Day 12 Out of Duncannon to Cumberland Valley

The first view of the day is looking down on Duncannon from the mountain just southbound of it. You can just make out Duncannon along the left bank of the Susquehanna.

I met a great guy, Wheaty, climbing out of Duncannon and we hiked together for about 8 miles. Below is a picture of a powerline view down the Susquehanna with Wheaty in the foreground.  We had great conversations about hiking, life, and equipment.

After parting with Wheaty, I crossed a huge grass field and re-entered the woods. I hiked over a hill and a mountain with the Darlington shelter on top. A little off the top of the mountain is a beautiful stone bench in an alcove and it looks out over the Cumberland Valley. The picture below is from that bench.

After coming down from Mount Darlington, the trail levels off and follows a windy river for about two or 3 miles. As I came around one corner near that river, I came upon an explosion of blue flowers. There were  many of these flowers along the river. I assume they’re bluebells since they’re blue and bell shaped.

The Cumberland Valley Crossing is a fairly flat 20 mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail that begins just south of the Darlington shelter. Today I am staying at the Carlisle Quality Inn about halfway across the valley. There is no shelter and no camping anywhere on this crossing, except in Boiling Springs, PA. In order to get the distances did match up with my goals I would have to lose about a half day.  So I ended up staying in a hotel for the second night in a row.  On the plus side the hotel is located less than a half mile walk from the trail and there are several food options around it.