Date: 2011-07-15
From: Pine Grove Furnace State Park

To: Mt. Holly Springs, PA
Miles today: 10.9

Day 116 ¢ Once again, I slept great in the cool temperature and did not get up until 8:30am. I only had 10.9 miles to do today so I was in no real hurry, plus it was supposed to be another nice day. I planned to go by the General Store when they opened at 9:00am to get an egg sandwich and wait around until noon when the AT Museum opened. However, my plans changed quickly when a couple in another camp site asked us if we wanted to eat their leftovers for breakfast. So all seven hikers, never to turn down any food, particularly free food, headed over to John and Linda¢s site to eat. They are from Gettysburg and were leaving today so they just laid out all of their extra food. They had polish sausage, hot dogs, cereal, and fruit bars. My two hotdogs were as good as the egg sandwich would have been. We visited for an hour and headed back to our site to pack up. I walked up to the store around 11:00am and ordered me a cheeseburger and fries for lunch. I was tempted to have some more ice cream but did not press my luck. The museum was interesting and I visited there for only 20 minutes before hitting the trail. I hiked by myself for first 2.8 miles until the five other hikers approached me from behind. I had been with Indy, Oatmeal, Engineer, Chill and Sags for a couple of days but had not really hiked with them. The oldest is probably 26 years old but I fell in at the end of the line and hustled to keep up with them. The terrain was fairly easy with minimal rocks and hills. We stopped after 4.6 miles for lunch and water. They were planning to go 15.6 miles today but I made them an offer that they could not refuse. I told them that I was getting off the trail at PA 94 and going into Mt Holly Springs to get picked up and that I would buy them a beer if they wanted to take a detour. My words were hardly out of my mouth when they all decided that they were in. We were only 3.5 miles away from the highway, so I called the Holly Inn to make sure that they were open and that the beer was cold. The guidebook also mentioned that they would come pick you up on the trailhead so I asked about that and they said to call them when we got to the highway. We arrived at the highway at 4:45pm and I called to see if they would come pick us up as the Holly Inn was 2.5 miles from the trail head. They said it might be 10-15 minutes but they would have someone to get us. A little after 5:00pm, two Lincoln towncars pulled up and we loaded our gear into the trunks and headed to the Holly Inn. One of the drivers was Rose, who was part owner of the hotel, restaurant, and tavern. We had a couple of beers, ate dinner and Megan arrived to pick me up around 6:15pm. I left them there so I am not sure what the balance of their day turned out. I told them that I would pass them going south in New York or Connecticut. I did 10.9 miles today and my total now is 1104.3 miles. I plan to take tomorrow off and will probably take Sunday off as well so I can watch the Ladies World Cup final. I plan to hit the trail first thing Monday morning. I continue to get very encouraging notes and emails from many of you and I appreciate them so much. I appreciate you taking time to do that and I continue to covet your thoughts and prayers. This was a big week; I passed through another state, reached the half way point and made a glutton of myself. I know I have been blessed and I am grateful.