- Drove back to Md. 17 to snag Momma Ludwig's new ride - stopped on the way to pick up Half-brew's mail drop (in appreciation he treated the group to coffee at Starbucks!).
- Up to Pa. 944 to drop off Jordan's car and then back to Fayetteville to pick up where he left off on the AT the day before. About 4 hrs worth of moving & a shakin'.
- Started hiking through Caledonia State Park just as a slew of menacing storm clouds rolled in so they stopped to play a few hands of Eukre at a picnic shelter.
- Once the weather cleared, the group (Half-brew, Hearts, Jordan & Colby) moved on to Quarry Gap Shelter where they met back up with Meltdown.
- Odd characters at shelter included a socially awkward 90's Calvin Klein model who threw all of his trash in an unlit fire pit (very uncouth) and 2 section hikers who later described their group as "loud & obnoxious"... !
- 2.5 mi day.
- Hung out, ate lunch & played Eukre for 2 hrs.
- Eventually moved on to Toms Run Shelter where they stopped to play more Eukre... can you say 'stuck in a rut'? If not yet... you will.
- Passed the TRUE 1/2 WAY POINT (!!!!!) (unmarked & at 1087.5 mi by my calculations) then on to Pine Grove Furnace State Park to celebrate with the 1/2 Gallon Challenge - whose rules are to eat a 1/2 gallon of ice cream in one setting in honor of arrival at the AT midway point!!
- Amos & Meltdown chose to partake - everyone else "turtled out." (Amos' claims chickens don't scare easily & thus the saying should be changed...)
- They bought 1/2 gallon of chocolate & 1/2 gallon of vanilla - with the skill & precision of a neurosurgeon, they split the two down the middle so that they didn't have to barf up only one flavor.
- Amos said by ~3/4 of the way in he realized he had made a BIG mistake. (Which surprised me because I had seen him house several pints of ice cream at the Naked Ron ice cream orgy of '08 - my last visit.)
- Anyway... he did it! In 48 minutes AND without heaving it all back up!! (Meltdown finished in 1 hr 50 minutes.)
- 17.5 mi - man he made Jordan & Colby work!! (If you recall, I died after 1 measly 12 mi day!)
- Unable to venture beyond the site of the challenge, the haggard crew slept on the porch of the camp store (... after playing more Eukre).
5/29/08 - Woke up at 5 am & ran to the bathroom... expelled about 2 pints worth of last night's "dinner."
- Ate breakfast at the camp store & moved on to a photo op. at the midpoint marker.
- Hiked up to Green Mtn. General Store at Pa. 34 to eat lunch - subs, chips, & 1/2 gallon of "orange drink" (you'd think they'd be done with half gallons). More Eukre.
- Stopped at Alec Kennedy Shelter. Ate dinner - Jordan & Colby already sick of trail food... played Crazy 8's - just kidding - more Eukre... and then off to bed.
- 15.5 mi.
- Breakfast at JC's Country Time Cafe.
- Left packs at ATC Mid-Atlantic Regional Office & hiked another 12.5 really flat, really hot miles through a lot of cornfields, across a lot of roadways & through countless cow pastures. Smelled like poop all day... yep, all 16 mi.
- Didn't know roadkill was a possibility on the AT... just figured the traffic would be moving too slowly. I was wrong - Amos squished a toad that haphazardly hopped under foot just as he was stepping down - a moment of silence for Mr. Toad...
- Finally arrived at Pa. 944 where they picked up Jordan's strategically parked car, drove it back to Boiling Springs (to pick up their packs) and found the entire crew (Half-brew, Snoopy, Meltdown, Spock & Twiggy, Chief Daddy, The Treat, and Buns & Roses) sitting in the same exact spot they had left them earlier that morning.
- Drove to Chili's for real food & then to Pittsburgh for a surprise weekend visit!!
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