Date: 2010-05-31
From: Rocky Mountain Shelters, PA

To: Milesburn Cabin, PA
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: scattered clouds

From TrailPhone:"Hi. This is Timothy. I'm at Caledonia State Park. I've had a shower. I got a ride with some Scouts down to Henicle's Market. I've resupplied. I got a lift back to the park with Trail Angel Paul. I had a really nice lunch with chicken and some fruit. I'm sitting here hanging with Absent. Getting ready to head north for another 7 or 8 miles today. I have a 1,000 foot climb. Happy Memorial Day to everybody. I should be in Boiling Springs Thursday. I have to do 10 and 1/2 miles everyday for the next 4 days. That's it."UPDATE: Today was the day I had been anticipating the entire trip. Today is shower and resupply day!We woke about 6:45 a.m., ate and packed up. By 7:45 we were on the trail. The trail to Caledonia SP was mostly downhill except for two bizarre side trips over two boulder piles posing as hills. Why the trail suddenly veers to cross these two "peaks" is beyond me. Somewhere between the two peaks, Absent overtook me. I told him to watch for me at Caledonia SP.I crossed the highway into Caledonia SP just before 9. The trail here is wonderfully flat and follows what looks like another canal. After about a mile, the trail makes some turns and you can see the swimming pool/bath house/snack bar across a grass field. I headed over to the pool to take a shower and get a soda. Closed. Its Memorial Day and the pool is closed! I saw Absent wandering about nearby and called out to him. I looked at the park map with Absent and found a second shower up in the camping area above the meadow area. The map showed a trail past the ampitheater. I led the way across the park and found the trail. Absent had no idea that many state parks had ampitheaters and evening programs. We popped out of the trail, made a right turn, and about two tenths of a mile later we found the showers. We did everything. Dumped trash, showered, shampooed, washed clothes, etc. I donned my "go to town" shirt and clean dry briefs for my visit to Henicle's Grocery.Absent and I wandered back down the street and trail to the park below. We followed the road to the park office where I paid for my shower and got a cold Mountain Dew. Yum! Salt, sugar, and cold. No one leaving the park stopped to offer us a ride, so we decided to head out by the highway to improve our chances. Just as we reached the mail intersection, we saw some scouts walking to their cars and trucks. Turns out that Absent had camped with the scouts at the Rocky Mountain shelter last evening. We went over and asked if we could catch a lift. Sure! They had to retrieve some other vehicles so we tossed out packs and poles in the back and headed down to Henicle's. At Henicle's, the scout leaders said they'd be back by in about 45 minutes to see if we needed a ride back.We dropped our packs outside by the two grocery carts. Henicle's is a small compact store with a bit of everything. I was looking for Propel, mashed potatoes tuna, Pork ramen, dry meat and something to celebrate the holiday. propel was available in three flavors. Tuna was mostly in cans except for large packets. Instant potatoes were almost gone except for two packs. Ramen only came in beef, chicken and shrimp flavors. We grabed some lemon Propel, beef ramen, a can of tuna, and a can of small beef sticks. We also bought a quarter of roasted chicken, some diced honeydew, and two bananas as we could use some potassium. While waiting for our ride back, I also bought some orange juice which Absent highly recommended. While waiting for the scouts, trail angel Paul offered us a ride back to the park. Paul was unaware of his trail angel status so once again I explained trail angels to yet another samaritan. I took Paul and Absents photo back at the park, and Paul shot a photo of Absent and me also.Absent and I wandered back into the park and immediately found two southbound hikers. We exchanged greetings, gave them a heads up on the trail south and I gave them a map of the upcoming section. Absent and I wandered back towards the bath house and found a picnic table to use. I set about laying out my plastic bags for each days meals and started dealing out the food. Absent was impressed with my organization. While packing up my food bag, Absent commented there was "no love" at this park. No trail magic had appeared. As I had bought more lunch than I needed I offered Absent my chicken leg and half my melon. Ever the true thru-hiker, the food quickly disappeared. Thru-hikers a like human shrews and constantly eating and will consume almost anything in their quest for calories.Just before leaving around 1:30 p.m., I spotted a hiker coming across the stone bridge. I introduced my self and met Traveler. I took Traveler over to our table and introduced him to Absent and then departed. I headed back across the grassy meadow to where the trail crosses the creek and heads north. The trail follows an asphalt path out of the park. One of blazes is even on a pavillion support beam. After the asphalt the trail starts a steep ascent up. We hate up. WE hates it! Fortunately, up is short lived and the trail become a more gradual ascent with a well maintained rock free surface. Suddenly, we came upon a spring. Also ther was a sign waning about timber rattle snakes being protected. We continued up the trail and in just minutes arrived at the nicest shelter on the entire trail, Quarry Gap, about 3:30 p.m..Quarry Gap shelter is meticulously maintained by a very dedicated caretaker. He keeps everything freshly painted and in excellent repair. He has even taken time to landscape the spring with rocks and flowers. Quarry Gap is a must stop along the trail. While I had planned to spend the night, it was still early and I was well behind on my schedule. I had to hike 10.5 miles daily to make my bus on Friday. As my feet felt hot, we decided to check for blisters. We had anew one and broke out the moleskin. Our scissors on our multi-tool were all but useless. A southbound section hiker without a trail name offered my the use of her scissors on an old Swiss Army knife her dad had gave her. I mentioned she might considered "Scissors" as a trail name, but later while hiking decided "Mercy" was probably better. After packing up and donning our pack, we noted a bite valve from someone's bladder on the table and tossed it in out trash bag. (Remember this little fact, as its significant in tomorrow's tale!)I departed Quarry Gap about 4:30 and enjoyed some of the nicest trail of the trip. The trail wandred up and down, but fairly straight through the forest. Every now and then I would see a camping area off the trail were people had tented in times past. About 7:00 we stpped at one such camping area ona steep descent. After taking a break and almost being tempted to stop for the night we started back down the trail, only to find that we had been just a 100 yards above our destination, Milesburn Cabin.Milesburn Cabin is a locked PATC cabin that is famous for having a block with the letter "M" embedded in the wall. The cabin sits facing a small creek and has a locked privy up the hill behind it. There's also a large fire ring used by groups staying at the cabin. We found some trees just across the trail from the cabin and hung our hammock and tarp. Grabbing our food bag and stove we headed over to the fire ring and made dinner. After dinner we bear bagged our food and tuned in.Thus ended the eigth day.