles, Pork Chop, and Max struggled up the big climb out of town loaded down with a fresh resupply of food. There were a couple of really nice older guys doing section hikes.

Pork Chop, Giggles, and I hiked together. We took a break at the Peters Mountain Shelter where a group of scouts were packing up and heading south to Duncannon. They were  nice and we exchanged trail info. Someone named Expedition Magician left some trail magic in the bear box. We had fresh pineapple, apples, and chocolate macaroons.

We hiked 14 miles to Clark's Mountain Road parking area where Helen and Derek met me. Just before the parking area someone had left some trail magic with cold cokes, Gatorade, and tangerines.

Pork Chop and Giggles hung around a little and met Helen and Derek and we took some pictures together.

It was so nice to see Helen and Derek. They said I looked really skinny. They stayed in Harrisburg the previous night and almost couldn't find a room because there was a big soccer tournament.

We caught up some and then drove to Carlisle to the Middlesex Diner where I had eaten a few days earlier. We hung out and chatted. They didn't have hiker hunger. I saw Swiss Opa and Two Trails at the diner.

Derek drove to Duncannon and hiked up to the Clarks Ferry Shelter, while Helen and I got settled at the Days Inn nearby.

Helen cut my hair and pampered me. Derek came back from his hike very sweaty. We snacked on some food Helen brought and got caught up. Adam texted and said he's doing fine. Helen called her parents and Derek called his friend Jennifer and made plans to visit her in Boston tommorow.

Love you ❤️ Miss you 😘

Google Maps link to my location: http://maps.google.com/maps?z=14&t=m&q=40.23406%2C-77.13152

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Day 55
Time: Mon 27 May 2019 08:27:12 -0400

Location: Days Inn Lebanon/Fort Indian Town Gap NoBo Mile 1166.7 of Appalachian Trail

I took a zero and spent the day with Helen in Boiling Springs PA. It's a cute town with a pleasant lake to walk around.

We had lunch at Cafe 101 and drank a lot of their delicious apple pie coffee. We had some ice cream and walked around the town looking at the cute old houses. The town pool was open. It was a nice setting and it was filled with people on Memorial Day.

We drove back towards the trail where I got off and got a hotel nearby.

Google Maps link to my location: http://maps.google.com/maps?z=14&t=m&q=40.45197%2C-76.51334

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Day 56
Time: Tue, 28 May 2019 22:23:10 -0400

Location: Days Inn Lebanon/Fort Indian Gap Mile 1182.6 of Appalachian Trail

Helen drove me back to the place where she and Derek extracted me a couple days ago.

I slackpacked for the first time and it was really nice. I saw the couple from Georgia, Smooth Sailing and Casual and walked with them while we caught up.

I saw Lady Dundee again and met Pops. I saw Papa John. He was one of the first thru hikers I met when I started. We walked and talked some.

I caught up with Johnny Walker and Muffit and yelled out "slackpacked coming through". We had a good laugh and caught up with each other. They told me about the best trail magic they had the day before when they were invited in by a family at their cabin. Every Memorial Day and Thanksgiving they have big family feast and invite hikers in. They had pulled pork, wine, and a bunch of other good stuff.

I stopped by the Rausch Gap Shelter for a snack. It's a neat shelter with a unique contemporary look.

There were some interesting historical markers denoting the old railroad town that has since died out.

Some beavers built a pretty long dam that flooded the trail for a good ways. I walked through shin deep water and muck.

Helen found a nice trail nearby and did a run/walk and picked up some beer for me at the KOA camp store near our hotel.

Helen picked me up at a road crossing and I ate the lunch she brought for me and had some beer.

We went to the KOA camp store and relaxed on their patio and had some ice cream and coffee.

We ate at the Wendy's next to our hotel like we did last night. Last night the family that lives in a house in the middle of all the new hotels and fast food restaurants were having a pretty loud family party and giving riding lawnmower rides around the parking lots to the kids/grandkids.

Love you ❤️ Miss you 😘

Google Maps link to my location: http://maps.google.com/maps?z=14&t=m&q=40.452%2C-76.51312

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