Date: 2009-06-23
From: Quarry Gap Shelter

To: Pine Grove Furnace
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Phrase of the Day: " Guardian Angel"The evening at the shelter was very relaxing. I sat on a bench near the little brook and finished reading the book that I got from Garage Man. Son Dance came in later which was cool. I hadn't seen him since before Damascus.We were up early and hiking before 6 because we had a big day.The terrain was pretty easy and had a couple of rocky areas and climbs, but so far it has been a cake walk. I spotted a beautiful scarlett tanager - the colors were so vibrant. Amazing.On the way in I was thinking about the half gallon challenge and how I think it is BS that we can't really participate because we are not thru hiking. Irks me. Mainly because anyone of the people thru hiking could get off the trail anytime before Maine. Oh well - gotta deal.We got to the general store by 1:15 - it was a great day for a hike. The weather was glorious and so was the terrain. A couple of friends had just finished the challenge - some did it - some didn't. But nobody beat the record.We went in and they didn't even have any half gallons left, so birdsong and I got cones instead. After we polished it off we went up to the hostel. We couldn't get in until 5. So, we sat there for a few minutes to regroup. While sitting there the mail truck drove up. So, I went over to meet it and the mail lady says "Ann". I said yes - she says you have to sign for the package. Holy - what if I hadn't been sitting there???? They would have sent it back. Thank God.I was annoyed because the postmaster didn't say anything about having to sign for it. If I was not the anal hiker I am and took my time hiking - we may not have been there at that moment.We left our packs and went back to the store. We needed to resupply, but the store didn't really have much of anything. So, we decided to walk down to the ranger station to use the phone to try to see if we could get a hold of Rusty. She told me to call when I got close to her house. I wanted to see if she could bring us to a store just for supplies. Nobody was home, so I left a message.As we got back to the store - the store got a delivery of ice cream. Cool.A few minutes later - garage man, pound hound and a little later - Son Dance came in. Garage Man and Pound Hound decided to share their half gallon. They also decided to eat the middle out and add root beer and make a giant float.Son Dance was to go it alone. Birdsong and I decided to go for it - even if it wasn't official. We chose Cherry Jubilee.The whole time we were sitting there - a crew with heavy equipment was working on the water lines between the hostel and the general store. I said to Birdsong - I hope there isn't any issue with the water at the hostel.Son Dance and Garage Man ate their ice cream. Son Dance got the half gallon challenge little wooden spoon because he did it alone. We couldn't finish - just call us ice cream wussies. Maybe if we hadn't eaten some earlier.About 4pm - a guy came over from the hostel and just as he did my phone started ringing. The guy said the hostel wasn't going to open because the workers broke something in the water main. They had no water, so they couldn't open. We were all devestated. My phone kept ringing - so I answered it. Bad reception so I had to call back - it was Rusty. Yes, she could get us and we could stay with her.   MIRACLE.We had to run up and get our packs and were able to take a quick tour of the hostel. It was a nice place too bad we weren't going to be able to stay. We also got to go down into the secret room that was part of the underground railroad. It was really cramped, but it was so cool.Rusty showed up - said that Ranger and Bushman were at her house. Great.We had a great night. Went to an all you can eat buffet even though we were stuffed from the ice cream we still managed to eat some food.We showered, did laundry and even got in the hot tub. Life is Good.Thanks to Rusty and Hijack - you saved our day.