Soggy foggy feet from Duncannon to Boiling Springs

Saturday I began my 2015 hiking season where I left off last year, Duncannon PA. I started the day at 1:30 near the train station in town. After screwing around finding food and leaving Gander Mt to head to Bass pro, to buy the same food I would have bought anyway. What a great waste of time. I hadn’t hiked this section previously and began a bit later than I had hoped (Lesson #1 just buy the damn food!). It was a bit rainy out when I left the train station to head towards the trail and up the mountain, luckily I had my Marmott Storm Watch rain jacket, newly resprayed with silicone spray (Lesson #2 always respray on warm days, prior to hiking day).

Thankfully it still managed to keep me pretty dry. I made it to Hawk Rock after a quick uphill climb to find the allegedly great overlook filled with a foggy abyss. It actually made me a little uneasy not being able to see the rocky bottom of the valley from the overlook.

I really need to do a better job of making myself take a rest every 2 hours to get the weight off my feet and shoulders. I’m notorious for hiking until I can’t hike then taking a short break just to catch my breathe before going on. I’m paying the price for that now on Monday (Lesson #3 take breaks, period). I made it to the Darlington Shelter around 6:30 fully expecting to end up hiking in the dark (Lesson #4 keep your headlamp handy in your hip belt pocket). I made the 11 mile hike on about 5 hours (Lessons #5 & #6 hiking in the fog is super badass awesome! & Never connect your hydration hose down near your hip unless you want soggy pants).

I spent the extremely windy night at the Darlington Shelter with another hiker heading north on a 70 mile trip. The wind was howling all night leading to an extreme loss of sleep (Lesson #7 ear plugs, who forgets those?!).

I had previously arranged for a Sunday afternoon pick up in Boiling Springs around 3-4. Luckily before my battery died due to the cold weather eating up my battery I managed to send a text about approximate time to meet (Lesson #8 always turn your phone off at night and have a charger with you). All in all the trips was great. The wind was crazy at times like crossing this field near the 81 bridge. I made it to Boiling Spring an hour before my expected pick up time with no way to contact them so I got to hang out with some awesome ducks in the wind and cold!