Stephanie's Trail Journal

July 27th

Hi Everyone,

I've decided that journaling every day is not happening for me so I'll send emails when I can. I just spent the last 3 nights / 4 days in Duncannon, PA (~1117 miles) carousing with other hikers and infusing the local economy with beer, food and hoteling purchases. We had a combination sendoff party for Lamby and Jacob and a birthday celebration for Mickey (Hans) at the Doyle (infamous for cheap beer and cheap rooms). One of the urban legends (later confirmed by Heather who works there) is that Baltimore Jack sniffed out a deceased patron of the Doyle, rumored to have expired on the 4th floor near the top of the staircase. Well, Stephan and I were in the room directly across from the staircase so we had to find out more... According to Heather, the guy was in room 24 (not 29-our room) and died of natural causes.

The next day we hung out on the porch at the Doyle and spent about an hour doing the word scrambles in the Sunday paper - you'd think with six literate hikers that we could unscramble all the words in record time. Maybe we were still working off the beer.

Later Jen and Dan shuttled 5 of us to the movie theater - Jen is a saint for putting up with 6 smelly hikers in her car! 5 of us saw Bourne Supremacy which was good with the exception of the "in your face" wobbly camera action so favored in the Blair Witch Project and the 25-minute long car chase that made me feel like vomiting. Maybe it was sitting in the third row that did it to me. Wait for it to come out on DVD, kids. Jen and Dan did better with Spider-man I think.

The following day was errand day for us: laundry, post office, food shopping, and pharmacy trips. Its hard work getting all this mundane stuff done but at least we had all day. Neither Stephan or I felt like hiking but Dan and Jen did an 8-mile slack pack that included a hot lunch. Dan made Jen one of his favorite dinners - mashed potatoes with gravy. Doesn't sound good to you? Try living in the woods for 3 months with a monstrous appetite; a lot of things you normally wouldn't eat suddenly become appealing.

Our town visit was very low key and relaxing and I don't regret "yellow blazing" to get to Boiling Springs (where we met up with Dan and Jen). We were able to meet a whole bunch of new people as well as visit with folks we hadn't seen in a month or two.

Here's to enjoying the trail, friendships, and the generosity we've witnessed along the way from hikers and non-hikers alike.

--Steph

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Posted by steph at August 12, 2004 08:53 PM