Bama➡️Baxter Day 107&108

Day 107: 10 miles

This morning we all woke up bright and early and set off got Duncannon, PA. Waking up this morning was really hard. But I was eager to get to town so that helped to motivate me. All morning long there was only a brief stretch of uphill which was nice. However the trail as quite rocky for most of the morning. A couple weeks ago someone told me that “Rock-sylvania” truly begins just before Duncannon, so at least it wasn’t a surprise.

Waking up in my tent smiling ear to ear knowing that we were headed to town to nero!

The rocky terrain slowed us down a bit but not too badly. After walking for a couple of hours we decided to stop off for a quick break. At our break I ate a snack and stretched. When I realized that I had phone reception I decided to try and book us a room for the night. Luckily I was able to book a room at The Doyle, which is apparently a must stay along the trail.

A beautiful field on our way into Duncannon, PA.

Sweet Pea walking through a field just before town.

There were only 4 miles remaining in the day from there. The trail went goes through Duncannon which is great. Our route brought us right past a 711 so we popped in for some drinks. Then we headed to The Doyle around 11:30am. The guy working was really nice and let us check in early. So we headed up to the room to drop our things and get comfortable. That may have been the smallest room that the 3 of us had ever stayed in together. There were 2 beds and was just enough room for someone to sleep on the floor.

Posing for a photo in the 711 security camera screen.

The Doyle hotel in Duncannon, PA.

All of us were starving when we got into town so after we dropped off our packs we walked to get lunch. Not much was open in town so we headed to a nearby pizza place. It was damn hot outside and was hotter inside the pizza joint. Once our food was ready we walked back to eat on the upper porch of The Doyle. Then we all showered up and got our things together to do laundry.

Roxy sleeping on the floor of the pizza place.

Pizza and Peace Tea on the porch of The Doyle.

I headed over to the gear shop in town after that to do my resupply. And shortly after that a hiker named Road Soda drove into town to meet up with all of us! He hiked the AT in ‘21 and the PCT last year. We met for the first time back at trail days but he lives in Pennsylvania so he wanted to drive down and do some trail magic for us. It was super cool to see him again and hang out. We chilled in town for a while and then he drove us about 15 minutes out of town to a cool bar with river views.

At the restaurant I had a couple of drinks and ordered a delicious Philly cheesesteak. It was such a nice time just hanging out all talking and sharing stories. Road Soda treated us all to lunch too which was ridiculously nice and such a surprise. Then he drove us back to The Doyle and hung out with us for a bit longer before heading out. What a fun afternoon! Plus we might even get to see him again next week before we complete the state of Pennsylvania. We’ll just have to see.

After he headed out I wound up calling my mom outside and talking for a bit. I’ve been dealing with some annoying bill issues recently and she has been assisting because my mail is sent to her address. Back in March when I thought I had Lyme disease I wound up going to the ER. And even though I was supposed to be covered for the visit the hospital was actually out of my insurance network. So I have been jumping through hoops trying to provide information to get the bill discounted.

While I was outside on the phone a hiker passed by who I hadn’t seen since trail days, Squirrel. Our paths crossed a handful of times at trail days but he was pretty far ahead on trail. Over the last few weeks though the guys and I have done some big miles so we’ve caught up.

I finished up on the phone with my mom and then went back to our room in The Doyle. Then the guys and I got our laundry together and headed down to the 24 hour laundromat to start it up. While the laundry was going I wound up walking around and hanging out with Squirrel for a bit. Then we met up with Sweet Pea and Boosted and wound up drinking at the hotel bar. We had a couple drinks and then I walked to turn over the laundry.

Later on we all moved from the bar to the outdoor porch seating. And we wound up sitting on the porch drinking and all shooting the shit for a couple of hours. Around 10pm we all left the bar and decided to walk over to the train station and sit by the river for a while. It was a really beautiful night and as quiet as could be, so long as the train wasn’t going by. We wound up sitting out by the river for a while before finally heading back to the hotel to call it a night.

Day 108: zero day 

This morning I wound up sleeping in pretty late and the guys did too. We had originally said that we were going to hike out this morning but as it got later and later I began to think otherwise. Finally I just asked the guys, “Are we zeroing or what?” And that was that. We decided to take our first zero day since trail days, which was 23 days ago. I was pretty damn excited for a day off. The idea of a lazy, relaxing, day sounded amazing.

Roxy sleeping on one of the beds in the room.

Around 9am all of us headed over to the 711 down the street to try and get some breakfast. Most everything in town was closed so that was out only option. I got a coffee drink and a breakfast sandwich there. Then we all walked back to The Doyle to eat on the porch and chill out.

Our small room at The Doyle.

After we ate all of us spent the rest of the day lounging around and doing a whole lot of nothing. It was the laziest day that I’d had in ages and I was so down for it. The only time that I left The Doyle was to get pizza for lunch and then to grab some drinks at the convenience store later on in the evening. It was great. Spending the whole day laying in bed was exactly what I needed and wanted.

The Doyle all lit up at night.