Date: 2008-05-10
From: Tom Runs Shelters PA

To: Alec Kennedy Shelter PA 
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: light rain

Day 83 ¢ Saturday May 10 ¢ Alec Kennedy Shelter PA ¢ Miles Today: 19.2 Total Miles: 1105.8It's amazing that after spending most of the afternoon napping that we would sleep so well last night, but we did. Such a delightful treat. Unfortunately, we had rain again during the night and when we woke up it was raining. We dismantled camp in the rain and headed off with our full rain gear on. It rained harder today than yesterday. We crossed the AT midpoint at 1,088 miles just shy of Pine Grove Furnace State Park at 7:45 this morning. There was no marker on the trail so we just sort of guessed when we had reached the halfway point, which was 1.5 miles from camp, and did a little YAHOO celebration before marching on in the rain. We passed an exterior stone wall of an old building, which we believe was associated with a prisoner of war camp from World War II. There's only one wall that is remaining standing. There are openings in the stone wall for windows. We¢ve seen pictures of thru-hikers sitting in the window openings from previous years. Unfortunately, there was no sign to tell us more and it was pouring rain so we did not get any pictures. Pine Grove Furnace State Park was neat to walk through. We saw the general store and old mansion, which is now a hostel. Right across from the general store was the cabin where we will be spending tomorrow night and the following night with Mr. & Mrs. Grasshopper. We¢ll actually backtrack to here via car with our Trail Angels. We then walked to the pavilion and enjoyed our breakfast out of the rain. We used the pit toilets there before we continued on in the rain. Due to construction in the park, we had to follow detour signs. I think a bridge over a little stream was under construction. We walked along a sandy beach, saw the swimming area and wished we were here on a sunny day so we could take advantage of the swimming as it looked like a beautiful beach and lake. The terrain for the first half of the day or so was gorgeous. We made great time. By lunchtime, the rain had stopped and we took a break sitting on a bridge over a stream. As we were sitting there Bare Fodder and TDM arrived (Toddy Bear, Stovie and Yeti). So we all had a little lunch break there before heading on for the last 8 miles to camp. This afternoon we had some fun boulder scrambles. It was nice break from the terrain that had been mostly flat and boring from a mentally challenging standpoint. The boulder scrambles were not TOO bad on the feet. They broke up the afternoon and made it a bit fun despite the long miles.   It was a long day. It was 19.2 miles until we got to the side trail to the shelter, which was 700 yards off trail. 700 yards!! Our minds said, ¢DANG! We could have camped by the river, just down the hill and saved all this extra walking.¢ But we got a sweet spot off to ourselves, quite a ways from the shelter and the other tent spots. Hopefully we'll have a nice quiet evening here and get ready for a short day tomorrow - just 4 miles to our Trail Angels and lots of visiting, eating, cleaning, washing and sewing. You name it, we'll be doing it!!We got to camp a bit before 5:00 and tried to get things dried out as much as possible. The tent rain fly is, 99.9% dry. Our rain gear is not quite as dry, but we'll finish drying it at the cabin tomorrow. Life is pretty sweet right now. It¢s not raining and we actually have a blue sky. We'll take it all!It's about 7:15 and 63 degrees in the tent. Our chores are done, the food is hung, and we're going to relax for a bit and then call it a night. Goodnight and we'll see you tomorrow, Mr. & Mrs. Grasshopper!