Date: 2018-06-25
To: James Fry Shelter
Miles today: 17.1

Ugh! I have a pack rash. It is a bright red band that runs around my hips and across my lower back. I know the cause too. Disappearing butt syndrome. I used to have a little shelf back there that my pack could rest on, but I¢ve been walking my butt off and now it is gone. I keep having to pull my belt tighter and tighter to keep it around my hips.Ok, I don¢t really know if that is the cause, but it sounds totally plausible, don¢t you think? There is less padding on my hips too. My body had definitely been transformed. I am not complaining.This morning I smeared body glide on the rash before putting on my pack. We only had about 2.5 miles to go before the mid point on the trail. I was so excited! I raced out of the campsite and told Cole I would meet him there.I came to a sign with a picture on it of the mid way sign. Say what?? Ah, it was last years mid point. Ours should be a little further ahead.I waited for Cole so that we could see it together. Half a mile. A mile. Nothing. There was no sign at our midpoint.I was standing there bemoaning the absence of a half way marker when a hiker came up behind me. I couldn¢t believe who it was. Old Mountain Goat! You should be days in front of me! I exclaimed. He explained that he had taken a fall, hurt his ribs and had to take a few days off the trail. He kept talking and started hiking so I fell in behind him. This was normally a minimum 3 mile an hour hiker, but not today. I matched his pace and we kept on trekking. We passed rocks on the ground that someone had laid out to say 1100. I took a photo. Not far past that, the half way sign suddenly appeared. Hurray!!! In the log book, old Mountain Goat wrote his name and then I signed it with Still Sheila and Mountain Goat (young). We took photos, lots of photos. Cole was anxious to get moving. There was ice cream ahead. I wanted to enjoy this moment longer. It had taken a lot to get here!Finally we moved on. Everyone pulled out ahead of me, but soon I caught back up to a backlog of hikers stopped on the trail. Something was in their path stopping them from proceeding. What was it? A rattle snake curled up on a rock sunbathing. One hiker coaxed it to move off the rock, but it was still next to the trail, holding its ground, unyielding.Finally the backlog of hikers began moving in an arc around the rock on the opposite side from the rattler. It watched, never stopping the unnerving sound of its angry rattle.When we arrived at Pine Grove Furnace State Park, there were a number of hikers at different stages of their half gallon ice cream challenge. Some looked like they would have no problem finishing. Others were struggling. We went into the general store and Cole picked out his flavour. Neapolitan. Wise choice son. I got a cup of salted caramel banana ice cream. I don¢t know if I could eat a half gallon of ice cream, but I knew for sure that I had no interest in puking one up and that would surly be the result. At the very least, I would have to be done hiking for the day. So, I passed, but sat back to watch Cole. It was no challenge at all. His tongue got numb from the cold, but that was the worst of it. In less than half an hour he finished the tub plus the extra cup that makes up the half gallon.Some hikers walked around holding their bellies. One was moaning that she felt sick. Not Cole. He was chowing down on French fries that a camper hadn¢t been able to finish.The park had free showers so we took advantage of those. I found myself trying my best to wash my long curly locks with a bar of facial soap. For a towel I used a bandana. Hey, at least I was kind of clean.With about seven miles to go to the next shelter, and a good part of the afternoon having been spent in the park, I thought that we were in for a late day. However the trail was relatively flat and the miles passed quickly. It was a good day!