Date: 2018-05-17
From: Birch Run Shelter

To: Pine Grove Furnace State Park
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: light rain

Last night that cheeseburger didn't sit well. I woke up pretty dehydrated and weak. I'm never packing out a burger again! When I woke up, I realized I had slept in! It was 6:40 and normally I'm up by 6. No big deal though. It's seems the others around me were in no rush either.By 7:30 I was on the trail while there was a break in the rain. That break didn't last long and by 8 it was raining again. The trails were like rivers and of course when I wear trail runners, there's zero way to keep them dry so I embraced the suck and kept on! Plus, I was getting picked up so I could dry out then!A few miles in I passed the Dead Women's Hollow Road. A random dirt road in the middle of the woods. This had been the 2016 and 2017 official halfway point so I took a picture of the sign. For all intents and purposes I think I can settle on the fact that this is close enough to halfway as to not get too worked up on the EXACT point because there are so many "halfway" points. Harper's Ferry, the Half Gallon Challenge, a post erected by the hiking class of '95 and so on...Further along I walked through forests that had undergone controlled burns. The forest service prescribes burns due to invasive species, to be proactive about actual forest fire possibilities and for a variety of different reasons. Regardless, walking through this section in the foggy rainy morning with little cover was interesting. It's amazing the huge variety of different landscapes we walk through on one given day. High mountain traverses, dense spruce forests, Meadows and farms, lowland marshes and even these prescribed burns. Sometimes all in one day!About 7 miles in to my short 10 mile morning, I reached the sign that the class of 1995 had erected in the ground. It pointed to katahdin and to Springer with mileage of 1,090.5 in either direction. Again, it's probably not exactly halfway due to reroutes and things that happen to the trail but it was cool!As I continued North, I passed a man slack packing South. He informed me that Pine Grove Furnace State Park had lost power in the storm the night before and that their ice cream had all melted. Hahahahah what are the odds. As I arrived to the camp store, I talked to the nice woman running the store named Michelle. She confirmed the story this man had told me but said an "emergency ice cream delivery" was coming. Hahaha I pictured a giant SWAT truck screeching to a hault near the store with lights going and Hershey ice cream filling the back straight from Hershey, PA. Apparently the state of PA mandates this state park has ice cream because of he popularity of the half gallon challenge. I wasn't one of the lucky few hikers to arrive yesterday and receive the ice cream from the freezer for free before it melted though. No ice cream was honestly for the best since I still wasn't feeling well from my burger last night. I WILL complete the Half Gallon Challenge at some point whether at the state park or not!I planned on taking a free shower near the lake of the state park. I bought body wash and figured it was the least I could do for my mom and dad before they picked me up especially because mothers day just passed and their birthdays are coming up! I walked a ways away from the general store and tried out the showers. It was a cold rainy day and they were the kind you push the button and it runs for a second then shuts off. And, the water was cold. I couldn't push myself to do it! Sorry Mom and Dad!I walked back to the general store and an older man began talking to me. He was really nice! It's funny- when people learn you are doing the AT they always follow up the conversation with their own experience either on the AT or backpacking/hiking. That's just human nature but it's really funny. As he was telling me his backpacking story, I saw my parents pull into the lot. Trying not to be rude, I said "excuse me, my parents just got here and I haven't seen them in two months." I ran over and gave them a nice smelly, wet hug and apologized again to the gentleman. He totally understood and was even from Adams, MA! Close to Westfield!The kind people that my parents are, they had brought all sorts of food and drink. Apple Cider donuts from Applecrest!! The best! Tons of Hershey bars, Gatorade, fruit and a bunch more. It was amazing. We treated a woman from Utah to her first cider donut and she loved it. I told her to look forward to that as she hiked into New England.With a lack of thru hikers there at the moment, we ended up leaving Gatorades and fruit on a bench with a sign noting trail magic. I know the hikers will like it! We then made our way over to the Appalachian Trail Museum right next door that had just opened for the day. It was a really cool place and the guy running it and I chatted about the trail in which he had thru hiked a few years back. Then I wandered around noting the old sign that sat on top of Katahdin, the Earl Shaeffer Shelter and a bunch of other exhibits before leaving.As we departed, it felt strange. I was so happy to see my parents and to meet back up with Abby and all my friends but part of me felt completely different. Being dry, warm and fed while other hikers I had just been with were headed back out in the storm planning their stops and resupplies as I had done for the past two months. Not only that, putting on clean clothes, driving the car at 70mph and knowing I had five days to do the things I normally do in less than 24 hours was a huge contrast to my reality as Jacqui Kennedy had put it on my Facebook. It's not a bad feeling, just a strange one. I could literally feel my blood pressure rise as I was slowed down in the fast lane behind a slower moving car. I could feel my pulse rate rise as we tried to figure out what highway to connect to. I hadn't felt this way in 2 months. All I really had to worry about were simple necessities. Food, water and shelter along with weather. The nearest I had gotten to this rise was crossing a highway like in the game Frogger back in Virginia. I had no conscious thought about the drastic change in pace my life had taken until my 3mph world became a 70mph world in the fast lane of a highway only 20 minutes from the trail I relied on to take me from the South to the North. Guided only by white paint on trees and governed by the simplicity of the rise and fall of the sun.We eventually arrived in Kingston, NY where we planned to stay for the night before driving to Westfield the next morning. At the Best Western, my parents paid for the room before we went in. I'm so grateful for them coming to get me and spending so much time and energy to plan for my graduation and this trip. I owe them a lot and credit them for me making it this far on the trail and in life. We walked in and I honestly prepared to roll out my mattress and sleeping bag on the ground. Nope, my parents are awesome and had gotten two beds, one all to myself. I unpacked, threw in laundry and showered. My new shoes had come from Oboz and I was excited to try them on. Totally free just for being a Thru Hiker! Any future NOBOs out there seriously consider Oboz for trail runners! I was having trouble parting with my old trail shoes. They had brought me 600 wonderful miles from Damascus, VA to PA and I loved them but they were cold, wet and broken down so I settled the next morning on taking off the laces and throwing them out. They smelt awful and I was thinking I could do something cool with the laces from my 4 pairs of shoes after I complete the trail. If anyone has suggestions, let me know!The rest of the night I spread things out in the hotel room to dry like typical hiker trash. I watched Grey's Anatomy (Thursdays are for Grey's) with my mom while eating a NY pizza then sorted new and old gear. I'll be switching back to my original sleeping bag and out of my 3 degree bag that is definitely not needed in the 40-50 degree nights. I'm also getting rid of my fleece, hat and winter gloves and replacing some small items. I'll probably be shaving off a pound or so of weight which will be awesome!P.S. I won't be posting daily again until next week but I'll be doing a graduation wrap up next Monday sometime. Sorry I haven't uploaded photos on this website. It seems it may no longer allow me to so anyone interested in pictures will have to follow me on Facebook or Instagram. Hi Mrs Devlin! Hoping to see you at graduation too! Just look for a smelly, messy bearded guy with trail runners on under his gown!! That's awesome that you know Pine Grove Furnace. It was a pretty cool place for halfway! I'm hoping it will be nice and sunny next Tuesday when I'm back so that I can enjoy it a bit more!