grumble grumble AT grumble

Doyle Hotel, Duncannon, Pennsylvania

OK, so the Doyle is a dump, but for $15 I got a room, dinner and two Yuengling's. Not bad, eh? Besides, I have a lovely view of the Susquehanna and the mountain on the east side of it. Let's sum it up:

Pros

• Hot shower (down the hall, not in here)

• Good view

• Reasonably comfy bed

• More private (and therefore better) than hostels which usually cost $15-20.

• No bugs (no spiders, roaches, fleas, etc)

• Nice breeze

• Good sandwich (slim pickins for vegetarians though)

• Cheap beer

Cons

• No screen on window (though it's not a problem in this season -- bugs haven't made it this far into town, apparently, because they do exist on the mountain)

• Railroad very close (also visible from window) and well used and therefore noisy

• Toilet in shared bathroom is less than clean, as is sink

• Carpet in room appears to have never been vacuumed

• Loud bursts of drunken noise from hallway on and off between 10 and 2am (luckily, I was so tired that it didn't much matter)

I think the pros have it. Duncannon is one of those sad little Pennsylvania towns that have lost their main industry and haven't really recovered from that loss. The Doyle just *belongs* here, and somehow it managed to be charming. At least for me.

Now back to the hiking thing...

I've decided that since I would never *choose* to hike most parts of the AT that there is no point in wasting my backcountry time on a trail that I'll probably never finish and does not meet my requirements for fun.

Also, some stupid routing decisions have been made on the AT, some so flagrantly, pointlessly more difficult than the natural ridgeline or descent that they piss me off. For instance, coming down off Cove Mountain into Duncannon. When you are most of the way down, the trail forks. One branch stays at the same level. Since it wraps around the hillside, you can't see where it goes. It is not blue blazed, so one can't be sure if it will rejoin the AT at any point. The AT goes up 200 ft at this point and then comes back down in about a 1/4 mile. I'm thinking "if i rejoin that lower trail I'm going to be really steamed because then this last little insult of up is totally fucking pointless". And what do you think happenned? You got it.