Date: 2015-05-20
To: Stealth campsite
Miles today: 23.4
Weather: overcast clouds

This morning I wanted to get on the trail super early. Why? Because I wanted to get to Pine Grove Furnace General Store before they closed at 3:00. The General Store is where you do the half gallon challenge. It is tradition to eat an entire half gallon of ice cream (or at least try) to celebrate the hafway point of the trail. I ate an early breakfast of oatmeal and a Honeybun at the park then got on the trail and walked at a brisk pace. I walked past the Quarry Gap Shelter which was 2 miles from Calededonia. This is another beautiful, and meticulously maintained shelter. There was even hanging pots of flowers under the overhang. After chatting with a few section hikers that were packing up, I pushed on.The trail here in PA has some rocks, but there is also beautiful long, relatively flat sections of trail. The going was easy and I made good time. The weather was fantastic! It was cool, clear, and sunny, the bugs weren't out, and there was a nice breeze blowing through the trees. I stopped at Birch Run Shelter, where I ate a few granola bars and moved on. I wanted to be hungry when I reached Pine Grove. A few miles from Pine Grove I met a trail maintainer who was trimming grass along the trail, and thanked him for the great job he was doing. He asked me a few questions about my hike then took off his backpack and gave me a good old Pennsylvania Yeungling Lager. I thanked him and told him that I would save it for after the half gallon challenge. He grinned at me knowingly and we parted ways. I got to the General Store around 2:00 and saw some hikers and a few other people sitting outside on picnic benches. Someone called out "there he comes, It's Mr. Maroon". A wonderful couple came up to me and explained that I don't know them but that they are following my journal, and had been waiting there since 10:00 to meet me. They live in the area and they wanted to buy my ice cream for the half gallon challenge. Their names are Santa and Grandma Patsy, and it turns out that Grandma Patsy was one of the McCoys who are known for their past disagreements with the Hatfields. I learned about the Hatfield and McCoy feud while they learned about growing up in the Amish community. I also got to meet fellow hikers, Blue Collar and Kiwi, who I had been following for weeks. I kept hearing about them and seeing their entries in trail registers. While I was attempting my half gallon challenge the five of us had an enjoyable conversation. Kiwi is an interesting young man from New Zealand, and Blue Collar is a fourth generation pipe fitter from Chicago.I finally managed to eat the entire half gallon of ice cream and was awarded a special wooden spoon for completing the challenge. (I don't know if I ever want to eat another bite of mint chocolate chip.) After several hours of conversation, Santa and Patsy gave Blue Collar, Kiwi, and me some chips, candy bars, Slim Jims, and Twizzlers for the trail and said goodbye. Then I slowly walked down to the lake where there was free hot showers. I took a shower and did my shower laundry thing and was sitting outside the shower house while charging my phone and letting my stuff dry, when Blue Toes came walking down the path. I hadn't seen him since Harper's Ferry so I spent an hour or so catching up with him as we snacked on some more food. Finally at 7:00 I just had to get going, I still wanted to do more miles today since I have plans to meet a friend who lives in Carlisle tomorrow evening.President Obama said that Pennsylvanians tend to cling to their guns and their religion; he is right, but it spite of all that, Pennsylvania has the nicest people you can ever hope to meet.