Date: 2011-06-16
From: Caledonia State Park

To: Pine Grove Furnace State Park
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: broken clouds

an early start today. i started walking at 6:00 am after a nice pizza breakfast. there was a slight up hill in the morning, but after that the terrain flattened out nicely. it was a cloudy and chilly morning. i put on my pack cover shortly after starting the hike. i got to the first shelter to find most people still getting ready and having breakfast. since the trail was so nice and flat i was able to make great time. te rain moved in, in minor spells just to annoy me. i had a super early lunch at Birch Run Shelter because i wanted to be fully capable of handling the half gallon challenge. it's tradition for every thru hiker to attempt the half gallon challenge. at the halfway point there is a small store that sells half gallons of ice cream, and the hikers try to consume an entire half gallon to themselves. if successful, you can write in the members' log and receive an honorary half gallon members spoon. epic. i want the spoon! i cannot risk arriving at Pine Grove Furnace with a full belly so lunch was had at 9:30 am, since i only had 9.6 more miles to go from here. real lunch would consist of ice creamy goodness. the group from the last shelter caught up with me during this pseudo lunch break and decided to follow my lead. the only difference was that i still had delicious pizza and they did not. i hiked the rest of the day with these guys; Fiber, Veto, Pappy and Bear Bag. after leaving this shelter i followed Fiber closely trying keep up as best i could. it took me about half a mile to get to his pace, but after that i was bullet proof. we hiked 6.2 miles in one hour and 45 minutes. that works out to be 3.54 mph! my fastest yet. the next bit was rather exciting. we passed the official halfway point of the trail. this point changes almost every year due to lengthening switchbacks or rerouting sections etc. this was another kewl milestone to check off. it was nice to be with a few others since they could take my picture for me. we all made another mad dash to the ice cream finish line and everyone was talking about which flavor they would choose and how they hoped not to throw up etc. i was excited to give it a go. i planned on staying in the hostel, so when we arrived i walked up to the building and dropped my pack. i then met the others at the store for the challenge. i went with cookies and cream. i felt that i needed a flavor that i enjoyed, but without too much extra stuff like moose tracks or cookie dough. it was on. i immediately realized a mistake that i had made. i had left my pack at the hostel which had my spoon in it. therefore i had to use their lame little wooden crap spoons. i was immediately at a disadvantage. i could not allow this to get in the way. slowly but surely people around the table staring finishing off their boxes of frozen dairy sweetness. i, however was not near the finishing point. i blame the spoon. i could not fail. forty minutes in Fiber, BearBag, Veto and Pappy were finished.   my entire face was numb with the cold. i could not feel my cheeks or the inside of my mouth. In 50 minutes i was finished. all 2500 calories of sugary awesomeness in my belly. spoon, please. nice. all six of us finished the challenge with no probs. even though i was the last in the group to finish i was pleased to finish at all. i still blame the spoon for my slower performance though. Katie and her husband arrived a while later along with Glide. i finally checked in at the hostel since they didn't open until 5:00pm. the A.T. museum was closed the entire day. they were putting up a new exhibit or something. that was really a dissapointment. i would have liked to have seen that. maybe next time... Marathon came in later and i insisted that he give the challemge a go. after sitting in front of it for two hours he threw in the towel. he left without a spoon, he didn't realize that they were also giving out the "i tried" spoons. so i collected one to give him next time i see him. the hostel advertised that they had pasta dinner. it was crap. i think it was a microwave entree. it wasn't nearly enough. i ran back to the store and grabbed a couple of hot dogs. the hostel was empty except for me and an older couple who kept to themselves. i made arrangments to have breakfast since i would be getting up earlier than everyone else. good day, but a disappointing hostel.