Duncannon, PA

Leaving Harpers Ferry took a bit longer than expected as I was having so much fun hanging out with Buffalo, Moosehead, and German Shepherd, and then I finally met Porter and Pace who insisted we all go back to the bar so that they could buy a round. Porter is 47 and Pace is 40. Pace gets his trailname from the pacemaker that regulates his heart and also requires him to run past the power lines we cross so frequently. These guys like to hike very long days. They think nothing of knocking out 35+ miles in a day. This is more extraordinary when considering that they drink wine and beer like its their primary form of hydration.

After it was clear that we had all doddled so long in town, we decided to call it an official zero and share a room at the Comfort Suites. Porter and Pace convinced Buffalo to do the 4 state challenge with them in the morning. This involved them getting up at three in the morning the next day and hiking 43 miles starting in VA and crossing through WV, MD, and finally PA.. The rest of us said, "No, thank you." We'll do it in 2 days.

The first day out we hiked 22 miles to the Dogpatch Tavern. I visited this biker bar in '08 and knew I had to return. Turns out the place is just as fun as it ever was. The bikers love the hikers. I don't care what anyone says. They even bought us a round, and we had the most fantastic pit ham sandwich and fried pickles. I'm still thinking about that sandwich. The owner let us tent behind the bar, and we called it a day.

The following day, I was determined to get to PA. The terrain in the southern section of PA is fairly easy, so larger days are not very difficult. Unfortunately, the views are less impressive. Moosehead, German Shepherd, and I met up with Buffalo just on the other side of the Mason Dixon Line. Buffalo had pizza delivered at the road and had a few slices left for the rest of us. This was the best pizza on the trail to date.

I got up early because Marie's parents, Mike and Pat, planned to meet me at Caledonia State Park and treat me to dinner. I made it there by 3:15 pm, and they drove me to the Lincoln Diner in Gettysburg. Apparently, the restaurant has changed quite a bit since the last time Mike ate there, but we had a good time. Before they dropped me off back at the trail, we bought a case of beer and I carried the entire thing in my pack uphill to the Quarry Gap Shelter. Now this is totally illegal, and I'm not advocating anyone do this, but there were about 10 people that were really happy I hauled it up there to celebrate our half way victory. Everyone responsibly packed out their cans.

We hiked into Pine Grove Furnace the following day where several people did the Half Gallon Challenge. This is when you eat a a whole half gallon of ice cream in one sitting. It is a very popular milestone for people. I celebrated by eating 2 breakfast sandwiches and some fries. A half gallon is too much dairy for me.

Beacause I planned to meet my friend, Pele (GAME '04), in Duncannon on Saturday, I knew I could take it easy. The next day, I hung out with Portrait, Buffalo, German Shepherd, and Lemur by the lake. While the boys were swimming they met, Tammy, a woman that invited us to her house/cabin. Perfect timing. We jumped at the chance and were able to hang out and BBQ thanks to our new friend.

At some point, Portrait and Buffalo decided that they wanted to change up their theme for the second half of the trail. Buffalo started the trail on 3/28 and Portrait on 4/1. Up to this point, they had moved pretty quickly and taken little to no zeroes. They are now on the Buffa-slo train which not only involves them doing less miles but they are also going to aquire or make camp chairs and purchase a boom box. They plan on enjoying the second half in style. I have been having a lot of fun with those two.

After Tammy's we hiked to a campsite near Alec Kennedy Shelter. That day, we met the PA ridgerunner, Ghetto Sheep. She was really fun and agreed to hike out to Pole Steeple with us and share some brownies that Portrait made at Tammy's. Pole Steeple is a decent view and sort of looks like PA's answer to McAfee Knob.

The next day will go down as one of the most fun days I have ever had hiking the AT, but I will say only that it involved The Cumberland Valley Challenge. Details of the events of this day will only be revealed in person and to those who will not be sorely disppointed in my lack of judgement.

After surviving the CVC, I hiked into Duncannon early to get to the post office before it closed. I then hung out at the Doyle for an hour or so, and I'm writing this from Pele's house in the town of Loysville where I'm enjoying the hospitality of an old friend who introduced me to this crazy thing we call thru-hiking.