I slept in until almost 10am, completely wiped from the day before. If I had known that the rocks would start in earnest today, I may have slept in a little later. It was immediately apparent to me, upon standing up, that I had overdone it yesterday. My hamstrings, in particular, felt like over-tightened drumheads behind my knees.
It would be 12 miles before I reached Duncannon, and the last 7 of those would be almost entirely rocks. At first I wasn't impressed by the challenge of the terrain, but slowly the volume of rocks increased. By the end, hiking down out of the hills, I was stumbling down a sheet of loose rocks and boulders at an uncomfortably steep angle. When descending a steep slope, sure-footing is always on the top of my list of priorities. There was none of that to be found here. Although I did find a massive rattlesnake on the side of the trail. Few things prick your ears up faster than the sound of that rattle.
Regardless of the challenge, I made it into town unscathed, although hurting. I had planned to eat lunch, restock, and hike 5 miles out of town to the next shelter. That was out of the question, as I was now limping my way up the street. After a massive lunch at the local pizzeria, I decided to follow suit with the other hikers and hole up in the Doyle hotel for the night.
I got a small single room in this beautiful dump, an enjoyed dinner in the downstairs bar. It was only around 4:30pm when I got there, so I enjoyed a long evening of relaxing, napping, reading, and catching up on some tv (on my phone, as the room doesn't have a TV). I also spent a lot of time stretching, and believe I've helped my hamstrings and lower back out immensely.
It was a wonderfully relaxing short day, after the pain had been slogged through. I hope to do another 12 miles tomorrow and work my way back up from there. That'll of course be after a quick resupply, and jaunt through town for breakfast. Here's hoping the rocks don't put me through the ringer.
