30 Miles By 3PM on the Appalachian Trail

This morning I got up around 4:30am in the shelter and began making coffee. We’re about 30 miles away from Duncannon so I definitely wanted to have an early start to get there as quickly as we could. It would be nice to relax for a bit at the hostel in town and also get some work done. Eventually, I finished getting packed up and our new friend Wooderson hiked out with us too.

We were going in the dark for a while in the morning, and began with a brief climb. Then after maybe a mile or so we could see a headlamp off in the distance. I assumed it was Jeff because he had said that he might hike in this morning to meet us. Then hike north with us for a while before doubling back. That way he could cover about 15 miles and get some hiking in with us.

Heading into Boiling Springs as the sun came up this morning.

He caught up to us and then joined the hiking train that we had created with all four of us. It’s so funny to be walking with other hikers at all! We really haven’t seen very many hikers and usually when we do, it’s only for a brief encounter or overnight. It’s been cool hiking around another hiker for the past couple days and also hanging out with Jeff!

After walking for 4 to 5 miles, we walked into Boiling Springs. A very small town that has a couple restaurants, a gas station, and that’s about it. But today Boiling Springs was bumping. Apparently it’s opening day of the trout fishing season and the river that goes through town is stocked with trout. There were guys everywhere walking around with fishing stuff and covering every last space alongside the entire river. Even as we continued walking through town, there were even more guys surrounding a body of water the size of a small pond. There was a small boat launch and guys had taken tiny little boats out onto the water to fish on this minuscule pond. It almost felt like one of those fountains in the middle of the mall. Obviously not that small, but it just felt silly to see a boat on that body of water.

For the next few hours we were walking through flat, wide open, fields.

After we walked through Boiling Springs, we walked out of town. Only stopping to grab a drink and what not at the gas station. Then began the 14 mile stretch north of there which was almost entirely flat.

I remember going through here in 2023 and it was a delightful section of trail. As we walked through the early morning I was surprised to see a lot of of people out hiking as well. Though, it was a Saturday morning.

This tree was so beautiful and blooming.

Jeff hiked with us for another hour or so before turning back to Boiling Springs. He was so far up ahead I couldn’t even see him a lot at the time. I definitely can’t maintain a pace that fast over the course of the day. I’m more of a steady 3 mile per gal myself. Around this time I got some service and was able to get everything uploaded for the day which was great. And I just continued on the nice easy trail for the next couple of hours.

After it rained the forest looked so bright and green.

At one point it got cold and started to rain. But it wasn’t really windy here which meant I could just pull my umbrella out. I almost mailed my umbrella home just the other day in Front Royal. Since then, I’ve used it for the two and possibly first times of the entire year. I think I might’ve used it a time or two in Florida. I really just can’t remember. But I was so glad that I didn’t mail iy home because it was perfect for the rain today.

Eventually the rain let up and it turned back into a pretty nice day.

Today I was definitely feeling on a mission to get to Duncannon as quickly as possible. I had such a great time yesterday hanging out and taking a lot of breaks. It was incredible to get so much trail magic and I’m super grateful for Sandy, Perry, and Jeff. But because we are heading into town today I’m definitely not going to be stopping off for long, that way I can get to town quicker.

Heading over this trail overpass above a road.

After the rain let up it turned back into a pretty nice day. Though it seemed like there was potential for weather later on in the evening. It was just an overcast and cooler day. Eventually, we finished up the 14 miles of relatively flat trail . And then the trail gradually began to go uphill for a little bit. I knew we had a couple small climbs standing in between us and Duncannon. But they didn’t seem very long or difficult.

When we got on top of that climb I got a text message from Jeff saying he was going to be at the the next road. So we continued on to meet him there. By the time we got down to the road we had gone 21 miles for the day and only had 9 miles remained to Duncannon. So even if we stopped off for lunch and hung out for a little bit we would probably still get to town well before 4pm. It was pretty nice out when we got down to the parking area. The sky was gray, but I felt warm even just in my sun hoodie. And we have been going downhill to get to the road too, so I wasn’t even working up a sweat. At the parking area Jeff had his car set up with the heat on in case we want to get inside. That was super thoughtful of him because it was a little cold. He had a bunch of McDonald’s for us and some drinks so we quickly had lunch. I didn’t get too comfortable just because I knew that I still wanted to get to Duncannon. But we hung out there for a little while as we ate lunch.

The trail criss-crossed with roads on and off.

Wooderson was somewhere behind us, but we haven’t seen him in a little while. Jeff said he was going to wait for him and see how he was doing. Then he was going to drive over to Duncannon and go to Kind of Outdoorsy. The hostel in town. Jeff kindly offered to pay for all three of us to stay in the hostel for the night! That’s so nice of him. I am pretty excited to stay at this hostel. I stayed in Duncannon in 2023. I stayed at the Doyle. I only ever went into the gear store briefly. But never checked out the hostel in the back room.

By the time we were halfway through eating, the temperature dropped pretty fast and the wind picked up. It got super cold so I knew we had to get moving again . So we said goodbye to Jeff and would be seeing him in Duncannon. I was feeling good when we set out from lunch. I ate a bunch of food and I packed out half a Dr Pepper to drink at the top of this next climb. The climb out of the road wasn’t bad at all. And was the last of the entire day. Once we got up top, we were basically just riding the ridge for the majority of the day.

Getting back onto some actual trail after going through open fields for about 14 miles.

I was shocked how quickly the next 9 miles went by. There were some sections of the trail that were pretty rocky and slowed me down a little bit. But there were also sections of the trail that were fairly wide and all nice flat dirt. When we got closer to town, Jeff messaged me just to let me know that everything was all set for the hostel tonight. He gave me the information on how to get in. He also had checked and it looked like the gear shop was going close right before we got there. But they wound up staying open late about 10 minutes so we could get there right after closing.

Right before getting into Duncannon the trail got super rocky for a couple miles.

It was about 3:15pm when we walked into Duncannon after completing 30 miles for the day. That was a great feeling, and I was so excited to basically just relax for the rest of the day. The more repetitive plot trail has been bothering my knee a little bit. My body was really used to all the climbing and descending. So today I was trying to do a little bit more stretching throughout the day to relieve that . I’ll just see how it feels over the next couple of days. I felt it for the first time two ago. And that was another primarily flat day.

The 711 in Duncannon loves hikers.

When we got into town, we went straight to the Kind of Outdoorsy hostel and gear shop. Inside we shopped around and talked m to the woman who worked there. Jeff was there, and there was a nice lady there with her dog whose name I just can’t remember. But I actually think we are friends on Instagram! She looked super familiar right away. And her dog was a little sweetie.

After we got what we needed we headed back into the hostel. There were about 12 bunks inside and we were able to get bottom bunks! That’s always ideal if possible. We had a little bit of time to kill before Wooderson finished up and arrived in town. So I got things sorted and got my electronics charging. Then took a nice hot shower. That felt amazing! Afterwards I got going on some blog work. And I planned to do a bunch of video work once we got back from the grocery store.

Kind of Outdoorsy, the gear shop and hostel in Duncannon.

Wooderson arrived after a bit. And once he was situated, Jeff drove us down the road to a nearby grocery store. I didn’t need a whole lot of stuff. But it will be three full days between here and the Lookout Hostel. We’re planning on staying there and someone who reads the blogs is actually setting us up with all of the goodies we need to resupply there! I stayed at that hostel in 2024 when I was living in Philly. My roommate Road Soda and I drove out to the trail to do a section with another hiker Mudbag. We did 20 or so miles and then ended the day at the Lookout Hostel for the night. It was super early for the season so no one else was there.

At the grocery store I got excited as always. And grabbed so many random things. I found one food item that I’ve been looking for in every grocery store for 3 months. And only today did I finally find it. I’m obsessed with the diamond brand glazed walnuts salad toppers. They are so crunchy and delicious. It tasted like you’re eating candy basically. But it’s walnuts, which are such a good source of fats and other goodness. I always look for them but never can find them. So I got 2 big bags and was psyched about it.

The Kind of Outdoorsy gear shop.

We drove back to the hostel after that and chilled out. I ate a couple desserts that I got at the grocery store. Then got going on some video work. I recorded a 25 or so minute video that I’m actually really excited about. Then did some voiceover stuff for the next vlog. I’m going to be putting out two full length vlogs for this upcoming week. I got so much content from just the last few days it’s basically its own video!

I spent a long time doing all of that. But wound up getting 3 videos almost entirely finished. The WiFi just really wasn’t strong enough to get them uploaded. Do I’ll have to wait to do that until later on or at the next hostel. Sometime after 7pm we all decided to go out for some dinner. There was a brewery right down the street which wasn’t there when I passed through before.

One section of bunks inside the hostel.

The four of us ordered food and then sat down at a table. I got a smash burger with secret sauce and an onion ring on top.  Then got tater tots with it as well. I just couldn’t help myself. I was impressed to devour the whole thing pretty quickly. It was nice hanging there and talking with Wooderson and Jeff. They’re both really nice guys.

Another photo of the hostel room. There was another back room as well, 2 bathrooms with showers, and a lounging area.

Once we finished up we headed back over to the hotel. Then it was back to work for me! I had a ton of stuff to do and knew I had to get it done before I got too tired. I finished all the editing for those 3 videos and then exported them. I tried to upload one but it hardly loaded at all. That’s ok though. The most time consuming part is making the video. I can upload them all and schedule posting for another day.

Dinner at the new brewery in town!

For the rest of the night I just snacked on more food and did work. I stayed up until after 10pm doing various things. Then eventually just couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. I had more work I needed to do for the blog, but just didn’t have it in me. Hopefully I can get it done first thing tomorrow! I know it’s not the end of the world to have to post it the following day though.

If you enjoyed this blog and would like to support my hike by buying me a soda or a snack along the way, there is a “Tip the Author” button below! It links directly to my Venmo. Any and all support is incredibly appreciated!