All he wanted, Was to be free. And that’s the way, It turned out to be… Ballard of Easy Rider

(13 November) What are the sayings? If a horse throws you off, get right back on the bastard. If you fall, get up and finish the race. Never quit on a bad day. Depression is an obstacle to be jumped. We had some free time and Nightingale suggested I hike another few days on the AT before the end of the year. Since I only manage about 10 miles a day, I had the thought to slack pack the 16 mile stretch from Boiling Springs to Darlington Shelter as no camping is allowed in the Cumberland Valley. And add on the last stretch into Duncannon, PA.  The plan was for Nightingale to drop off and pick up at the end of each day for three days and spend the nights in a hotel. The first day was Boiling Springs to US Rte. 11 Carlisle; for 8 miles. I packed my day pack with the 10 essentials, a couple extra warm layers, some beef jerky and Clif Bars. And my MSR stove for some hot Cappuccinos for mid-day breaks. Total weight 16 pounds. Under my usual day pack weight of 20 pounds because I decided to leave behind the poleless tent I usually carry on day hikes. There are so many road crossings in the Cumberland Valley, I calculated that it would be highly unlikely I would have to spend an expedient night in the “wilderness.” Nightingale was only a few miles away in a Carlisle hotel. Boiling Springs is about a two hour drive from our home on the Chesapeake Bay. Nightingale was driving and Waze gave her a route that took us around Baltimore and through our old college town of Westminster, MD. Past Westminster, the route took us up MD State Route 97 to US Rte. 15. As my family lived in PA while I was in college in MD, this was the route I took dozens of times to go home during breaks. I probably hadn’t been on this road since being in college well over 40 years ago. It was a nice drive down memory lane for both of us.

Soon we were on back PA farm roads headed to Boiling Springs and I was ready to hike by 0830am. The sun was shining, but it was cool and breezy, around 46 degrees. So, I had a couple layers under my rain jacket working as a windbreaker today. Also, my rain jacket is red, an advantage during the ongoing hunting season in Pennsylvania. For those familiar with this area, you will likely remember it as relatively flat through farm fields and along hedgerows separating farm fields. Encountered a few ubiquitous fence stiles and even a few other day hikers, which I found unusual for this area and a weekday. Unlike the AT in northern Virginia and my usual hiking day hiking trails in MD where the forests are predominantly mixed oak, the trees here along the fields were splendid yellow and red maples. The oaks were already bare of leaves, now carpeting the trail.

The hiking was easy. I was experiencing just a bit of back pain, but no hip pain. I paused to take a lot of photos of the farmlands, already harvested corn and hay fields. Otherwise, there are no natural views or vistas in this area. Fortunately, I found a nice stack of boulders, probably part of an old stone fence for a lunch break, including a nice flat rock to place my stove. The sunshine, the ability to move at a decent pace, the Cappuccino put me in an excellent mood. I had until 5pm to finish the day’s slack pack, the time of sunset. I called Nightingale to say that I would finish early, well before sunset. I made the 8 miles to the footbridge over US Rte. 11 outside Carlisle around 2pm. Clearly hikers have clambered down the side embankments to the road, likely to take advantage of the motels and a couple restaurants within walking distance of the trail. However, these are mostly trucker motels and not where Nightingale chose to stay. So, I had a short road walk to a nearby parking lot; amazingly, we both arrived at the same time. A quick strip of my sweaty layers and we were on our way to a Fairfield Inn on the other side of Carlisle. Of course a hot shower, a short rest and then out to dinner at a place called Hoss’s Steakhouse. This actually is a PA chain that was quite popular with my parents decades ago. A decent piece of steak, baked potato, and a salad bar is always fair dinkum for a hiker. Back at the hotel, a couple Cultura Cervezas from the Beer Farm in Maryland that we brought along and an early bedtime. I could get very, very used to slackpacking!

 

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