Delaware
AT – Duncannon to Delaware Water Gap – The Trek
- AT Days 9-16 Duncannon, PA to Port Clinton, PA
Day 9-11 – Downtime (0 miles)
Day 12 – Duncannon to Peter’s Mountain Shelter (9.3 miles)
Day 13 – Peter’s Mountain Shelter to Rausch Gap Shelter (18.0 miles)
Day 14 – Rausch Gap Shelter to 501 Shelter (17.5 miles)
Day 15 – 501 Shelter to Eagle’s Nest Shelter (14.9 miles)
Day 16 – Eagle’s Nest Shelter to Port Clinton (9.0 miles)
Harper’s Ferry Start – Marker 1026.
Days 9-11 – Down days.
I had planned on one day off, but personal issues pushed it to 3. I could have started late on the last of these days, but as it was raining, 50sF, overnight in the low 40s, and the forecast for the next 5 days was rain off and on well…
Day 12
It stopped raining! Let’s go! The trail starts at the Susquehanna River and goes straight up to the top of the ridge (~1,200 ft in 2 miles). If you find Duncannon on a map with contours, you can see this is the same ridge that hits Duncannon on the west side except that the river cut through it. It also has the same rocks. I lost a sitting pad somewhere in those rocks.
I was so full of energy from the days off that I wanted to go further. Except thunderstorms were forecast for the evening and overnight.
The Shelter was full and on the bottom level, so I headed to the 2nd (Yes, this Shelter had 2 levels). I had my pick of spots and chose poorly. I was on the windward side. The rain didn’t come in on me, but the cold air blew in that window and straight down onto me. I barely kept warm enough.
Yes, that’s the trail!
Day 13
The next morning was cold and rainy. I trudged 18 miles all day in the rain. Got to the Shelter about 5:00 pm. There were already two guys there in their sleeping bags and ready to sleep. I, and two more guys cooked our meals and went to sleep as well about 7:30. The two guys that were already in the sack slept straight through until 5:30 in the morning. Then they made a lot of noise when they got up and took off by 6:00.
Day 14
The day was nicer and the 17.5 miles went faster. Except for the Damned rocks. I can make pretty good time until I hit the rocks. Then it’s down to 1/2 to 1 mph.
The Green Tunnel
Bridge near I-81
The shelter was a dream. I shared it with only two other people. It was completely enclosed with about 18 bunks. A nice table in the middle for cooking, a spigot for water, a garbage can, and a hose for a shower. The shower was COLD, but felt good anyway. I dries my stuff out. Hooray!
My stuff
Cooking Dinner
Day 15
Not so far today, and good weather, which was a godsend.
I made it to the shelter about 15 minutes before it started raining. One other young lady from last night’s shelter arrived about the same time that I did. It poured all night.
Day 16
It finally stopped raining about 9:00am. I pulled a calf muscle and jammed my toe slipping on the rocks. I hate the rocks to begin with. I’m lucky if I can do 1/2 to 1 mph. When they’re wet, they’re really treacherous and I have to go even slower. But obviously I didn’t go slow enough. So I opted to stay in Port Clinton after only 9 miles. There is a pavilion provided by a church. It’s loud, but I can rest my foot and leg.
This used to be the frontier
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