Date: 2005-06-17
From: Birch Run Shelter (tent)

To: Tagg run shelter (tent)
Miles today: 17.1

Day #93 i'm packed and on the trail by 7am. In no real hurry today. Bootz & blue light leave right behind me. Rabbit is sleeping in the grass next to the shelter. i almost stepped on him on the way to the privy. No one at the shelter was stirring. It a fairly easy 10 miles to Pine Grove furnance. Along the way i stop to chat with a retired gentleman who is out walking after heart surgery. his parents used to own cabins along the old road i'm walking on. He points out an old stone barn or what remains of one. In world war II they housed captured german soliders. An odd place to have a prison camp if you ask me. Pine Grove Furnace State Park lies within the Michaux state forest. The name comes from the the fact an iron furnace was built on the spot in 1764 and ran for a 100 years. The iron works produced cast iron products like ten plate stoves, fireplace backs, and iron kettles. In 1913 the iron works encompassing 17,000 acres was sold to the common wealth of Pennsylvania to be part of a new forest reserve system. The furnace still stands and the iron masters mansion is a youth hostel. For AT hikers its the halfway point and home of the half gallon challenge. Where if your dumb enough to eat a half gallon of ice cream you will be rewarded with a cheesy, but highly collectable wooden spoon. I walked right past the store and almost out of the park. I have all sorts of excuses for this, such as no sign, distracted by kids at the hostel or maybe i wasn't paying attention. After consulting my maps and realizing my error i back track. When i reach the store blue light enquires the where-abouts of bootz? I thought he was ahead of me and mention that i walked right by. She waited for a bit then went off to see if she could find him. Jersey Fresh was packing up and warned me about the chinese taking over the world. It was an article in newsweek or something. Did you know that 30% of the chinese population has a good amount of savings compare to 2% of the US. They have no credit card debt. Whats it all mean? I'm no expert, but citibank is going to make a sh*t load when they start credit cards over there. I being wiser & older for go the half gallon and order a cheeseburger & icecream bar. Lite bright, rabbit, box of fun, & Anj show up. They all start on the ice cream. Feeling left out and under trmendous peer pressure i buy a half gallon of my own. I was hoping for neopolitan, but settled for chocolate. Half way through, i decide that this may not be a good idea. Rabbit is tipping his and drinking the last of it. Lunch before probably wasn't the best strategy. I still have to hike today as i need to be in boiling springs before noon tomorrow. So using my common sense (chickening out) i quit 3/4 of the way through. Blue light finds bootz who did what i did walked right by. Bootz, rabbit, & lite bright (only been on the trail for 5 days) all finish their ice cream.  just me and the ladies didn't finish I'm going to have to start packing a dress. After 4 hours i start to hike again. The trail seems to go on forever. They have relocated sections of it since i was here. Bootz is a little under the weather, muttering something about ice cream. I decide to stop at tagg run shelter. Leaving 13 miles bright and early. There are all sorts of tent spots, of course none flat. It's remarkable, almost like they think we like sleeping on a slant. No sign of rabbit. I think maybe he stayed back at the hostel with box of fun & Anj. His feet were doing good, but i don't think he enjoys a bunch of twenty mile days in a row, that or he ate a half gallon of ice cream. Bootz, bluelight, me, & a ridgerunner chick are the only ones here. All tenting. Pennsylvania is actually enjoyable if you slow down. The southern part lacks the rock and the terrain is easy.