Date: 2018-05-12
From: Campsite North of Pine Grove Furnace

To: Whiskey Springs Rd / Carlisle
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: scattered clouds

At about 6:20am, after we started rustling to get up, I heard Field Trip say ¢we made it! No bears!¢ We got up, had breakfast, and packed up. Fog rolled in as we were breaking camp. Reboot, a thru hiker with a British accent came by camp before we left.  It was a crisp, cool, damp morning, much cooler than previous mornings. I hiked in shorts and a T-shirt, thinking I would warm up, but it took a while. My hands stayed cold as fog continued to roll in. The hike was typical with ups, downs, and flats, including the usual ¢morning climb¢. As I made my way along, I kept checking the time and my pace, due to a thunderstorm in the forecast. At 3.4 miles out from the next shelter, I concluded the storm would hit at a time that I would be between a road crossing and the shelter. I knew there was no way I could make it to the shelter before the storm hit. I also didn¢t know how many people were at the shelter, or if there would be any space available. I could hear the storm faintly in the distance, so I decided to contact a shuttle service for availability. Michael answered the phone and I told him where I was and that I would like to be picked up at Whiskey Springs Rd. I estimated I would be there in 1 hour. He told me it would take two hours, and based on my pace up to that point, I countered. He then asked if I had made it to ¢the rocks¢ yet. Up to this point, I had walked over all kinds of different kinds of rocks. Little rocks, medium rocks, mixtures of rocks...rocks, rocks, rocks. At the time I called him, I was going through a beautiful pine forest with a nice, smooth, soft, pine needle trail. Apparently, I hadn¢t gone through ¢the rocks¢ yet. I told him the rocks would probably slow me down, but I did not believe it would take me two hours to get to the road. He said he could pick me up, and we agreed that I would call him when I was a half a mile from the road. Shortly after hanging up, I arrived at ¢the rocks¢. He wasn¢t kidding! These were giant boulders The trail weaved in and out, up, over and down. every which way around the boulders. From what I could see, the trail could¢ve gone alongside most of the boulders, but it appeared as though the people mapping out the trail thought it would be fun to create a maze that hikers wound have to have to climb up, down, and around. Up to this point I was thinking that my upper body strength was starting to wane, so I finally had an opportunity for an upper body workout. I had to climb rocks and opted to leave my pack on. I probably should¢ve hoisted it on top of the boulders first, but liking a good challenge, I climbed up and down the boulders with my pack on, sometimes tossing my trekking poles ahead. I got through the boulders and came to a nice evergreen forest, with the trail covered in pine needles. I waited until I was a half a mile from the road then called Michael and told him where I was and my anticipated time to arrive at the road. Almost as soon as I hung up, I encountered more boulders. Holy cow! I thought I was done with them. I made my way through the remaining boulders and scurried down to the road with the thunder now nipping at my heels. I made it to the meet location in 52 minutes, and had to wait a bit for Michael to arrive. It¢s amazing what an impending thunderstorm will do to motivate someone to move a little faster from the top of a mountain. We headed to the Days Inn in Carlisle. Still needing to hike the 14 miles between Whiskey Springs Road and Carlisle, I figured I could do it with a couple of "Nero" days out of Carlisle. I asked Michael what amenities were in the area of the hotel. I knew there was a diner and a convenience store/gas station. There wasn't much else, but the hotel was convenient to the trail. I asked if there was any place to get beer. I found out Pennsylvania law only allows beer to be sold from a bar or distribution store. He offered to take me back to a distribution store, turned around, and took me to Stan¢s where I got a couple of local micro brews. I paid for mine, and a six pack for him for his trouble. I arrived at the Days Inn, which needed serious attention. It was a very transient hotel, primarily catering to backpackers and truck drivers. Carlisle is a large trucking hub of the east coast, and the Appalachian Trail is 3/10 of a mile away. Rumor has it that the hotel is going to become a different hotel soon, so I'm sure the owners don't want to put any money into it. It had a warm shower, clean bed with no bed bugs, and a washer and dryer, a backpacker's dream. Despite all the amenities, I never walked on the floor without my camp shoes on.I took a shower, went to the the Middlesex diner next-door and had a big hamburger, french fries and chocolate milk, my meal of choice the past week, as I¢ve eaten it three times.