Trail Angels

Trail Angels. The kind, generous, selfless men and women who assist thru hikers on their voyages through these mountains. Luckily, I have had the pleasure to meet a lot of the greats (Ms. Janet, Bonzo, Trail Angel Mary, Baltimore Jack) and perhaps the even greater pleasure to meet people that may not be lifetime angels but who took moments out of their days to aid us in our journeys with anywhere from a hitch to a cold soda to a place to stay. 

The past few days have been filled with trail angels and trail magic. The day after dinner at Skip's, Papa 2pac had to leave to head home, but not before assisting us with a 14 mile slack pack from where we left off back to Skip's (his house is quite literally half a block off the trail).

The hiking was easy and beautiful and, to my dismay, we didn't pass by any naked hikers, despite the fact that it was hike naked day. I don't know if I was disappointed or relieved. Because we were staying with the judge of the county, and fearing some serious pack rub, we opted out of stripping down to our birthday suits. Another time. 

We scooped up Beetlejuice from Boiling Springs (at the tavern, of course) and pressed on the final 3 miles to Skip's house with the promise of a soak in the hot tub propelling us forward through the brutal humidity. That night was blissful, full of cold white wine, gloriously overindulgent Italian food and fantastic friends and conversation. 

Skip's hospitality cannot be understated. For several days he housed up to four very smelly hikers. We bathed, ate and drank like royalty, washed our clothing and sleeping bags (well, at least mine), slept on the most divine beds and generally relaxed and rested our feet while playing with some of the sweetest golden retrievers that I have ever met. For hikers, used to spending all of our time smelly and outside, this is more than we ever could have asked for. 

The next morning we left rejuvenated and well fed and headed out for a 22 mile adventure. The hiking was relatively easy and we took a long break to swim in the Susquehanna River. The last 7 miles just about killed us though. People had warned us about the Pennsylvania rocks and lord did we find out why. The rocks weren't big but they were loose and begged for us to trip and twist our ankles. 

When we finally walked into Duncannon, we were all hurting. Badly. And all we wanted was dinner and as many cold beverages as we could stand to consume (at the gas station, 2pac purchased 2 large Gatorades and a slushy) and, eventually a place to stay.

We quickly determined that both the Doyle Hotel and the campgrounds were full for the evening. Our options, as we figured, were to hike on (not really an option) or to sleep on someone's floor for $7.50 (also a pretty crappy option). I explained our predicament to the bartender and she mentioned that she might have a solution for us. 

Enter Trail Angel Mary. A legendary trail angel, she immediately welcomed us into her home and we set up for the evening. We spent the night watching AT-related movies and relaxing. In the morning she offered us chocolate chip pancakes but, still hurting from the pancake challenge back in Damascus (mentally, at least) I opted to pass. 

The hiking today was relatively painless, with only one true hill that happened before mile 5. All in all we hiked 18 miles today and are now set up by a stream, ready to watch the super moon make its way across the sky.

We are expecting 5 days of rain coming up - here's hoping that the rain slows by my birthday.