Date: 2017-06-14
From: Rocky Mountain Shelter

To: Tagg Run Shelter
Miles today: 30.1

I know that I shouldn't complain since I decided to sleep in the shelter, but I figured my odds of an ok experience were pretty good with only one other occupant. My shelter-mate woke up at 5am and immediately pulled out his little radio and proceeded to spend 30min trying to tune into non-existant radio stations, never managing to get a static-free music station.By 6 I couldn't take it anymore and it wasn't worth pulling out earplugs at that point, so I just got up and tried to get moving as soon as I could. I wasn't moving particularly fast this morning, stopping to chat with Primo, Patches, and Marshmallow who had all tented last night. I was happy to have finally caught Marshmallow, who zeroed in Luray after I had seen her in Shenendoah (which is why I didn't see her again), and to thank her for the Pepto she gave me while I was sick... It allowed me to eat just enough to keep going and it's now something I carry with me just in case.I hit the trail (before radio dude, I might add) and while the temperature had dropped a bit, it had remained just as humid overnight as it had been yesterday and so even climbing the hill to get back to the trail had me sweating again. Probably ought to get used to it, I guess.The trail down to PA30 wasn't hard but I did see some more fake-blazes as I walked. I stopped to get some water at Caledonia state park but the pool and snack stand wouldn't open until 11, another 3 hours, and so I just moved on after taking advantage of their bathroom facilities. Not far up the trail I came to Quarry Gap shelter, another extremely nice shelter that had flower pots, a swing, a bear box, a sundial, and multiple covered picnic tables. I enjoyed a snack on the swing before heading out, again grabbing water to make up for the water the heat was stealing from me.If you hit it at the right season, Caledonia has some great blueberries on the powerlines that run through the park, but unfortunately they weren't ripe yet. I met a family out for a couple days of hiking who offered me some filtered water as we chatted, which I took them up on. The next section of trail was flat and easy hiking so I was cruising, just a mile or two from where I'd take lunch when my snake senses started tingling. Sure enough, right there in the trail was the first rattler of my hike. Later identified as a timber rattler, he was probably 3ft long and pretty thick, striped with varying colors of brown and tan. I actually saw him and reacted a couple feet  before I reached him, before he even felt threatened by my presence. Apparently content to sit there, it wasn't until I started trying to shoe him off the trail with my poles than he got a bit annoyed, coiling his neck and rattling as he slithered into the woods, leaving my way clear. Thankfully I only have a couple more states until I get too far north for rattlesnakes, but seeing as this is my first encounter they haven't been a huge issue thus far.I took lunch at Birch Gap Shelter, the site of my first night out with DCUL, and took a nap for a while to let my feet rest and to give me time to rehydrate. Back on the trail, it wasn't long until I had played out my homefield advantage, reaching the northern extent of my previous hikes and venturing out into new territory. It wouldn't be until Vermont that I'd see familiar terrain again, from my End-to-end hike of the Long Trail last fall.Not long after I reached the HALFWAY POINT of the trail for this year! I had hiked 1094.9mi already and had another 1094.9mi to go until Mt Katahdin in Maine and the completion of the whole 2189.8mi Appalachian Trail. But let's not count our chickens yet. That large a goal is a little too large for me to visualize, so right now I'm just headed to Duncannon, and then the New Jersey, and then New York, and so on...Anyways, it was a little funny, the halfway point moves each year as the length of the trail changes slightly due to reroutes, so the actual halfway point is just marked with a little paper sign. This year, about 4mi after the paper sign, I came across the big fancy wooden sign that was erected in 2011 to mark the halfway point that year but that is apparently too hard to move each year. The paper sign had a picture of the wooden sign but with this year's milages on it... A little preview of what's to come. Also, fun fact, apparently the trail has gotten 7.8mi longer since 2011.The rest of the afternoon was pretty sunny and hot as the miles ticked by. I ran into Indy, who Lookout, Classy, and I had first met south of Damascus as he handed us a beer and made us fresh pancakes at the trail magic he and some buddies were doing. This time he was wearing a ridgerunner uniform and weedwacking to reclaim a part of the trail from the spring growth. We didn't chat long, but not far after I ran into a cooler he had left full of ice cold drinks. I got the last beer (plenty of sodas left for those who like them!) which I enjoyed as I hiked on towards Pine Grove Furnace.Pine Grove Furnace is home to the Half Gallon challenge, a hiking contest of will where the participants attempt to eat an entire half gallon of ice cream, usually in less than an hour. I started strong, finishing a carton of moose tracks ice cream without trouble before being informed that these days cartons are only 1.5quarts and that I had to eat another pint to complete the challenge. I went for a pint of cookie dough, which was not nearly as easy as the carton my stomach started to protest whatever the hell was going on. I did finish, with a time of 52min, and joined the half gallon club (which has a special trail log than only members can sign) and received a little wooden spoon as a reward. Not a bad 3000 calorie dinner...I moved on, passing a beach on a small lake where a couple families were enjoying their last swim of the day, wishing that I had hit this earlier in the afternoon when it would be nice to swim. It was a little bit of an interesting feeling, strolling past these people going about their normal lives and enjoying the lake on a typical afternoon as I headed back into the woods for who knows how long, not sure of who I'll be hanging out with as I continue the trail.I was planning on camping just after the camping restrictions around Pine Grove were no longer in effect, but as I reached the first campsite I still had a few hours of daylight left and so I decided to push on. Plus, with the amount of ice cream I just ate, having a privy tonight wouldn't be the worst thing...I found some bonus water (not marked in AWOL) and so grabbed some water from the pool under the slow trickle coming out of the rocks. The flow was so low that I depleted the pool as I filled my bottle via my scoop.The miles didn't come very quickly, the ice cream weighing me down, as the sun set and dusk started to set it. A couple of rocky sections slowed me down a bit and didn't feel great on my already sore feet, but as I descended off the ridge the sun backlit the adjacent ridge as it sank down and day started yielding to night. I really didn't want to stop to get my headlamp out of my pack, but thankfully I pulled into camp just as my night vision was starting to be inadequate. The hikers had a fire going, which I was glad for as it would keep them awake a bit later so that I could meet/chat with them. I quickly setup camp, pitching my tent and throwing my bear line, before running up the 0.3mi to the shelter to use the privy. The shelter was empty... the spring at the shelter was dry, making the river back down at the AT the only water source and so making the shelter not worth the extra walk to most hikers.Just as I got back to camp the rest of the hikers decided to douse the fire and head to bed, which I was a little disappointed about until I realized that I probably wouldn't have been able to keep my eyes open anyways, a wave of tiredness hitting me as the hiking adrenaline wore off. I crawled into my tent, rainfly fully open to try to get some airflow. Even so, every time I moved I seemed to break out into sweat... It was so hot that I wasn't even able to use my sleeping bag liner, nevermind my quilt... Hopefully this isn't what the whole summer is going to be...