Date: 2005-11-05
From: Alec Kennedy Shelter

To: Pine Grove Furnace State Park
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: few clouds

This was another incredibly beautifyul day for a hike. I must say, these past several days were very much what I had expected to encounter during this last section of my journey - glorious fall days, my favorite time of the year.The trail has also become much kinder, with far fewer rocks, almost no elevation chance to speak of, and with ony a few interesting features to distract from my other-wise zoned-out hiking frame of mind. Today there was a ridgeline with some neat rock formations the AT went through, but otherwise just a lot of woods walking. the day went by fast, and before I knew it I was at Pine Grove Furnace State Park. My first stop was at the camp store where I enjoyed a late lunch and then took on the "half gallon challenge". The tradition originated when this was the halfway point of the AT, and the idea is to see how fast you can down a 1/2 gallon container of ice cream. I don't know what the record is, but I wasn't inclined to try to beat it. I just wanted my ice cream! (It took me 27 minutes, 25 seconds.) I then claimed my "Half Gallon Club Member" wooden spoon as a momento.I was all set to check into the hostel, but the sign on the door said they don't open until 5 pm. My watch said 4 pm, but then I remembered that I was still on daylight savings time, which the rest of the world abandoned last week, since I don't have a clue how to adjust the time on my new-fangled watch (see earlier, pre-hike journal entry on that subject, entitled "Why can't they make things simple anymore!"), meaning I actually had TWO hours to kill.So, after changing into my camp shoes, I dug out my trusty pocketmail device and began catching up my journal. Ah, it's almost 5 pm now. Back later after I get settle in, shower, etc.Ok, I'm back. What a super evening! I was delighted to learn that there were two groups staying at the hostel tonight, a group of Boy Scouts from Pennsylvania and a group of AMC hikers from the Deleware Valley area. Not only was there good company, I got a dinner offer from the AMC grop, and it was an outstanding meal: spagetti, with homemade sauce and meat balls, salad, two kinds of fresh bakery bread, and for desert, homemade apple pie a'la mode and homemade carrot cake.Needless to say, I left the cans of tomato soup and Spagetti O's that I'd purchased at the camp store for some other, less fortunate through-hiker. The place I'm staying tonight - the old Iron Masters Mansion - was built in 1829, and has a fascinating historyh. Donna, the resident caretaker, and a real sweetheart of a lady, gave ma a guided tour, including the secret rooms in the celler accessible through a trap door in the floor of a closet. It seems this was a documented stop on the underground railroad! There are two windows in the attic wehre candles were used to signal whether or not the coast was clear. It's a really neat place. I was here once before, last February, for the PA Ruck - a gathering of AT through-hikers and wannabes (see my pre-hike entry), and am already looking forward to coming back for the next Pa ruck as an O5 "graduate" of the trail.Well, tomorrow is day three in the countdown from day ten of the final section of my hike. I have 37.6 miles to go. My plan is to do 17.4 tomorrow, 15.5 on Monday, and 4.7 into PenMar Park on Tuesda morning where I will be met by my wife and kids. Two more nights in shelters, two more dehydrated pasta dinners, two more full days of hiking and then I'll be done. I can feel the excitement beginning to build. Unfortunately, I'm foo full and too tired to show it at the moment, so I'm just going to go to bed. Ga' nite.Stay tuned,Longhaul