September 21st, 2018, Pennsylvania
I was only a few miles from Duncannon and took my time departing this morning. I was the last to leave and took my time descending to the Susquehanna River valley below. On the way I came across a group of paw paw trees with fruit. I wasn’t sure what I was looking at for a few moments then, exclaimed, “paw paws!?!” out loud. I found a few ready to pick and ate them. They tasted sort of like a cross between banana custard and avocado. Really good.
I ran into Elsie and Autie J at the post office in town. They mentioned they were heading to Goodie’s Restaurant and asked if I’d like to join them. So we met there, just down the street, a few minutes later. It turned out this was a breakfast place and we were just 15 minutes before closing time. The gentleman invited us to come in and locked the door after us. He said he was closing but we were welcome to order and take our time. We ordered breakfast and charged electronics while we sat. After eating I headed out to the newly opened shop across the street called “Kind of Outdoorsy” which has some hiker supplies. As I walked around I noticed Duncannon is a bit threadbare and looks like it has seen better days. It is also home to the Doyle Hotel, a famous and old hiker hotel. But the trail goes straight through town and I was glad it’s here.
Then I continued through town on the trail, then back into the woods, reaching the shelter a few hours later. It was a nice afternoon and I got a couple views back toward town and the rivers.
At the shelter there was a hiker called Omega who was hiking to Boiling Springs then back to Duncannon, but with her 7 month old cat. Apparently, the cat hikes with her and sometimes wants to be carried. The cat, MooMoo was small and adorable and is the first cat I’ve seen on the trail. Then a couple weekend hikers arrived, then a group of maybe 12 scouts. So, in the end, the shelter and tent sites had a good crowd.
