Date: 2008-05-18
From: Tumbling Run shelter

To: Quarry Gap shelter
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: light rain

12.6 miles today. Not too bad. I actually walked an extra 2 miles, for resupply, but i don't get to count those in my official miles, so i want all my readers to know i actually walked closer to 14.6 miles... (yay me!)I want to give a big thanks to chris and his family for the fun visit! It was good to see everyone!So back to the hike...once again, we were hiking in the rain... lots of rain... lots and lots of rain. The good part was that the trail did not turn into streams like the last rainy day, and all our creek crossings had bridges... the bad part were the very large mud holes and the slippery rocks!The weather last night was odd... it started raining about the time i finished the journal, and then when i woke up in the middle of the night, i could see the moon... it was bright! Then it started raining just after we started hiking... It was raining from about 8:45 or so until 1:00. brrrrr! I like the poncho... i still get wet, but its not as bad... so pppppppbbbbbbllllllttt! on hiking in the rain. I still don't like it, but i'm getting more tolerant of it, now that it's getting warmer....The hike was pretty good... took a spill on some wet rocks in a rock scramble and scraped up my leg... the magical trekking poles were unable to save me. I planted the poles, and as i shifted my weight to my left leg, it started sliding down the rock. Uh, that wasn't supposed to happen... i couldn't compensate in time, due to the momentum of the backpack which was driving me down and to the left... aiya! I tried to save myself, but alas, it was not meant to be. I now have a scabby leg.That was exiting....About noon, we hit route 30, and gobbles and i wandered down the road to find the store for resupply, and olive oil went off into caledonia to wait for us, or head to the shelter...Resupply went well... got food for the next couple of days, and on the way back to the trail, we stopped off at an italian restaurant to eat some lunch, dry off, and be warm. I got a stromboli, and it was so big, they brought it out on a cafeteria tray.. and i ordered the "small". I couldn't eat more than half of it. Gobbles got a sub... mmmmm... good stuff. Definitely stop in because they are very hiker friendly! Only a half mile off the trail!So my friend chris was going to meet me at the oak pavilion at 3, so we went there to wait for him. We got there about 2, and found the pavilion full of a girls and boys high school age rugby team banquet. And we found olive oil there too... she had used the time to hang out in the restroom and used the hand dryer to get all her clothes dried out. ha ha ha!So we spent a lot of time talking to this nice guy mike - one of the fathers, and that was cool. He was fun to talk to. The rugby group was super friendly too, offering to let us eat some of their food, but i was too stuffed from lunch... thanks anyway! Trail magic i couldn't take advantage of... so sad... so sad...Chris and his family made it to the park about 3:30 and we had a good visit. Trail magic! They brought apple pie! I had room for apple pie, so i ate that... gobbles and olive oil got to meet chris, and then they headed off to the shelter. I was able to visit with my friends until about 5:15. That was way cool. Thanks again for bringing my old boots back, the apple pie, the snickers bars, and coming out to visit me! And thanks to my wife for putting some home-made brownies in my boot for a surprise! (I found the brownies prior to sticking my foot in the boot)The hike to the shelter was a breeze, and the weather by then was awesome! So a nice hike up here. This is an awesome shelter, with a stream 10 feet away, a spring really close by, and it's clean, and well maintained, and right on the trail. I like it here.So all in all a good day, despite the rain, and the tumble. I think the food and the visit and the nice weather at the end of the day made it a good day. Time to get some rest. We may push on to pine grove furnace hostel tomorrow... or maybe not. Either way, i need to sleep.P.S. for coach - the terrain is easy! No worries about big hills or tough trail. Lots of rock-fields and some rock scrambles, but not bad. Remember to mark in your guide book about the food at Pen Mar and make sure to walk to the italian rest. on route 30.