Date: 2005-06-03
From: Pine Grove Furnace State Park

To: Boiling Springs, PA
Miles today: 19.4

It started raining last night at about 11:30pm. It rained all night long. It was raining when we got up. Packed up the tent in the rain and left camp at 7:30am heading for the campstore's covered porch so we could eat our muffins and drink our OJ out of the rain.We were on the trail with Old Yeller at 8:15am in the rain. It was a steady rain all day long. We made it to PA34 for lunch at the Green Mountain Store. They are located .2 miles off the trail and have a deli, grill and convenient store. This is also the location of the "Half-Gallon Club" for the Southbounder's on the trail. It is a really nice old store. It has wooden floors and a covered wooden front porch, great old-timey atmosphere. All three of us had a sandwiches and drinks. We made a nice break of it. We spent 1.5 hours there. It was nice to get out of the rain for a bit, even though we knew we had to do another 10 miles in the rain after that.We called ahead to Boiling Springs to reserve a room at a B&B prior to leaving the Green Mountain Store. It is nice to know that while you are hiking in the rain you have a warm, dry place waiting for you at the end of the day.We hiked for another 4 hours and got to the Regional ATC office in Boiling Springs, PA. We talked with a ranger for a while before heading to the B&B. We found out that every year on the first Saturday in June, Boiling Springs, PA has "Foundry Day". It is a city celebration with artisans and food. It brings thousands to their little town. Boiling Springs is a charming little town and very visually pleasing. The boiling spring-fed pond in the center of town is quite amazing. Bubbles rise up from the bottom giving the appearance that it is boiling water, but the water temperature is only 53 degrees.At the B&B, we did laundry, took showers and dried out. We were very disappointed that the proprietor would not allow our packs into the house. He made us leave them out on the back metal stairs. They were barely out of the rain under a tiny overhang. We knew that they would never dry out like that and they would be soggy in the morning. He said they weren't allowed in the house because hiker's packs smell too badly. He did allow us to bring our shoes in. We know that our shoes smell far worse than our packs. So we don't think he gained much in the "smell" department.When Cubby called to make the reservation for the room, he said he would rent us a room, but it would be at weekend prices. He couldn't cut us a deal because he knew he would be able to rent the room BOTH Friday and Saturday night, whereas we only needed it Friday night. Later in the conversation Cubby mentioned that we were hikers and it seemed like he was trying to get out of renting the room to us. Once the word "hiker" was metioned, there was no "deal-making". The price was high and it stayed high. It was only because Old Yeller agreed to pay half that we agreed to stay.The people who ran the B&B were nice people, but we would not consider this a "hiker-friendly" place due to the "hiker-price" or should we say "price-gouging". We were told that the place was fully booked, and there was only one room left and we got the last room. Therefore, we could not get a "deal" or better price, we had to pay the big full weekend rate. In actuallity, we were the ONLY people staying there that night. There was not another soul in sight.The three of us had dinner at a nice Italian restaurant, Anile's. Cubby had a huge plate of spaghetti with meat sauce and Boston had veal cutlett and spaghetti. Old Yeller ordered a medium pizza and ate half of it. He took the rest for lunch tomorrow. Good food.We got back to the B&B and still no other guests. Got to bed around 10pm.