Day 87: Marathon man

Hiked 27.2 miles, stealth camping 4 miles beyond Darlington shelter.

Lots to talk about today, where to begin...  Well first of all, today was the summer solstice.  This means another thru hiker tradition, hike naked day.  Because I'm sure you are all curious, the answer is yes I did take part, can't mess with tradition.  I only did it for about an hour though, partly because most of the day was through town and open fields, but mostly because I was planning a long day and the pack started chafing my shoulders and I didn't want to be miserable for 30 miles.  I didn't see anyone during the duration, and no there aren't pictures you perverts.

 

I also did my first marathon of my whole life.  The time of 12 hours probably wouldn't get me into the Boston marathon, but an achievement nonetheless!  My plans for a 30 were cut short, but I'll get to that later.

 

The day started out moderately hilly  for the first four miles of the day.  The first thing we had to pass through was called the "Rock Maze", which is a series of large boulders that you have to go over, around and between.  It is maze-like because with the trail consisting of boulders it was difficult to tell where the trail went next and a couple times some guesswork was required.  In fact it was confusing enough that in places the white blazes we are so used to were replaced with white arrows.

 

Entering the Rock Maze

Part of the trail through the Rock Maze

There is a monument on Centerpoint Knob, the original halfway point of the trail

Entering Cumberland Valley

After a few more hills to climb up and over we descended down into the Cumberland Valley.  Most of today was spent traversing this valley to get to the next ridge over.  After the initial drop and a bunch of farm fields, I came to the town of Boiling Springs.  We pass through the outskirts of the town and I didn't go in to explore.  The regional ATC headquarters is located on the trail here and I stopped for water and was given cookies!  The town was built around the iron industry and there were remnants along the trail.  The large pond in the middle of town is man made and was created to feed the water powered mills.  It is fed by a number of springs that "boil up" from the ground, hence the name.

The old furnace from the Iron Smelter that used to be here, it is
enormous, the door on the left is my height

The man-made pond in Boiling Springs



The pond feeds the stream that powered the water mill



9 AM photo

The Cumberland Valley was the flattest terrain we have seen all trip, having a whopping 200 foot elevation gain over 15 miles.  The downside was that since it was a lot of farm fields that we were passing through, there was no tree cover and the sun beat down all day as I was walking.

 

I crossed two highways today, both I-76 and I-81.  I stopped at Scott's Work Center for lunch and water.  Little Sass and Army Ant both joined me.  There was a picnic bench in the shade there and I needed to rest my feet.  Even though the terrain was flat, 18 miles by 1 made my feet tired.  I even took a short nap on the grass there to wait out the worst of the heat.

 

We crossed through a lot of farm fields today

Scott's Work Center, where I stopped for lunch and a nap

 

After crossing Cumberland Valley, I had to climb up to the next ridge line.  It was a tough climb at this point in the day, but I was rewarded at the top with a great view of the valley, my first view in three days!  I stopped at Darlington shelter for a quick break and chatted with Army Ant for a bit.  The trail then transferred to the next ridge over, which meant descending back down to the bottom and repeating the climb all over again.  A bunch of factors including dehydration, a steep climb and 24 miles of previous hiking combined to make this last hill virtually sadistic.

View on the climb to Darlington shelter



Crossing Millers Gap

At the top I came on a gas pipeline trail.  My marathon was officially complete!  Now I had a dilemma.  I could head to the shelter which was 29.7 miles into the day.  If I did that though I would have a hard time not doing the extra .3 to make it a 30 mile day.  There was no marked camping and the terrain was getting rocky so the risk was I might not find a spot and have to walk an additional 4 miles to Duncannon.  The alternative was I could claim victory on my marathon and stealth on the grass here on the pipeline road with a great view and a possible great sunrise/sunset.  I chose the latter.

View from the pipeline

Sunset was a little in the trees, but I still got some great color!

 

It was only after setting up that I noticed I was virtually out of water.  I didn't have the energy to pack everything back up and decided to deal with it for the night.  The view was great and I got a decent sunset, though it was slightly behind the trees.  I fell asleep tonight gazing out of my tent at the vista below.