Date: 2010-06-01
From: Milesburn Cabin, PA

To: Pine Grove Furnace State Park, PA
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: clear sky

From TrailPhone:"Hey. I'm at Pine Grove Furnace at the General Store. I just watched someone finish 'The Gallon Challenge.' It's about 12 miles for me today. My feet are bushed. I'm going to spend the night in the area. I don't know if I'm going to back up some, go forward, or spend the night in the park. I got rattled this afternoon by about a 4 foot Timber Rattlesnake. Hopefully, the picture turns out pretty good. I'm feeling a lot better. I've got my trail legs, eating well, staying hydrated. I'm starting to just get the hand of all this. That's it. Bye bye."UPDATE: We awoke about 6:30a and lowered our bear bag to start breakfast. While our water was heating, we decided to cook 2 liters of extra water for the days hike as there were no springs between the cabin and Pine Grove SP. After breakfast, we grabbed our bag and filled our 2-liter bladder with water. Surprise! Water started gushing from the end of our hose. The bite valve was missing! It seems the bite valve we picked up yesterday as trash was in fact our own. Where was it? A search ensued as we last saw it with some other trash. A check of our trash ziplock bag proved fruitless as did a search of our backpack. The bite valve was no where to be found. As we lacked a spare bite valve, the bladder was essentially useless dead weight. We drained the water from the bladder back into our bottles and stored the bladder back in its pocket. Damn the bad luck.During our search we took advantage of the porch on the cabin and its many benches. By the time we repacked everything we had taken out and ensured nothing else was lost, it was 8:30. We headed across the creek and uphill towards Birch Run.We reached Birch Run around 9:30 and took a brief break to read the log book and make a short entry. Birch run also featured a bear pole for hanging food so we took a moment to check out the bear pole.About 10:30 we reached Ship Road and a nice grassy section. Around 11:00 we took a break and enjoyed an orange we had saved from Henicle's Market and swapped our water bottles around. The empty bottle goes into the side pocket upside down and the fresh bottle hangs conveniently from our right pack strap.Just before noon we passed the blue blaze trail going down to another PATC cabin. The AT here seems to be a reroute that circles the entire cabin area to afford cabin renters privacy from hikers.1:45 p.m. found us crossing the wooden bridge into the Toms Run shelter area. Toms Run features a pair of shelters with one in front of the other. I dropped my pack, read the log, and added an entry with the date and time. As this was the last water hole before Pine Grove SP, I took my empty bottle and utility pouch back to the bridge. After filling the bottle and dropping the iodine, I decided to ice my feet in the creek. That's some cold water! We iced the feet and then rested them on a large smooth rock. While we were sitting on the bridge, Riverdog came bounding by and asked where the shelter was. I pointed out the direction and said I'd join him in a few minutes. After donning my socks and boots, I returned to my pack, loaded everything back in and headed over to the other shelter where Riverdog was snacking and reading. While we were talking, who should arrive, but Traveler. I asked about Absent. Traveler said Absent was hanging around Caledonia SP to meet some British hikers raising money for wounded British war veterans. Traveler and Riverdog discussed the Half-Gallon Challenge at Pine Grove and deiced since it was early, they were going to head to Pine Grove, do the challenge and then head closer to Boiling Springs as they wanted to be at Darlington the next evening and Duncannon the night after. I wished the fellows well and they departed as swiftly as they arrived.I hiked my own hike at a much slower pace. After about a half hour, we came out of the woods to a gravel road. The double blaze indicated a right turn so we headed right. Further down we saw the white blaze to our left and a sign saying the trail was closed and to follow the road. Okay, we have a bypass. We went down the road and made a left as instructed. This road was much nicer and smelled of blooming honeysuckle and blackberries. Not knowing when a truck might come barreling past, we kept to the right hand side. About halfway down the road we heard a rattling/buzing sound. Were we just rattled. I stepped to the center of the road and turned around to look. Sure enough! In the high grass along side the road was a four foot timber rattlesnake with his head pulled back as if to strike. Camera! We quickly dug our cellphone out of the utility pouch and turned it on. We held our camera out towards tje snake and stepped a bit closer until we heard a second rattle. Close enough! We took the picture and headed off along the centerline.At the end of the road, we say a trail head around a gate and through the woods. So we followed the worn trail. After a few moments we realized that we hadn't seen any white blazes. We headed back to the gate and out into the road. Looking around we found a whaite blaze down the hill along what looked like a dirt road. We headed down the road. After a while we started seeing homes and cars along both sides of the road. This was a bit distressing as we understood the sate forest to abut the state park. We had not expected any private homes as we thought we might camp for free just across from the state park were we now found houses. Passing signs admonishing "stay on trail" we reached the bottom of the hill and Pine Grove State Park. The trail make a left turn and just a block or so up the road veers into Pine Grove SP. Entering the park, the old Ironmasters Inn is the first structure on the left. A former hostel, the Ironmasters Inn had just closed at the end of April. Just beyond on the left was the general store and we could see the new AT Museum just beyond the store. Arriving at the store, we found Riverdog and Traveler finishing their 1/2-gallons of ice cream. River dog finished first, followed minutes later by Traveler. Both entered their names in the book of honor and received their coveted commemorative spoons. While both napped from the effects of the ice cream, I enjoyed a pint of Hershey Cherry Cordial with a Coke and used my cup to eat both float style. Afterwards I flagged down Ranger John and asked about camping in the area. Ranger John said the choices were $20 to camp in the campground or continue north and camp anywhere outside the gate marking the forest boundary. He also mentioned on the way out to the north the trail passes a lake and a private bathhouse with free showers. We decided to head up the trail 2 miles to the lake.The trail from the store goes down a paved road past an old iron furnace. The trail then continues directly to the bathhouse where there are nice showers and bathrooms, a water fountain, and electricity for charging a cell phone. We spotted the lake to the right and a picnic area. We selected a table where we could watch some swimmers and some fishermen. The lake is an old quarry and contains both trout and bluegill. Most folks were trout fishing. About 5:30 we broke out the food bag and mess kit and heated up some soup.After dinner we headed back to the bathhouse to pickup the trail. The trail follows the bathhouse and then rejoins the trail from the lake. The trail then follows the stream feeding into the lake. After a few miles we saw a metal gate with sign boards on the park side. We also had the feeling we would need a cat hole shortly. We hustled up the trail and made a right turn into the forest. Safe! We can camp anywhere we want. At the moment we wanted a cat hole and so we pulled off the trail and started digging. Too late. Our shallow cat hole has soon overflowing. (We covered it with leaves to help with composting and then covered the hole with some large stones to keep wildlife from digging.) Were we sick? As the park headquarters and help were just a few easy miles south and it was a long way to help going north, we decided to play it safe and camp immediately. We found some suitable trees not too far from our cat hole and pitched camp. Expecting the worse, we ran a string line to the cat hole and hung some TP in a bag for probable nocturnal visits.We slept off and on. Every time we woke we sipped some water and Propel.Thus ended the ninth day.