It's been an eventful 24 hours. When last I posted, I was about to leave for a night hike of the Cumberland Valley. Darlington Shelter was the goal that night, and Duncannon the goal today. Well, everything ended up according to plan!
But that does not mean there was lack of excitement. Last night's hike was the longest night hike I've done yet, as we started at 8:30 and got to camp at 3! I should mention, "we" is me and Chatty, a flip-flop thru-hiker who only just started in Harper's Ferry, will be going to Katahdin, returning to HF, and finishing at Springer. Chatty had a similar interest to the hockey game as I did, so we set off with the sun disappearing below the farm fields.
Night hiking can be fun. There's something invigorating about the headlamp, the cool, almost chilly air, and of course, the darkness. It's weird to see everything along the trail in a sort of half-light; it all seems spooky. Even when we would get to a footbridge or something, from a distance it looks grim! I was reminded of a videogame me and my buddies would play called Slenderman, where you run around a woodsy landscape at night avoiding a monster. The headlamp light, man! It makes everything look dead.
The highlights of the hike were a horse in a field, only about 20 yards from us. That was probably at 10. Then it was a bunch of cows, one of which was startled as we passed and made the most un-cow-like noise you'll ever hear. It sounded like someone gasping! And then, at midnight, we hit the Middlesex Diner, a half mile down the Harrisburg Pike. It's an all-night diner that advertises "Great homeade food and plenty of it." At midnight, 8 miles into a hike, nothing could sound sweeter! Unfortunately, the 6 miles post-diner were much harder than the 8 before, and it was all I could do to pitch the hammock and konk out at the shelter.
So that was last night. Today was kinda nuts, too. It was hot and humid like always (it seems), and I was tired, but I still managed to get hiking by 9. I was strangely not hungry all day, so I only stopped for one snack break. I was sipping water, but man! I was sweating a lot and by the time I got to Duncannon around 2 I was a little dizzy. I got up to my room and laid down and I was still not hungry. So weird. But now, after I've taken a cold shower been drinking a ton, and most importantly not exerting myself in the heat, I realize that I might have been getting a bit of heat exhaustion. It's a little scary, considering I thought I was drinking enough and didn't realize it until now. Without a doubt, I'll be much more cautious on these hot days.
But enough about that, I'm in Duncannon! I'm staying at the Doyle Hotel. It's a hotel. I think that it was a 5-star place back in the day. There's this stone entrance and grand staircase and everything. But it's just completely deteriorated. It's dirty, there's holes in the ceiling, pretty incredible actually. But at the same time it's just the friendliest place in the world, and there are these local guys who always hang out at the bar on the first floor and they told me all of the stories of convicts who have tried to hide out on the AT and have come through. It's funky for sure.
Tonight's the big game, and then it's back to hiking tomorrow. After, of course, a much needed night of sleep in a bed!
Go Rangers!
-Scribbles (aka Ted)
7:16 p.m. 5/29/2015
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