Date: 2004-07-04
From: Birch Run Shelter

To: Ironmaster's Mansion Hostel
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: light rain

Start: Birch Run ShelterDestination: Ironmaster's Mansion HostelIt was grey and overcast when I woke up this morning. I ate breakfast with Bumpo, and then got on the trail. As hot as it was yesterday, today was just the opposite. It was cool with a light fog covering every thing. This gives the woods a whole new smell about it. A woodsier, dank smell, not at all unpleasant. By mid morning the fog had turned into a drizzle and I stopped to put my pack cover on. I hiked through a game preserve, with gun shots resounding through the forest around me. I was glad to be wearing a bright blue pack cover. Even though there is no open hunting season right now, someone was shooting something. By lunch time I got to Toms Run Shelter where the ridge runner told me of severe thundershowers this evening. I had loosely planned on staying at the hostel tonight, keeping my mileage to ten, but the day was so cool and the terrain fairly flat, I had actually considered going farther. The hostel was sounding better all the time! Bumpo came flying by me, burning the miles effortlessly. I am jealous now, but I do not want to push too hard too soon and risk injury or burnout. Last year, even in my best shape, I could not do much better than 2 miles per hour. Considering the average American walks 75 miles per year, I ought to be less hard on myself. The gentle rain quickly let up and the rest of the miles flew by. I came to a small stack of rocks in the trail. According to the guide book, this is the halfway point for this year's hikers. The point changes every year because of reroutes. So this year's hikers now have more behind them than in front of them. I will pass the actual sign tomorrow. When I got to Pine Grove Furnace State Park, Bumpo was just finishing lunch, topped of by a double scoop of ice cream. Speaking of ice cream, this is the home of the Ice Cream Challenge. Thru hikers get here and try to eat a half gallon of ice cream at one setting. For your efforts you get your name in the book and a small wooden spoon naming you a member of the Half Gallon Club. I knew ahead of time that I wouldn't even try the challenge, I like ice cream too much to make myself sick eating a half gallon. Instead, I settled for a cheeseburger, onion rings, and milk. Then I had two scoops of Moose Traks ice cream for dessert. The fun part of the day was watching Buckeye put away his half gallon of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. About half way through, he started making facial expressions that sent those of us around him into fits of laughter. Periodically I would snap a picture of him as he ate, until finally he turned the carton up and drank what was left in the carton. He pronounced himself finished, but I pointed out the several spoonfuls of chocolate chips hiding in the corner. Like a real sportsman, he grabbed his spoon, made a face and scooped the chips into his mouth. With a triumphant sigh, he pronounced himself sick...but finished. I headed down to the payphone and had just gotten a little ways from the store's porch, when the bottom fell out and rain poured down. I dashed back to the safety of the porch. Phone calls will have to wait. I am not sure Wingfoot knows how far 100 feet is anyway. His measurements in his guide book have proven misrepresented more than once so far. I did not want to walk 100 feet in the rain to use a payphone that was really a quarter mile away! Over hearing someone's weather radio, severe thunderstorms are headed this way. I am glad I will be high and dry tonight. There are even calls for flash floods in some areas.   The hostel does not open until 5:00 pm, so I spent the rest of the day under the porch at the General Store, talking with other hikers and just relaxing.   I have been out here a week now; I am amazed at how fast the time goes out here, just like at home. The days all seem to melt and run together.   Ironmaster Hostel is right on the trail. It is a large brick building that dates back to the Colonial days. There are claims that George and Martha Washington stayed overnight here. I love old houses and this one was fantastic. The ceilings were twelve foot high, and the floors made of wide slabs of pine. Outside on the side lawn is a chess game with large wooden chess pieces set atop red and white squares. There is a large covered porch running the length of the building, with colorful red, white and blue banners decorating the railing. This hostel is a member of the National Hostelling Group, which means it does not cater to hikers only. There were several bikers there, or rather cyclists there along with 5 or 6 hikers. I am afraid Lance Armstrong may be offended being called a biker. There are some people from the city that have come here to stay just for a break. I was the only one in the ladies dorm. The bathroom complete with a shower is within 10 feet of my bed. I sigh loudly and collapse on my bunk, a bottom bunk at that. Buckeye and I go in together and wash our laundry. Together, we have enough for one load. A far cry from the daily loads I wash at home. There is a closet where hikers can get clothes to wear while theirs are washing. This keeps one from standing around in rain gear or a garbage bag waiting for the laundry to finish. I pick out a tee shirt, and a pair of cotton pants to wear. How wonderful it feels to be clean in clean clothes. One of the cyclists has cooked way too much spaghetti and invites us to help him eat it. I go down to the store and gets hotdog buns and soon we have garlic bread to go with the pasta. Someone else has bought fresh fruit, so we have watermelon and fresh cherries for dessert. As night falls, someone else has bought several boxes of sparklers, so we all get a sparkler and light it, twirlling them round and round, like we used to do as children. Then someone else starts humming Hoorah for the Red White and Blue. No one knows the words, but we hum along, laughing and celebrating being free. As unlikely a group as you could get, but all glad to be able to celebrate. I meet another person who has read my trail journal. This is so neat to meet people who have read about my hike. I tell the group about my hike for polio vaccinations, and one man hands me $ 5.00, and says here, this is for 500 miles. I am closer to my goal of 5,000.00. I will reach it, one small donation at a time, but I will reach it. Soon we all depart for bed, and I listen to the rain outside my window.   It has been a good week.Total miles 10