Date: 2015-05-22
From: Shippensburg Road

To: James Fry Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: clear sky

Had a delicious french toast breakfast this morning and great company with Junker, Flounder Bait, Art Gypsy, No Rush and Happy Feet. Junker drove us to the trail head and on the way we saw Happy Feet pedaling away on her bike. So awesome for her! Thank you so much Trail of Hope hostel! We saw the sign of the midpoint of the trail and posed for pictures. This is not the midpoint for me as I am flip-flopping but the midpoint for thru-hikers starting at Springer Mountain in Georgia. An exciting milestone for sure. When I tried taking a picture with my camera I noticed it was still set on the timer from when Happy Feet showed me how to photograph waterfalls. I couldn't figure out how to get it off the timer and was really bummed as it would really mess up my picture taking. Along comes Ten Speed who is from Switzerland and is a professional cyclist and very fast hiker as well. He sees me with my camera and remarks that it is the camera he had wanted to buy for his hike. I told him my problem and he quickly figured out how to take the timer off and told me it was a great camera. I had debated a lot about the extra weight for this camera but I am very happy with it so far. It's a sony alpha 6000 and is supposedly the fastest automatic focus mirrorless camera. Much lighter than a DSLR but with professional quality photos I'm told. Of course I'm sure a lot depends on who is using it. Hopefully my skills will much improve along the trail.We passed Tom's Run shelter which is the one Indie maintains. These trails are maintained by volunteers who so generously give their time back to the trail so that we can all enjoy. Many thanks again! I had my first fall today and was a little relieved to have it over with. It was on flat terrain and my right foot rolled over, and I landed face down on the trail as my pack propelled over my head. My first instinct was to not land on my right hand because of the ligament damage in my right wrist. Somehow I managed to fall with my hand up and take the weight on my forearm. Of course, as I'm sprawled out on the trail Grasshopper comes up behind me. So embarrassing, but at least I had someone to help me up. My foot is a little sore but I seem to be okay. We finally reached Pine Grove Furnace State Park where I said my goodbyes to Jane and caught up with Grasshopper. I got a late start and a storm was brewing but never materialized. Not too bad of a hike but my feet are sore. At one point there was a double blaze on a tree indicating a turn to the left. It looked like the trail continued straight and I didn't see the blaze. Finally I realized a hadn't seen a blaze in awhile so I turned around and corrected myself. I made it to the shelter right before dark. Grasshopper, Mama Spice and Ten speed were already settled in the cool looking bunks in the shelter when I arrived. Grasshopper said he had made an arrow sign in the dirt on the trail for me because he knew I would not see the turn. So I apparently missed his sign and the blaze. I was able to unload my pack and set up my spot and cook dinner and clean up before dark. I did my yoga in the shelter as the guys fell asleep. What another great day! I feel so lucky to be on this great adventure. Today was my longest day yet. I hadn't planned on doing this much mileage so soon but in this area you can only camp in designated spots so the spacing of the shelters are determining where I stop .