Date: 2008-05-09
From: Quarry Gap Shelters PA

To: Tom Runs Shelters PA
Miles today: 13.6

Day 82 ¢ Friday May 9 ¢ Tom Runs Shelters PA ¢ Miles Today: 13.6 Total Miles: 1086.6Everyone at the shelter was up early - shortly after 6:00 and on the trail by 7:00. They were motivated to get to Pine Grove Furnace State Park and the 12 gallon ice cream challenge! We hiked a bit slower than them as we didn't have as many miles to cover, and we still arrived at camp after completing nearly 14 miles by 1:30. It was a very rainy day, but a very short day for us. It rained all morning long and it was chilly with temps in the low 50s. By 12:30 the rain had stopped so we were a bit dry when we arrived at camp.While at the shelter trying to locate a suitable tent site in the soggy soil, another thru-hiker arrived - Strider - a college student from Massachusetts going to school in Maine. Believe it or not, he is a March 8 starter and there are a couple March 10 starters ahead of him! This is the first time we have seen starters from that late in March. The pack is catching up to us. In the last 24 hours, I think 7 people have passed us. A young couple, Laura and Aaran, passed us before we got to the shelter last night. They hiked the PCT in 2006. Yeti¢s group of 4, Team Deutschemark, passed us today. Team Deutschemark, AKA TDM, is comprised of Bad Hummus, Toddy Bear, Stovie and Yeti. Bad Hummus, who unfortunately earned his name eating bad hummus and getting very sick, will be leaving the team tomorrow to prepare for medical school.   And now Strider has passed us. I'm having a feeling that our Harper¢s Ferry numbers of 33 and 34 by the time we get to Kahtadin will be quite high. Strider mentioned that he was 150 something when he started in Georgia and by the time he got to Harper's Ferry, he was 50 so he is moving up the trail quite quickly. However, he is going to get off the trail in Duncannon for a week to visit family at home so we will probably see him again. It does not matter what number we finish, it is not a race. If it were, we¢d be foolish to enter the race with all these young folks out here! It is, however, neat to pay attention to our numbers and see where we stand in the pack of hikers.We set up the tent, filtered, ate some of our snacks and extra goodies and were in the tent napping by 3:00, after putting on our #3 thermals to try to get warm. It was a wet chilly day. Since arriving to camp, there has been no additional rain and the tent has dried a little bit. The rain gear, however, has not dried at all, as we did not hang it out to dry. We decided napping was a higher priority! All good naps must end in time for dinner, right? It's now about 6:00 and we have decided to just eat our Pemmican Mealpacs for dinner, as we have no desire to get out in the wet soggy world and cook dinner. Tomorrow we can have a double dinner, which will be nice as it¢s a big day - 19 miles. We'll have to keep our focus on the miles and pace. The following day we meet Mr. & Mrs. Grasshopper and boy, are we looking forward to the visit, the food and the rest! It's a little bit after 6:00 and 60 degrees in the tent. Brakeman has been spending the last few minutes trying to get 15 down feathers back into his sleeping bag as in a couple days we swap out these bags for lighter weight ones and we need to get these put back together before we swap them. What a great day on the AT!   We're just a mile and one half short of the official AT midpoint!! WOOHOO! Goodnight from almost 12 way there!