Halfway (whoof-da)

We passed from West Virginia into Maryland, across the Mason-Dixon line into Pennsylvania.  Not too far into the state we crossed the halfway point on the trail. It is hard to believe that we have been walking for 3 months and have only walked half of this trail.  Just past the halfway point is Pine Grove Furnace State Park.  There is a General Store there that sells ice cream and is home to the "Halfway Half Gallon Challenge".  When we arrived there were only two half gallons left, both were peanut butter cup.  This is the flavor Butch was hoping to find but it is not my favorite.  The big crew of slack-packers ahead of us had cleaned the place out the day before.  So Butch got a big tub and I went for a smaller bowl of ice cream with a cheeseburger.  Butch sat down to dig into the frozen brown and immediately upon lifting the lid declared, "There is no way I'm eating all this".  With my help we polished it off and then each had a cheeseburger for dessert. 
Just a few steps from the store is the AT Museum.  It is in a lovely, large stone building.  Pine Grove Furnace State Park was at one time a big Ironworks, then CCC camp, then in WW II it was used as an interrogation camp for some high level German and Japanese military commanders.  It went on to be a religious retreat camp before being taken over by the state of PA. The history we have been passing lately has been too much to take in, but it is neat to read some of the signs along the way.  In the AT Museum they had several nice displays on some of the pioneers of the Appalachian Trail.  There were the dedicated men who proposed the idea of the trail and made it happen, Benton MacKaye and Myron Avery.  It also told of some of the first people to thru-hike it, Earl Schaffer and Grandma Gatewood. Grandma Gatewood didn't take up hiking until age 67, after raising 11 children.  She hiked the trail 3 times in addition to other long distance treks.
The next few weeks should be some mellow hiking.  Pennsylvania is relatively flat but rocky.  We aren't in New Jersey for long, and then into NY where we hope to take a day off and go into the Big Apple.  The weather has been hot. It was REALLY hot for a few days last week, but now it is manageable.  The shade of the forest helps, and having a nice stream to dip in every so often keeps us from melting.

I keep thinking about building a stone house.  This one had nice mortar joints!

Trail Magic!

This black snake was laying across the trail and thought that because he was staying still we couldn't see him.

Luna moth

We are blogging live here from Boiling Springs, PA, home to some lovely clear water bubbling up from the ground and forming a trout-stocked lake in the middle of town. Upon the recommendation from other hikers, we spent the past night at the Allenberry Inn and Playhouse.  Normally this dinner-theater resort is a bit pricey, but they like hikers and offer a much discounted rate to those walking the trail.  They sequester us stinky ones in a separate lodge but equip it with ping-pong, VHS tapes, pool table and the computer from which this blog emanates.  They also welcomed us to the bar last night with free platters of meat and cheese and sushi!  It makes us feel normal to stop by places like this every so often.  It is also a great place for us hikers to meet up, meet other hikers we haven't met, see hikers we haven't seen for a while but met a ways back and hear about the other hikers they've met.  Because, again, it's really all about the people you meet along the way and lately we've met some unique individuals.  Off to see what we can see!