Date: 2016-05-02
From: Pine Grove Furnace State Park, PA

To: Kennedy Shelter, PA
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: clear sky

Day 2215.4 miles in 8 hours Pine Grove Furnace State Park, PA (1102) to Alec Kennedy Shelter (1117.4), 4 miles south of Boiling Springs, PAWeather: Overcast a.m. to partly sunny skies in the afternoon, high of 73Dinner: Veggie pasta (not stellar, but filling) and a whole bag of delicious Teriyaki jerky, which was only going to be my appetizerWildlife: Three turkey hunters, a big herd of deerHikers: Four day strollers, four thru-hikers at hostel (Giggles, Rabbit, Rambler and Padre)Last night was my best sleep to date. Adds to my overall high rating for this hostel in general. Good beds, no snorers. Maybe due to the latter reasons. Rambler¢s dad ¢Padre¢ has major blister issues. Over breakfast this morning, it was decided that he¢d seek medical attention-and perhaps new shoes-and take a zero day in town while Rambler, Giggles and I hiked together today and are staying in the same shelter tonight. Giggles has just completed a week of 20+ mile days and decided she might ¢slow down¢ in order to hike with those of us who don't already have over 700 hundred miles under their shoes. Rambler will be meeting up with Padre tomorrow in the next town. So, for the first time since I met Nera (now a few days behind me), I am hiking with two delightful (and energetic) 20-something women and who just explained to me why my iPad music hasn't downloaded my iTunes library even though I have the music on all my other devices. Anyway, the day flew by with Giggles doing most of the flying and Rambler and I talking about Downtown Abbey, Call the Midwife, Outlander, Breaking Bad, Dr. Who and Lord of the Rings. The trail meandered over hills and we crossed several paved highways and unpaved roads. One of the highlights today was scrambling over and squeezing through two rock ¢mazes.¢ These are giant boulders where apparently prankster trail planners found it humorous to make us thread our way through them (vs. say, oh I don't know, skirt them?) There were places where the rocks were marked with arrows. Giggles was a little behind Rambler and I at this point and said she had seen a rattler among one of the rocks. Kind of forgot about snakes. As we were approaching the shelter, we scared up a large herd of deer. We were momentarily surprised ourselves earlier today when turkey hunters emerged from the woods. The first one appeared soon after we started, but the second group, a father and son, showed up by the shelter off trail while Rambler and I were eating lunch. They weren't as disconcerting, however, as the hiker still in the shelter who hadn't packed and left as of noon, but told us he was heading Georgia. Great! That¢s not our current direction-so go for it!A fourth hiker joined us here at the shelter around dinnertime, ¢Stick.¢ He has decided to hang his hammock rather than join three ladies of the shelter and take his chances against storms that are now predicted for tonight. He¢s originally from Melbourne, Australia and is heading south having already finished Katahdin to Delaware Water Gap several years ago. He¢ll be lapping noon shelter guy in no time. The spring here had a deep-ish swimming hole, so I went for a dip after Giggles and I collected water. I probably scared Giggles.