Date: 2006-06-24
From: Pine Grove, PA - EconoLodge

To: Swatara Spring
Miles today: 10.7

Yesterday we decided to push 5 miles past our original destination so we could go into Pine Grove, PA for some McDonalds and a night in a hotel. The night before we were out in the most terrifying thunderstorm of our lives. Lightning was crashing down all around out tent and the thunder was so deep and loud it reverberated forever. The weather bulletin predicted worse storms last night so we headed for town.Yesterday we trudged through an extremely narrow ridgeline that was thoroughly lined with poison ivy, summak and oak. This, of course, onld adds to the patches I already have. Other than that yesterday was relatively uneventful. We did get some trailmagic (food)from a guy who thru-hiked last year. His name was Jay.Today we were lucky enough to get a hitch from the hotel to the grocery store to the trail from one man. Our packs are burdened with five days worth of food. I can't believe we will soon be in Delaware Water Gap!Today we went over a few boulder fields. On the second one we heard a loud rattle and it took us both a minute to realize that Souleman was almost on top of a rattlesnake. He cussed and flew backward in a comical scramble to get away from the coiled snake. Once he recovered he took some pictures for documentation (hopefully that will be posted soon!)The rest of the day was pretty flat. The trail was rocky and that made it hard to look anywhere but down. I swear I could picj our worn out sneakers out of any line-up. But I couldn't tell you a single thing about the scenery around the trail in PA so far. Someone out for a laugh made fake AT blazes in the woods. There were two sets of these today. Luckily we were conscientious enough to recognize which of the blazes were official and not get off course. Apparently some local thinks he is pretty funny.Today I saw Peter Cottontail and followed him down the bunny trail. OK, so it might not have been Peter, but it was definitely the same type of rabbit. And it might not have been a "bunny" trail, but it was a trail. And I'm sure this bunny was after some farmers garden. Regardless of what his name was, he hopped down the trail in front of me for a long distance. This brings our animal sighting count up to one bunny, three deer, one rattlesnake and a bunch of orange salamanders. Oh, and I can't forget the amazing any colony.Ants are incredible animals. We spent a while observing ants at lunch today. These little creatures are so strong and so determined. We spilled some crumbs and these ants tirelessly transported our crumbs to their hills. They employed all sorts of techniques... the lift it over my head, the push it ahead of me, and the drag it behind me. Some ants even worked in pairs. During our observation we tracked the progress of multiple ants. It was a very entertaining lunch.Other than watching ants, today we hiked the 10.7 miles out of town so that we could make the rest of the mileage for the week work. The first five miles I was dragging, but I perked up toward the end. I feel like I'm much less whiney this year. I just tackle whatever each day presents me with because I'm so thankful to be back out here. It is wonderful to be married and out here experiencing this together. We are a great team this year. For instance, tonight we got to camp late and had only a short amount of daylight left, but we divided the chores and finished them quickly. We dove into the tent at the exact second it started raining. What timing!