Saturday, June 16, 2012

Harper's Ferry, WV to Duncannon, PA

Mile 1141
I'm over the mid point. When we got to the 1000 mile mark- we're almost halfway! At Harper's Ferry- psychological halfway! The midpoint that the guidebook marks- halfway! The sign that indicates the midpoint- halfway! I'm over it.
But now, the numbers in the "miles to go" column is smaller than the "miles completed" column. That's a good feeling!
After a delightful weekend at home, we got back on the trail and back into hiking mode. Maryland has pretty mild terrain, and we did our biggest mileage day to date, 25 miles. We were just saying that it's too bad it wasn't 26.2 to make it a solid marathon when we got to the shelter and saw that the spring was .6 away. Score?
The next day was rainy allllll day long and we felt okay about cutting the day a little short. My mood was vastly improved when we got to Pen Mar park and were able to order pizzas with a few other hikers.
Luckily it's been nice and sunny so our clothes could dry out. Thursday brought us to Pine Grove Furnace State Park, home of the famous half gallon challenge. It's a tradition for thru hikers to down a half gallon of ice cream in commemoration of the halfway point at the park. I didn't think I'd be successful and since we weren't with a group, we didn't attempt. But we did complete our own pint not-a-challenge. Also, we ran into a Girls Camp group completeing their 4th year hike. Funny, huh?
We continued to eat our way through Pennsylvania when we rolled into Boiling Springs for a quick lunch/mini resupply pit stop. We only needed a snack and breakfast, and all the town had was a little gas station, so we tried to maximize our calorie consumption. 1 chaco taco, 1 ice cream drumstick, 2 muffins, and 1 quart of chocolate milk. 2,560 calories.
We did a half day into Duncannon today and my parents came to see us for the last time. Our first stop, as with most hikers, was the Doyle Hotel. It was built as a brewery in the early 1900s and has since been turned into a bar/hotel targeted for thru hikers. We knew the rooms were an absolute dive but the food was awesome. We'll go to church tomorrow and head back into the woods for the next 150 miles of the famous Pennsylvania rocks.



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