Date: 2011-05-29
From: Tom's Run Shelter

To: James Fry Shelter
Miles today: 10.9

Today was a really great day. We knew today was a planned short day due to the half-gallon challenge and the AT Museum. We didn¢t leave camp until about 8:00. The entire 3.4 mile hike to the Pine Grove Furnace Camp Store, where the challenge takes place, was filled with discussions on how to approach the challenge. Two grown adults spent well over an hour wondering if we could eat a half-gallon, what flavor should we choose, should we have a flavor we don¢t like in case we can never stomach that flavor again; maybe we should eat real fast, maybe pace yourself. When we arrived we were actually a little nervous. We went in the store and approached the cooler with apprehension. The flavor selection was somewhat sparse. I chose chocolate and Enzed went with Banana Split. We perused the Half-Gallon Challenge log book and saw that most people were able to complete it in around 40-55 minutes. Several weren¢t able to complete it, and a couple we saw were in the 24 to 26 minute range. We placed our half-gallons on the table, started two watches and started the challenge. The woman had given us small plastic spoons that would never work. We both used our more substantial camp spoons. After 5 minutes I took a picture of our containers and was sure we would never finish as it looked like we had hardly touched them. Earlier we had figured if we wanted to equal Mammoth and One Grey Wolf¢s times, we would have to eat the equivalent of a pint of Ben & Jerry¢s every ten minutes four times. This didn¢t seem possible. As we continued we found the only way to eat it fast was to scrape up the melting parts, so we worked our way along the top and sides. Soon I discovered if I flipped the block on its side it would expose the softened ice cream on the bottom of the container. At ten minutes it still seemed unlikely, but it still tasted good. Once I started breaking the block up more surface area was exposed and started to soften. Once we had worked our way through about 34¢s of the box, I no longer wanted more Ice Cream, but in true thru-hiker fashion we pushed through the pain, realizing it was possible. With about 7 chunks left to go I realized I could break 30 minutes. I wolfed the last spoonfuls down and drank the rest of the box, and just like that it was done. 12 gallon of Chocolate Ice Cream consumed in 27 minutes 41 seconds. Enzed finished shortly after in about 32 minutes. We both didn¢t feel that bad, and in fact within the hour Enzed was having a grilled ham & cheese sandwich. We both consumed 1920 calories in about 30 minutes. I was pleased I was slightly faster than Enzed because if you recall, she was able to eat the skillet breakfast back in Hot Springs when I had faltered, and I didn¢t want to take any more ribbing. Shortly after Grad Student was able to polish off a half-gallon of Mint Chip in 21:59, with Enzed and I cheering him on. When we finished we were presented with our wooden spoons for our feats. We lounged around with the other hikers coming in until the museum opened, then went through that. As we were leaving we realized the trail went right by the beach and concession stand. We knew we weren¢t going to hike too far so we stopped at the beach with Grad School, and Red Bull and swam and lounged in the grass for about 3 hours before we did the 7.3 miles to the shelter. Of course while we were sunning ourselves we had cheeseburgers and french fries. I always wondered if I could slow down enough to enjoy an opportunity when it came along. Well today we did, and it was very relaxing; and we still managed to get about 11 miles of hiking in. We are now over 1,100 miles and have decided that pretty soon we will start counting down the miles instead of up. Possibly another big day planned tomorrow if it is not too rocky.