Date: 2017-05-20
To: Rodeway Inn, Shippensburg, PA
Miles today: 29.5
Weather: broken clouds

5/20/17, Rodeway Inn, Shippensburg,  PAMiles hiked: 779.5 Miles to go: 1405.3Conditions were perfect today for an epic hike - temps in the 60s, overcast skies, light breeze, fairly flat elevation profile, rested legs from a short day yesterday, and light packs since we were almost out of food. We rose to the challenge - 29.5 miles! Bam!We didn't actually start out to hike 29.5 miles - it just sorta happened. We were on the trail by 6:50 AM and planning a 20 mile day to Birch Run Shelter. The day was perfect for hiking, so we made great time. It wasn't long until we'd covered the 10 miles to Caledonia State Park, where we took a break and were able to find a soda machine. While drinking our sodas, I was looking at the Guthooks AT app on my phone and saw that it was 12.3 miles further to Ironmasters Mansion Hostel at Pine Grove Furnace State Park. We had thought it was farther, so we decided to go for it. We called to make reservations, but had to leave a message. Pine Grove Furnace State Park has a special place in the hearts of thru hikers. It is located just past the halfway point of the AT. The General store at the park is the site of the Half Gallon Challenge, where a thru hiker eats a half gallon of ice cream to commemorate reaching the halfway point. After hiking 15 miles, I checked the app to see how we were progressing and found that it was 14.5 more miles to the hostel. Oops! I had obviously looked at it wrong the first time. We decided to go back to our original plan of 20 miles to Birch Run Shelter. I called the hostel back and actually got a person this time. I told him that we had misinterpreted our mileage and wouldn't make it there tonight after all. He laughed and said that was fine. We made really good time hiking and arrived at Birch Run Shelter by 3:00 PM, which was way too early to stop for the day. I told 1st Sgt that conditions were perfect for an epic hike and that we should go for it. He agreed, somewhat hesitantly, so off we went. As we were hiking along, we came upon Trippin, a young female thru hiker we had met yesterday. She hiked with us a for a few miles until she reached the stealth campsite where she planned to spend the night. While hiking with Trippin, we reached another milestone - the halfway point of the trail! It's all downhill from here. Woo hoo! By the time we reached Tom's Run Shelter, which was 4.7 miles from the end of our hike, our feet were beginning to hurt and we were slowing down. Any thoughts of stopping were soon cast aside, though, when we arrived at the shelter and found it overflowing with weekend hikers and two Boy Scout troops. We trudged on and after 12.5 hours of hiking we finally arrived at the hostel. Wait... there's a sign hanging on the step rail. What does it say..? HOSTEL CLOSED FOR SPECIAL EVENT!? Uh oh, now what? We walked next door to the General store, where we found Captain, Good Life, and Hoops (AKA Courtney or Brie) hanging out on the porch.  Hoops and Good Life had successfully completed the Half Gallon Challenge and were looking a bit green around the gills. They were also trying to decide where they were going to sleep tonight. The hostel was closed, the campground was full, and the next viable camping spot on the AT was three miles away. Cell service was spotty; however, I was able to text Marguerite. She went to work and secured us a room at the Rodeway Inn in Shippensburg (~10 miles west). It only had a two star rating; however, all the other hotels in town were full. Besides, they were willing to allow five adults in one room. Now all we had to do was figure out how to get there. Hope and Good Life were able to secure a ride with a local couple. Unfortunately, their 1978 Chevy Nova was too small to take all of us. Fortunately, Captain, 1st Sgt, and I were able to get an Uber to take us to town. In the end, we all made it to the Rodeway Inn. It actually turned out to be an OK room. We were able to cobble together dinner from the gas station next door.We are all fed and showered and ready for bed. The kids insisted that 1st Sgt and I take the beds and they would sleep on the floor. They said that if we hadn't come along, they would probably have not figured out where to go. We are all safe, warm, and dry for now. Tomorrow, we have to figure out how to get back to the trail, decide if we are up to the Half Gallon Challenge, resupply, and decide how far are hiking tomorrow. I can tell you this - it's not going to be over 20 miles.