Date: 2005-06-30
From: Tent, Pine Grove Furnace State Park

To: Shelter, Alec Kennedy Shelter
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: few clouds

We really need to get our clothes washed. They stink really bad, really bad. Troll and I bought new shirts in Harper's Ferry and they already stink. The sad thing is that I don't even care about the stink. I care more about the sweat salt and the irritation that it is causing. I guess there really are many reasons that you need to wash your clothes. We thought we would stop in Mt. Holly today and wash clothes. Didn't happen. Looks like we will be in Duncannon before these things get relief. The way these clothes feel and smell they may make it into Duncannon before we do.    This morning Troll & I had cheeseburgers for breakfast. Oblivious had a small Italian sub. Yum! We were health conscious and made sure that Oblivious had orange juice. Now that's nutrition for you. We let our 10 yr old eat all the ice cream he can force down his stomach for supper. Then we give him a sandwich for breakfast. Don't worry he gets a vitamin (sometimes multi, sometimes pre-natal) every day.    I dropped some lettuce out of my breakfast cheeseburger and picked it up. I ate it after picking off the stuff from the ground. I'm sure that everyone knows the 3 or 5 second rule. Out here on the trail it is the rule of 10. I'll probably eat almost anything that has been on the ground 10 seconds and I can probably come up with 10 things that I would eat off of the ground no matter how long they had been there. M&Ms, skittles, jerky - they don't go bad. I've heard of some really interesting food combinations out here. Triscuits washed down with olive oil. Chessy mashed potato balls covered in nutella. Equal parts of peanut butter, parkay squeezy butter and nutella. Frosting on tortillas. It's all good.    We passed the half way marker today and took pictures. The half waypoint changes every year due to changes in the trail. We really passed our (class of '05) halfway point yesterday. But there was no sign. We signed the halfway register and looked for entries from friends. It seemed like everyone felt the need to sign this log. Even Padre signed it on the 27th and he never signs registers.   We slept in late this morning. It was really good to ignore the 0530 alarm. We tried to pick up our mail drop package at the Pine Grove Hostel. They didn't have it yet. Oh well. We stopped at a little general store for lunch/supper. Huge subs and a gallon of ice tea.    I can't believe it will be July tomorrow. Seems like it was just March. We are really trying to get some miles knocked out in the month of July. We keep hearing the "horror" stories of how the Whites in New Hampshire will knock your mileage down to between 10 and 12 miles per day. Our goal is to average 15 miles per day for this entire month. That should get us into Massachusetts and have us in good shape for the reduced mileage. Hopefully both the bodies and sprits can keep up that pace. We'll see.    Troll had one of those life¢s most embarrassing moments today. We climbed over multiple rock and boulder fields this afternoon. Troll and Oblivious were waiting for me on a boulder. I had to take my pack off to get up and over one of the rocks. Each of us was paying close attention to our progression through this rock obstacle course. Troll was about 50 feet in front of Oblivious and I. He didn't see the local guy come up the trail. Troll did however hear footsteps and hid behind a rock. When the footsteps got close he jumped out with his arms in front of him and yelled "BLEH!!" The local guy jumped and yelled. Troll said, "You're not my son". The local said, "No, I'm not. I knew I should have brought a stick today". Troll sheepishly apologized. The local went on. Of course the local got to the next road and turned around to go back. Troll sheepishly apologized again when he passed the local the 2nd time. It was pretty funny.    Well take care and we will see you on the trail.