Darlington Trail
-
Day One:
Overnight at
radar installation, three
or four miles before A.T.
The Darlington Trail marks the original route of the Appalachian Trail, which crossed the Susquehanna River at Harrisburg and continued along the Blue Mountain just north of Route 39; as far as I know none of the trail on the East Shore of the river still exists. Some of the white Appalachian Trail blazes are still visible along the Darlington Trail, which is otherwise blazed in orange.
The path from the west end of the Rockville Bridge up to the crest of the ridge is, to put it mildly, not very clear. I ended up bushwhacking my way up the mountain and then tracing the footpath backward half a mile to the very spectacular overlook directly above the bridge, where I took the picture above.
The first part of the path is, I believe, on private hunting club land; most of it is on State Game Lands. For as dry as the weather was (nearly no rain in six months!), there were a surprising number of small springs along the ridge crest. As the trail went along the blazes became clearer and, apparently, more recent.
I was intending to spend the night at the Darlington Shelter on the Appalachian Trail, just past the intersection with the Darlington Trail. But alas, as darkness set in my clear blazes disappeared and my torchlight proved contankerous. I found myself on a wide gravel road up to a radar installation. I pitched my tent for the night in a mess of small trees and brambles just past the installation.
