Date: 2004-04-17
From: Iron Masters Mansion Hostel

To: Boiling Springs, PA (Mother Hen)
Miles today: 19.4

Log entry: 77Start time: 0915End time: About 1800Morning weather: Clear and mild, low 60sAfternoon weather: Clear and warm, in the 70sDinner: Still clear and warmBreakfast: Chocolate CIB and 2 fudge roundsLunch: Vanilla wafers with vanilla frosting, candy bars, browniesDinner: Various snacky itemsTrail description: Very moderate day as far as elevation changes goes. Some rocky parts but nothing too sketchy. The last bit into Boilings Springs was the begining of the Cumberland Valley stretch which is flat through farmland easments. There was a spot where the trail meanders through a boulder maze and there was some technical scrambling. Very fun stretch, there was a bunch of guys bouldering up there. This was just before Whiskey Springs Rd. After the road crossing there was a small cave where I would have liked to camped if time allowed.People: Brad at Pine furnace, the Zeta girls, roughly 600 fishermen, women, and family (opening day of fishing season), many people bouldering (climbing boulders), 2 large groups of teens doing section hikes, the father/son team with the "unknown" at Alec Kennedy, the people in Boiling Springs, and finally Smiley and Mother Hen.Animals: Garter snake! (not a rattler yet but a serpent none-the-less. Enough to scare the wits out of me.)Money spent: NoneComplaints: Feet hurtThoughts: I wanted to sleep in until like 0845 but I was bright eyed and bushy tailed at 0800. So I packed up and said goodbyes to Brad and the Zeta girls.The morning was wonderful. The morning sunshine and walk through the state parkmade it seem surreal. The quarry pond was lined with fisherman and theirfamilies. One had girls my nieces' ages, it made me miss home as usual.I passed the mid-point marker which is no longer accurate to to relocations buttook a picture anyways. It still doesn't feel like I am halfway, hard todescribe what it feels like. I know that my feet feel like they've walked 1100miles.I stopped for a 20 minute lunch at Tagg Run shelter. While vanilla wafers andfrosting taste so good it doesn't exactly sit very well in the tum-tum.I didn't start routinely meeting people until the rock maze. The dudesbouldering were pretty cool. I wish I could have spent some time in the rockswith them. One guy was from Saginaw, MI. As I moved toward Alec Kennedy shelter people just kept coming, it was nice,especially since there were lots of girls. Each group of people I met I spentabout 10 solid minutes chatting with them. Everyone was nice and had positivethings to say. One large group of troubled teenage girls was especiallyinterested in my trip and one girl asked how often I thought about quitting. The simple answer has always been, "Its never been a matter of quitting, its about finishing". That appeased them.I made a quick stop at Alec Kennedy shelter where I spent about half an hourtalking with a father and son. There was another girl with them but I am notsure of their relationship. She could have been a daughter or a girlfriend ofthe boy. Hence "unknown". Anyways the father and son were very knowledgeableabout the trail in PA and gave me some good advice. From looking back on thesection I just finished and how bad they described it, maybe a PA won't be sobad after all.I hustled over Center Point Knob which is little more than a mound of dirt andmade my way out of the Blue Ridge Mtns. After a long field walk I made it to the outskirts of Boiling Springs. There Iheaded 0.1 mile to the Backpacker's campsite where I planned on tenting for thenight. The next shelter north which is Darlington is 18.2 miles and there is nocamping allowed between the 2 shelters as you pass through farm fields. So Idropped most of my gear at the grassy spot next to the railroad tracks andheaded back toward Boiling Springs to fetch water.The plan was to filter from Yellow Birches Creek but once I got there I decidedto push onto the Mid Atlantic Regional ATC office where they have a spigot outthe back.There were people everywhere in town. Both the opening day of fishing season and the sunny Saturday evening had people out in droves. It was nice to be greeted so warmly by all the friendly people of Boiling Springs. As I read the hiker information board there was a poster with a number to call if you needed a place to stay. I tried it several times and only got a machine. Smiley had signed in at the register and said he "was going to give the number a call and see what happens". I talked with some more townspeople and they said the next 12 miles are flat and fast. So I decided to head back to the campsite, repack up, then try the phone number one more time and if nothing then move on. It was already 1830 but I figured I would still make good time in the dark.So I marched back and then turned around and headed back into Boiling springswhere I met Smiley by the headquarters. He had been eating and a dude from theconvience store told him about Mother Hen.Mother Hen is a lady that apparently lets hikers chill at her house. We headedover to her crib where there was no answer at the door but within minutes shewalked up as she was out for a walk.She was happy to take us in. Her 2 oldest boys have moved out and she lives with her husband and youngest son who is confined to a wheel chair. After a shower I checked email but was unable to send anything out unless youhad an account with the server, oh well.We then visited a while and then called it a night.