Day 68 - Friday, August 19

Linda

We were on the trail this morning by 7:30. It was hard to tear ourselves away from Rausch Gap Shelter, but I guess that is the nature of being a traveler. The first 7 or 8 miles was through St. Anthony's Wilderness, which is another rocky ridge walk, surrounded by dense trees. We're deep in coal mining territory, so we passed by the ruins of Yellow Springs, another of the many small mining communities that dotted the area years ago. Water was plentiful through here, with springs all along the way, so we weren't having to plan around the water supply. That took away a good deal of pressure. We stopped just before heading down off the ridge for a quick munch. The trail down was about 4 miles on an old fire road that was washed out in many places, which made the footing very tricky. We managed to maneuver it without mishap, though, and then stopped for lunch at a spring part way up the second ridge where we would be walking most of the afternoon.

By the time we reached the top of that ridge, we could tell it would be a long, long day. This ridge ran for a monotonous 8.5 miles. The footway wasn't particularly treacherous, just rocky enough to be annoying, with enough boulder hopping and ups and downs to wear us down. By far the worst part was the sheer monotony of it all. Mile after mile looking exactly the same, just trees, no views or changes in vegetation. We could have been walking in circles all day. We stopped at the Earl Schaffer Shelter for a much needed break. Doc and Peg Prior had told us they had seen a rattlesnake in the shelter, and it was easy to see why. This shelter looks like a reject from a church's live nativity scene, complete with dirt floor and hay. It was a far cry from our accommodations last night at Rausch Gap. We were really glad we weren't staying there.

Our goal for the night was the town of Duncannon, and the hostel in the basement of the local fire station. After a bit we passed another new shelter with no name, and more importantly, no water, so we didn't stop. The only time all day we have had a view was when we crossed over a powerline cut. The sky was clear and it had been clear and sunny all day, so we were rewarded with a beautiful view of the Susquehanna Valley below. We stopped for a few minutes to take pictures and drink in the view which would probably be the only one for the day, then marched on. When we crossed Highway 225 a few minutes later, we knew we had 5 more miles to go before our day would end. We were more psychologically beat then anything else, but we dragged our aching feet onward. The trail was supposed to follow a pipeline down off the ridge, then follow woods roads to the Susquehanna Shelter before diving straight down to the railroad tracks at the Susquehanna River. When we got to that turn-off, we found that the AT had been relocated over a very rocky ridge.

Not being willing to torture our feet any more than they had already been, we opted to continue on the old AT, which is now blue blazed, and still comes out in the same place. It wasn't nearly as bad as the new trail would have been, so we made excellent time. The old trail rejoins the new about .3 mile from the railroad tracks, then drops almost straight down over a very loose rocky bank. We had to grab onto trees as we went along to keep from losing our footing and going over the side. We crossed the tracks then walked the half mile across the Clark's Ferry Bridge over the Susquehanna River to the end of this section.

We had already come 25.5 miles by 6:15, but still had to pound the pavement another 1.5 miles all the way through Duncannon to the hostel at the fire station to make our day's total 27 miles. I had a root beer attack about half way through town, but fortunately the street seemed to be lined with drink machines, so I was saved and given the strength to go on the last painful yards. We limped into the basement of the fire station where I promptly collapsed in a comfy old chair in front of the TV. I sat and watched the news for a while before regaining enough strength to do anything more than take off my boots.

The man who looks after the place showed us around and told us where the stores, etc. were. Everything we needed in town seemed to be close by - I was certainly glad of that. The grocery store was just across the street, and a phone and drink machine were right outside the door. We went over and bought ingredients for sloppy Joe's, Doritos, ice cream and cookies for dinner, then pigged out in front of the TV. We hadn't watched TV in so long that even the Donnie & Marie Osmond show was entertaining. Not sure what that says about what being in the woods is doing to our minds, but at this point I'm not overly concerned. We each called our respective parents and had good chats. Found out from the Moaks that our lightweight sleeping bags had finally arrived and were waiting for us at the Post Office. Hooray! No more sweaty nights with the heavy down bags, having to choose between sweltering or be eaten alive by bugs. Also made tentative plans for meeting Mom and Dad in Harpers Ferry, but will still need another phone call along the way to confirm. We've been pushing to get there by next Thursday, so hope we can do it. We haven't taken an entire day off so far, so it will be wonderful to see Mom and Dad and relax for a day or so. We sat up like dummies watching TV until 1:00 am. Watched "The Carey Treatment" with James Coburn, then "The Runaway", with Vera Miles. Finally went to bed around 1:30 after making plans for how to fritter away half a day tomorrow, since we had a short day planned.

Ron

We started hiking on this Red Letter day around 7:30 this morning. The early miles seem to drag by. The boring ridge and rocky trail were no fun. The trail followed the flat ridge for miles. Trees, rocks, bushes, flowed past with the sameness of all the other ridges we had hiked in Pennsylvania. We stopped at the top of the gap to snack before the descent into the gap and climb of the last ridge before Duncannon.

At a spring on the climb up the ridge, we stopped for lunch. With renewed vigor we attacked the ridge. Our attack lasted to the top of the ridge, where we were met with one long rock foot path. For hours we beat our feet on those rocks. Sometimes we beat them hiking slowly and sometimes by hiking fast. The miles passed too slowly. We were just tired of long ridges with bad trails and no views. We couldn't see any sense to be there. But on and on we pushed, and one by one the miles passed until we were close to Duncannon.

We finally made it to the end of the ridge and began the three and a half mile descent to the road. One step at a time we plugged along. Our feet were beat and each step was hard. We slid the last three tenths of a mile down the mountain to the road and cross the river. From the bridge to the hostel in the fire station lay one and a half miles of Duncannon. We dragged ourselves down the street, stopping at every corner to gently step down from the sidewalk to the street so as to not jar our feet. A short stop at a drink machine gave us the energy to make it to the fire station.

Upon arrival, we searched the station to find the hostel that we had been promised for so many miles. It was located in the basement and we drug our packs downstairs and collapsed. Off came the boots and layers of protective moleskin. We sank into the chairs not believing that the ordeal of the last four days was over. We certainly hoped we would not have to repeat them soon.

We rested a half hour watching the news, then hobbled across the street to the market and bought supper. As a treat we purchased two cans of sloppy Joe sauce, a package of eight hamburger buns, a bag of corn chips, a half gallon of ice cream, a box of cookies and several cans of root bear. With our bounty clutched in our arms, we hobbled back to the station, sat in front of the TV and ate and ate. After a short break to make some phone calls we went back to eating. By the end of the late movie we had eaten everything except for a few cookies.

(27 Miles - 1013.8 Total)